Creative Discovery Museum.

We took a trip to the Creative Discovery Museum on Thursday. We bought a membership this year, so the kids and I try to go at least once a month. This was Debbie's first trip there. We had fun. The kids got to do some cup stacking, which is a favorite of Kerstin. Also we got to do a new art lesson, each month they do a new art lesson based on a different artist. May's artist was Hans Hofmann, so we did color blocking. There was also a new science lesson. The science lessons change about every 6-8 weeks I think. This time it is called "My body does WHAT!?!" The kids learn all about the body. Things like why you burp, fart, and have boogers; how much blood you have in your body; and the different systems of the body. We also go to see their new exhibit Grossology, which has some rather nasty stuff to it... Like the smell thing, I do NOT want to do that again... There were four different things that you squeeze and smell the air that comes out and you are supposed to push the button next to the answer you think it is: armpit, mouth, feet, or anus. Yes, anus (apparently a dirty one, gag!) I felt rather queazy after that one, I have to admit... Guess I will add pics later, Blogger is taking way to long to update...

some pics...

Kids on Christmas 2009

The kids on Thanksgiving 2008

1890s Days in Ringgold

Today was the 35th annual occurrence of 1890s Days in Ringgold, GA. We went but didn't get to enjoy it too much cause the kids were all grouchy grumps... They wanted to go to the parade, which was at 11 this morning, and we actually made it, barely. So they did enjoy that part, racked up on some candy :). But we have a real hard time going to sleep at night, so 11 a.m. is really early for us to have to be somewhere. I told the kids last night that they needed to go to bed since we had to get up at 9, in order to have breakfast and be out of the house in time to walk into town to see the parade. They did go to their beds, just not to sleep. So when it was time to go today, they were all grumpy grouches (:P) and didn't really enjoy it much. The twins did some of the inflatables. And they all checked out a fire truck and we took some pics of the kids in the cab of the truck. Then we got a funnel cake to share and each got a sno-cone. Sadly the sno-cones weren't that good, the kids were all disappointed that they had spent $2 each on them... After this we went and looked at the car exhibit, my oldest perked up here and started snapping pics of all the cars. The kids all debated over which car they thought was the oldest and which ones were the best ~ relative to them that is :). Then we started heading back towards home, with a stop to watch a clogging team do their thing and a dance academy that had some girls we know in it. They all did excellent jobs of course. So now we are back home and kids are spread throughout the house playing various games or drawing...

Creek, Park & Grill

My niece, Debbie, is staying with me for a couple of days. And we decided, last minute, to go to grocery store and then grill at park for supper. Debbie doesn't eat meat and my kids love steak, so we made both steak and chicken :) Actually we grilled burgers, chicken, and steak. It was all very yummy. And it was only my second time using a grill, so was good practice for when we get on the road. I hope to do most of our cooking on a grill, and go mostly raw for the rest. The kids' dad joined us as well, so was good :).
Before going to the park, we stopped by the creek for them to wade in a bit. It has been really hot, so the cold water felt good. Little Max, our doxie, enjoyed going about in the water too. He was funny on some of the big rocks though, he was afraid to jump across. I took pictures and will get them up as soon as I find my camera cable... Max also found a tree with a hole in it, which he promptly stuck his head in! The kids had fun wading for a while then we went to the park. The kids played at the park for hours. Poor Max had to stay in his doggy stroller though, pets are not allowed in the park :(.
What is it about a hot grill that attracts kids? It seemed like most of the time I was there, I kept having to chase other kids away from the grill. Was funny one time though, this kid came walking by real close, did a double take, and says ' mmm, steak! ' :) The only problem we had was I had forgotten to take any knives, good thing the meat was fairly tender!

Max is so funny, when he sees a hole or gap somewhere he 'hunkers' down and tries to look before he gets too close. Guess he is following the whole look before you leap sentiment! :)

Debbie wading in the creek

Korina heading towards the water, Kerstin is not so sure

Kerstin smiling for the camera

Konrad, always the first one to the water and always soaked by the time we leave... There is no just get your feet wet with him, he goes out and FLOP right into the water!

Kerstin, AKA 'Queen of the Creek'!

A hole in a tree at the creek...

Max's head in a hole in a tree by the creek... :)

Max 'just hanging around' He decided to sneak out the back zipper of his stroller, then realized we had attached his leash to the handle... No worries everyone, he wears a harness and is actually really strong so if he had wanted to he could have pulled the stroller over and took off!

Max needing a hand up (at least he conned her into thinking that...)

All in all was a good evening I think.

FOTR

I have found out about a really neat phenomenon going on :) It is called full-time RVing with families, or families on the road ~ FOTR. Families of all shapes and sizes and numbers are loading into whatever type of Recreational Vehicle fits their lifestyle needs and budget, and are hitting the road. Most of these families sell their 'stick' home, if they owned one, and move completely into these RVs. They sell, give away, or store what doesn't fit and/or what they deem unnecessary to the current adventure. Then they go exploring. I am jealous! The more I read about this, the more I want to do it. If I could figure out a way to make money on the road while still being able to take care of my kids we would be out the door. The kids and I have even been going to places that sell RVs and looking inside them to see if we could fit :) We have determined that we could actually fit in quite a small one just so we could have this experience.
I have not traveled very much in my lifetime. I have only been in a handful of states, all right here in the southeast US. So I would love to just go and explore everywhere. I also think that it would be a great opportunity for my kids. There are so many historical places to be seen across the country, as well as interesting, not well-known places to find out about. So for now, this is my dream. I want to take the kids and hit the road. I would like to wake up someplace new and be able to go out and explore and see what we can see, but still be able to be 'home' at the end of the day. Also, my family is somewhat spread out so would be nice to be able to visit without worrying about where we will sleep...
Now, I just have to figure out how to afford getting an RV that will house us and be safe on a very limited income. That seems to be the hard part right now, along with waiting. I am one of those people that make up their mind about something, then want it yesterday :)

Impromptu Volunteering

Today the kids and I were walking through town and decided to partake in some impromptu volunteering or as my son said 'we are volunteering without telling anyone' :) The local dfcs office puts pinwheels out for child abuse awareness: 'Pinwheels for Prevention of Child Abuse'. Well, recently we had some pretty strong winds and storms come through so these pinwheels were blown all apart and scattered instead of standing up and spinning pretty. The kids and I walked by and stopped to look at them, I asked 'you wanna fix them?' and the kids said 'yea, sure!' so we sat and put the pinwheels back together as best we could and stood them back up in their places. As we were working on them someone drove by and yelled out the window 'looking good ya'll, keep up the good work!' :) We got some funny looks from people coming in and out of the office, but oh well, we had fun working on them and did some good at the same time...

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and for more than 10 years the Catoosa County Family Collaborative (CCFC), area students, and citizens have placed pinwheels at different spots in the community to represent children who have been abused or neglected in Catoosa County. Phil Ledbetter of the CCFC said about 11 abused or neglected children are represented by one pinwheel and there are 100 pinwheels total.

Spread the Word for Charity

After my last blog post, someone from hotelscombined.com contacted me to let me know that they will donate money to the charity of your choice if you spread the word about their comparison price service. Check out this page where you can see how $5, $10, or $20 will be given to the charity of your choice.

JDRF Walk

Today, April 25th 2010, the kids and I and a couple of friends walked in the juvenile diabetes walk held at Coolidge Park. We try to do this every year, have since Korina was diagnosed. We have a team name ~ Korina's Krew ~ and we keep talking about having t-shirts made, but always forget until it is too late. Also every year we try to raise money for JDRF~Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, in hopes of finding a cure. This year we set our goal at $200 because we knew everyone's pockets are tight, but we managed to raise $300! Thanks to our loving family and friends.

The walk this year was pretty grueling for me, I am too out of shape :P We ended up climbing some steep hills and walking across the bridges four times along with the rest of the route. I am sore! But we enjoyed it :) And the kids really liked playing in the fountain there too.

Look how windy it was this day! We had an especially hard time walking straight while crossing the bridges. This is on the Walnut Street Bridge, a walking bridge in Chattanooga, TN.

Our young Krew members: Debbie, Trista, Korina, Kerstin, and Konrad

Kerstin showing off her new shirt

Debbie is looking for Korina in the hedges :)

Ah, Debbie found her and Korina is on the run!

Kerstin is freezing after being in the fountain!

Korina on a statue at Coolidge Park

Konrad on a statue at Coolidge Park

Some of our Krew members riding the Coolidge Park Carousel

Konrad on an inflatable

Korina in front of an inflatable

Life

Life has been crazy lately. We have had lots of changes going on, lots of things to get used to, and lots of stuff to do. The kids and I have moved, and in so doing have downsized. So one thing we have to do is figure out what to part with and where to put what we didn't part with. Another thing to get used to I am divorced now. It has been very emotional for me. More so than I thought it would be after knowing it was coming for so very long, practically since the day we were married. I am not sure that he ever really wanted to be married to me to begin with, guess I should have left well enough alone back then... My granny says it is very similar to going through having someone die. I think she is right. I often feel like a part of me has died now. He and I are trying to have a good relationship though, not just for the kids, but because we are friends. That doesn't seem to lessen the pain though. Everyday it hurts and I am very sad.

Almost Final Christmas Party

Well Friday night the kids and I went to my mom's Christmas party. Yes, I do realize it is the middle of January, but due to various custody things we generally have ours late so that more people can be there :) While we were there the kids and I decided to pose in front of her blue snowman curtains and take pictures. You will also notice that the girls and I decided to be festive and spray our hair red (well it turns up various shades of pink on the girls, but bright red on mine). My son would not let us color his.
The kids pictures came out great, but my color is a little off :P We had a pretty good time. Got to have dinner with my mom, brothers, cousins, and various nieces and nephews. We did miss having one niece there though; my youngest brother's daughter lives in south GA so she wasn't here for this one, but we did get to celebrate with her on Christmas day (so thanks to her mom for letting us have her Christmas!). And after dinner and a lot of talking we exchanged presents. So now I only have to get with one more family and we will have given out all our presents for this year. I hope we get to see them soon!

Random Prose

In an effort to hone my writing skills I have been trying to write down just about anything I think of. I didn't even know I wanted to write until recently so these are just baby steps, but here are two of my bits that I have published on Associated Content and a link to my page there. Also, if you get a chance to read some of the other writers' materials, they are pretty good and just by clicking on the links you could help someone out :)

Smart Start
You start the day off like any other,
except it isn't...

It is a new day, a breaking dawn, a second chance
to live your life the way that is best for you.

Do you take advantage of this new day
or do you treat it as any other...?

Days of Our Lives
"Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives."

Ha! I wish my life was that orderly!

More like sand from a sandcastle
being blown away by gusts of wind;
I grab handfuls of sand to put back in place,
But the grains just slip through my fingers
and refuse to take shape.

Now; THAT is a day of my life.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/448333/deann_wilson.html

Hello World

This is my first true experience with blogging. As I was trying, very unsuccessfully, to take a nap today I kept thinking about a blog and what I would call it. Well my niece always say Peace, Love, and Chicken Grease to me when we are leaving and I was thinking about that, but that chicken grease is probably not really good for you... Then started thinking well what kind of grease IS good for you and elbow grease popped in my head. My momma and grandma were always saying use your elbow grease, or a little elbow grease won't hurt you, or something to that effect. So peace, love, and elbow grease started going through my head; but I though love, peace, and elbow grease sounded better and that is how I came to call the blog that if anyone cared :).
Also this post tells you why I have a hard time sleeping, my mind likes to go on these trips of thinking about any and every thing. Maybe starting this blog and adding to it as I think og things will help to empty my mind so I can sleep... or it will just empty it so I can refill it, oh well I guess either would be good.