Year end

This has been a year filled with days..365 of them.
We did stuff every day...I can not remember most of the stuff
we did, but it was a lot of stuff. I was a really bad blogger this past year,
so there is little evidence of such accomplishments here in our little corner of
the blogosphere, so you will have to trust me on this. Stuff occurred every single day.
Some of it was incredibly inventive and creative. Some of our days were fit for
publishing, with lovely sun dappled photos and joyfully smiling faces.
Some, well, some were not so lovely. Some did not need to be blogged about to be remembered.
Some, well, some were best forgotten along with the end of the Giants football season this year
and what we had for dinner last Wednesday. That is life. We all start off with good intentions,
big plans, high aspirations. In the end...we hope our loved ones remember the good times
and forget the bad. The Leprechaun's Treasure Hunt on St Patrick's Day, the Easter Egg Hunts,
the t-shirts made with love as a Birthday Party favor. And the week (yes..shameful am I)
that I kept forgetting to put the tooth under the pillow for the Tooth Fairy to pick up will be
forgotten along with the yelling and Barbie shoes that have been vacuumed up from the living room rug. I know this will not come as a shock to any of you who know me, even if it is only here
at this blog. I am not anywhere close to perfect, I am human. I try to be a good parent.
I really do. Sometimes I hit the ball out of the park, and the crowds (all 6 of you..lol)
go wild! Sometimes, well...sometimes I wonder what I was thinking even having a child, let
alone homeschooling her. There. I said it. I have doubts. Are any of you feeling that way?
Have you been there before? This has been a year filled with change and upheaval for me.
It all started with a new cycle for me as a person.A whole new 7 years to change from
who I have been to who I will become. It is also my 7th year as a Mom. Which means my
little Princess has been undergoing some major turbulence as well.We started out with all of her baby teeth, and now she has adult teeth. Adult teeth! She gets taller every day.
She reads almost entirely independently from me. It is more and more rare to have her ask me
to spell something or tell her what a word is. She has her own taste in music and her own sense
of style. She knows what she wants and will not be deterred from her plan.
This year did not go "as expected", but go it will. Tonight. At midnight we will celebrate
the "New Year". 2010. I am not someone who makes New Years Resolutions, I am
already a gal who is likely to
"over think" my choices and like Anais Nin, who said,
"I made no resolutions for the New Year.The habit of making plans of
criticizing and sanctioning and molding my life is too much of a daily event for me."
New Years Resolutions, much like New Years Partying, is all just "amateur night".
I thank you all for being part of our lives this past year, and welcome you to join us
in 2010. There are plans afoot, giveaways, fun activities, and well, I may even write a blog post or two worth reading once in a while.
Happy New Year!! ((hugs)) Kate in NJ

Cousins and Snow Days

Friday was another Camp Katie Day here in our corner of the Garden State.
The girls worked on Gingerbread Houses.

We watched my Great-Nephew as well while his Mom worked. He loves "Mack and Rubay".

Bella and X-man

Me and my Great-Nephew.....

Saturday afternoon we finally put up our tree and Princess decorated it.

Saturday night the snow storm arrived, cancelling plans we made with friends.

Princess helped Farmer Dad shovel out.

Neighborhood Lights...

Sunday was a perfect snow day in the backyard..

After we warmed up inside, I left for some Christmas shopping.

Camp Katie Day Goodness

We have been making a lot of Christmas crafts during our "Camp Katie" days here in
our corner of the Garden State. Peanut making a stocking

Julie making her stocking

Bella working on her stocking

The girls love to gather around the table for craft time.

Princess making a Christmas Tree

I give them the supplies, show them how to do the craft I have in mind, and then I back off and let them have at it.

Julie making her tree. Sometimes, they all make the craft the "way" I tell them...

sometimes ...not.lol I try to roll with it and encourage them to enjoy the process

rather than worry about the end result. I can not remember the last time there wasn't glitter

and scraps of construction paper all over my house, but they enjoy it and that is better than a clean house any day. At least that is what I tell myself at the end of the day.

I will try to post more of what we have been doing soon..in the meanwhile,

I hope that however you celebrate this time of year, you are finding the joy in

crafting some magical memories with your little ones.

We survived our First Emergency Room Visit

Sorry we have been gone so long...I have been sick..nothing major.
A cold..lost my voice..very frustrating. Friday we had a lovely Camp Katie Day,
which I will write about later, as we said goodbye to Bella and Julie, Princess
drove her "big wheel" around the side of the house and directly into Farmer Dad's parked truck
which was parked there while he replaced a few sections of our fence.
She ran into the house, and I found her holding what was a white hand towel to the top of
her head. Have you ever seen how much blood comes out of a child's head wound?
Peanut ran out back to get Farmer Dad and he drove all four of us to the ER.
We live pretty close to three major hospitals, so we were there quickly.
The ER docs decided after we were there for a couple of hours, that she needed
4 staples in her head. Yes, FOUR STAPLES in my babies head.
We have been extremely fortunate that this is the first ER visit for us, in fact she has
only had one sick visit to the pediatrician in 7 years. The two girls were so well behaved,
waiting and waiting all afternoon. To be fair, the children's section of the ER had a lot of books
and a tv with Cartoon Network playing, so it wasn't the worst wait in history...but they were so good. I still can't believe that they only asked how much longer after we were done and waiting for the paperwork. They flushed out her wound with something that was icy cold...P was not happy..she cried and complained a bit. The screams when they did the staples was the hardest thing I ever had to sit through. Within ten minutes she was skipping down the hall singing"Follow the yellow brick road".. (there was a yellow design on the floor) and she sang
Bon Jovi songs all the way home at the top of her lungs. We refrained from complaining even though our adult nerves were shot, because we were both happy she was as obnoxious as always. The girls asked for a treat for their good behavior, Burger King.
You better believe they got it. She has acted completely normal since, and it has not slowed her down at all. Monday she needs to see her Pediatrician and the staples will come out in 5-6 days.
I did take a picture of her staples when we got home that night, but I haven't uploaded them, and have no idea where I put my camera cord, so I will upload tomorrow.

Thanksgiving Meal

Turkey, mashed potatoes, roasted beets,carrots,butternut squash and onions from the garden,
sweet potatoes, rolls,cranberry sauce,brussel sprouts,dressing...it was delicious!!

"doll" food..lol

Regardless of what you put on your table, and who gathered around it,

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving. I know I did.

((hugs)) KateinNJ

Happy Thanksgiving

Dear Friends,

The table has been set, and the bird is in the oven, so I thought I would stop in

to leave a Happy Thanksgiving message for you all. I know that many of you

are not in the United States, and this holiday may have no meaning for you,

but I hope you will grab a cup of coffee and keep reading today anyway.

This is the time of year when traditionally, we offer up thanks

for all the good in our lives. I would be remiss if I did not thank each and every

one of my friends here in the blogosphere, including those of you that I actually know

in real life, for the support and friendship you give all year long.The past year has been

a trial for me, as you all know. Blogging has taken a back seat to getting a handle on

my life as it is now. I am truly thankful for each and every one of you that have hung

in there with me, especially as sporadically as I show up here.

Now, I must get back to cooking..

I have veggies to roast from the garden..beets, carrots (reg and purple),onions,butternut squash and beets.

The veg platter has been set out for Princess along with some peanut butter/yogurt dip

that is her favorite right now. Hopefully this will keep her happy while watching the

parade and she will let me get my work done. ;-)

Happy Thanksgiving Friends !!

((BIG HUGS)) KateinNJ

Note from Kate...I forgot to hit "publish", so this is late. lol

Thanksgiving Already?

It feels like Halloween just happened.

We've been busy here..backyard bowling... Birthday parties for friends..

Of course, we've been snacking...

and making some art..

and eating our meals together..

and sharing a laugh...

or just a quiet moment now and then...

grab an apple from the bowl on the kitchen table.. put your feet up and enjoy an afternoon outside while we still can..Camp Katie Day will be Wednesday here in our little Garden State Homeschool.

Come on back to see how much fun we have.

I have lots of books to write about also, hopefully next week I can start posting

my favorites regularly again.

Thankful Turkeys at Camp Katie Day

This Monday was a Camp Katie Day just like every Monday.

This week's theme..Thankful Turkeys !

First the girls played outside...it was a lovely Autumn day in the Garden State.

Julie and Peanut taking turns on the horse..

Princess and Bella played on the swings.. Fun was had by all!
After lunch, I set them up with the Thankful Turkey Craft..

I made a photo copy of some turkey decorations I had on hand, and Princess

and I had already cut out multi colored "feathers" for the turkeys. We used red,brown and orange,

2 of each color for each girl.

I had the girls start by cutting out the turkeys and pasting them to yellow construction paper..

for the first time in Camp Katie Day history I heard not one complaint..they got right

to work...

I handed out the "feathers" while they cut, and asked the younger two if they wanted

me to write what they were thankful for on their feathers, or I could write it down on

another piece of paper, and they could copy them. Peanut opted for the copying, Jules

was happier to dictate to me. ;-)

I gave the girls the option to use either side of the turkey once cut out. Jules went

with the black turkey, so I cut out an eye for her to color for her bird. The others all chose

to color the turkey themselves, so they used the white side.

Once they wrote what they were thankful for on the feathers they glued them onto the turkey.

Every girl listened to my instruction about where to place the feathers except my daughter,

who went "freestyle". She is all about freestyle in her art right now, and I try not to "force" an outcome in our arts and crafts.

They were all very proud of the finished "Thankful Turkey"

and I was very proud of how many things they were all thankful for..way more than we had "feathers". I was especially proud of Jules, she finished the entire project without saying

"do I have to finish?" lol. No, I never make them finish if they don't want to..in case you were wondering. ;-) After each girl finished she had more paper and supplies to make drawings if she chose to, they all did..mostly for each other. Can you feel the love? Then they went outside for a bit more running around and came in for some reading time.

Have I mentioned how much it warms my heart that all four of them love books???

All in all, Thankful Turkey day was a success here at Camp Katie Day.

I hope you are enjoying your Autumn as well.