learn nothing day

we had an awesome "learn nothing day" up at rock creek with some of our friends from around here as well as some unschoolers from out of town. the day started out awesomely as i had talked heather into carpooling with us and so i got to talk her head off while we drove off to the mountains. we met lots of new people (which i had met before at kelly lovejoy's but ya'll know my memory), and goofed around with some very very cool unschooling kids. i am always in awe of how amazing kids can be. there was great food, swimming in the ice cold water, wading in the creek to catch critters, and lots of conversation and laughs.

splash splash splash

ren and i decided that since we're always behind the camera, that we should be sure to get in some of the pix!!

ro in water wings

sierra, sophie, and kyra

dairbhre and heather

sadie and rowan getting ready to swim

sophie and the bottle tongue game

ouch samuel!!!

kyra too!!

everyone freezing!! while kass and i take pix! LOL

super strong kyra!

mary beth, devorah and anna

how many kids can fit on here??

jaden and his "mobster"

dairbhre and heather taking a break!!

playing with fire!!!! making smores!!

the kids!! most of them anyway...

getting ready to say goodbye!!!

some of the moms!! we couldn't seem to round all of us up for a group shot! but we rock anyway!!!

some goodbye hugs and the girls

GOLIATH..........ugh

aleah, tyler, and jess (what is it jess???)

all along the watchtower...

a beautiful, peaceful end to the day...he was out in seconds after the car started moving. it was so awesome to watch, even while driving and taking this picture trying not to crash!!!

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happy learn nothing day!

well, it's "learn nothing day" and i've already learned some stuff. gosh, i suck. i must not be trying hard enough!!

ah well! here's a link to the official learn nothing page:
http://sandradodd.com/learnnothingday/

p.s. happy birthday sandra!!!!Share

just some funny stories

okay, maybe they aren't REALLY funny. but i got nothin' else!!

yesterday was filled with little anecdotes i thought i would share.

1. the girl who came knocking

she was selling magazines...argh...and she told me what she was going to be and why she was raising money...blahblahblah...and then she wanted to guess what i did for a living. she first guessed "accountant." WA? then "math teacher!!" WA? when i told her i was a sahm and an artist she was really excited, she never met an artist before! WA? okay so what i got from that was that if you wear glasses you do something brainy. because i'm not sure that my pajamas gave off any kind of "what i do for a living" vibes. ah well.

2. guinea pee

i was holding joey, sadie's guinea pig, in my lap with my legs crossed and he was all comfy. then he decides to pee. normally, not a big deal right? but where he was sitting and what i was wearing. well, let's just say he was in my crotch and i had on thin pants with no undies. i actually felt the pee running into areas i would rather not have anyone's pee but mine!!! i ran screaming up the stairs to the shower while the kids were left wondering why the heck i freaked out so bad about PEE. i told them WHERE he peed when i got out of the shower and they thought that was super funny. samuel wanted to know if i was sure it was pee and not something else and if people could get pregnant from animals. this made ME almost pee laughing.

3. fear and pain

we were walking home from rotary park last night and sadie stopped in her tracks (she and silas were actually on their bikes) and was crying because she had a big drop of blood on her foot and blood scares her and it really hurt. i came over to check it out and it did look pretty bad until i got closer and noticed it's magenatish color and then wiped it off. some berry something or other juices i think. we all laughed like crazy about it. especially the "it really hurts" part. she was still sort of crying and laughing at the same time and said she was embarrassed. we talked about how i've told her in the past when she freaks out about a little cut that it is the fear that makes it seem worse than it really is and even hurt worse than it might without the fear. this gave me the perfect example to show her exactly what that meant. it proved my point about the fear making pain worse and that it could actually even create the pain. we talked about how powerful the mind is in how we feel. that we can use our minds to ease pain so it makes sense that the mind can create pain. we were still laughing about it later though. it was just too funny.Share

lately...

oh what have i been doing lately??? busy busy, lazy lazy, then busy busy again.

the garden is a jungle now and i love it.

the tomatoes had a rocky start but are finally producing!!!!

we've been having the best cukes these days. i had told the kids about how they would taste like nothing they ever had out of the store and i was right. i loved watching their eyes light up when they tasted them for the first time. we've had green beans too and some early corn.

the first set of corn i put in hasn't gotten as big as i'd like, but the second set looks awesome now. we have teeny tiny watermelons coming in...

and chili peppers that are huge but won't turn red.

and no red peppers yet. still eating lettuce, we have about 5 butterheads to pick and then it's waiting for the fall crop. plenty of basil now as well, but i have only used it once so far.

a small harvest

i don't know if we'll get many strawberries, i planted sort of late.

but i noticed these the other day.

this is prettier to me than a garden of flowers!!

i've been getting back to the sketchbook as well. hoping to make some prints to sell on etsy (sssmommy.etsy.com). and i got some supplies to make glass pendant necklaces using my new designs. so that should be exciting to learn.

i also started a social network for radical unschoolers. you can check that out here:

radical unschoolers' network. that's been sucking up some of my time, more than i'd like but i'm enjoying it anyway.

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this made my morning!!

i'm part of a social network of moms on etsy.com and one of them does a blog. well, i happened to check it out today and looky looky, i got featured. feeling all sorts of special today!!!

for the love of etsyShare

not enough words

there is this "truth" that has formed in my mind over the years. years that take up the better part of my life. it is based on a specific set of beliefs i had about myself. those beliefs are that i do not know how to make friends...and when/if i do, i can't keep them. also, that i am unlikeable and easily forgettable, socially dysfunctional and awkward (okay, those last 2 are probably pretty true). but in the past few months, those beliefs have been changing. i've been becoming more and more comfortable in my own skin...making peace with who i am and where i am. i feel like i've had this feeling before, this personal growth. and maybe i have, maybe we have these moments over and over and each time there's something new to learn and/or relearn.

on wednesday, i had the most profound moment. a feeling of happiness and peace and satisfaction came over me. that and the feeling of being surrounded by love and friendship. we had friends in from charleston since sunday, having a wonderful time just hanging out and being ourselves together. then wednesday was scotty's birthday and we had more friends over for a potluck and acoustic jam in the backyard. it was a rainy rainy day, but it let up just long enough for our party and then when it was over, it rained again. yes, CG, i think you were right when you said once that the universe loves me. so, just as everyone was settling in and starting to talk and eat, this feeling came over me. i teared up a bit, got that little catch in my chest. it felt good. i'm having it again right now =). i got to hear little tyler play his fiddle again and hear heather for the first time!! mostly, it was heather and scotty playing. although he has never really played in front of people, so he had a hard time getting comfortable...but it was good for him. and he and heather talked about playing together again so he could learn some of her songs and be better at accompaniment (is that a word?). everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, talking, singing, eating, kids running and playing, it was really wonderful. i just sat back in awe.

what ever made me think that my world was so small? that i was so terribly incapable of having people in my life that might actually care about me. i'm just so used to there being so few people that i let in. i keep people at a distance, i always have. but i've been learning to not do that so much, to just let go.

so i've had a very full full week of friendship and it feels good. after my trip to charleston and florida, i thought i had made the most growth possible...but apparently, there was still more to learn. i'm sure there's even more still.

pix with our friends, jess, aron, genevieve, and aurora:

pix of the party:

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2 posts in one - garden and cookies

oh my, it's been awhile (sorry dad!! LOL)! so what've we been up to. just hanging out and enjoying the summer with friends and family.

the garden is doing really well. still struggling with tomatoes but finally got the romas to grow. so i've got 2 of them. the heirloom from ren looks like it might be okay, we'll see. we've been eating a lot out of the garden, which has been really nice. can't wait for those cukes though!!

since i'm too lazy today to write much, pictures will have to suffice, these are all my pix from start to finish:

also i did some baking yesterday. made a big batch of fruit pulp cookies. i had gotten some more ripe bananas on sale and needed to freeze them so i had to make room by pulling out some pulp. i had not felt like baking last week after i had this big fight with a muffin recipe i was trying to create. so cookies this time, no muffins...stupid muffins!!

i thought i'd go ahead and share the recipe as well:

fruit pulp cookies:

this is a recipe i've modified from one i found on the internet. it uses a lot of pulp so if you have less pulp, just do the math and divide it.

6 eggs
6 c. pulp
5 c. sugar
1 c. honey
6 T. butter, softened
mix well

in a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients
10 c. ww flour
2 c. oat flour (made from rolled oats)
6 t. baking soda
6 t. salt
3 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
1 t. cardamom

gradually mix dry ingredients into wet, this will get heavy, so you'll probably not be able to keep using a hand mixer. i resort to a hand held pastry blender to finish mixing in the last of the dry ingredients. i think the original recipe was probably for white flour because it doesn't mention this stiffness.

fold in
3 c. raisins

drop on butter greased pans by the teaspoon. bake at 350 for 15 minutes.


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