This has been a super busy week for us! I've neglected blogging because Reagan and I have had tons to do..picking out flowers and vegetables for the garden, getting a new patio set, making our first pass through the house to completely declutter it, school, cleaning out the garage..etc., etc., etc.

I've also been spending all of my free time revewing curriculum choices for next year so I can be prepared for the local homeschooling fair and get my order in. I want time to review it to make sure that I'm picking the best program before we start it.

Oh...and I'm finally reading the entire Chronicles of Narnia series. Can you believe I never read it as a child? I absolutely love it and am just in awe of how C.S. Lewis encouraged children to explore God's love in a way that they can easily understand.

I really hope I can find a unit study on the series...I would love to delve deeper into it with Reagan one day!

Hope everyone has a good weekend! Oh, the giveaway--we had ONE entry!! So the winner is Lu of Hyperactive Lu! Email me with your address and I'll send your package out! If I don't hear from you in the next few days I'll get it from Jana and send it to you!! :)

Reagan's Big Weekend at Purdue!

A tradition in the making

--For the past three years we've made plans to attend Purdue's Spring Game (which is really a scrimmage) and the Bug Bowl and all the other fun events they host, for Josh's birthday. Reagan loves it...and we've actually made it twice now (the first year, when Reagan had just turned one, we ALL came down with the stomach flu!)

This year Reagan was so excited to see (and hold) the tarantulas...they are all she's been talking about for months. There were tons of other fun things to do...milking cows (which we passed on this time!), holding farm animals, making rockets, participating in contests, learning about local ecology, entomology and all the species of plants and tree growth that live in this area. Not to mention tons of great food, horses to ride and craft projects galore for the kids--that introduced them to chemistry, biology and more! Purdue does an EXCELLENT job with this family event. Really...if you live ANYWHERE near there...GO to next year's event!

Here are some photos of us at this year's Spring Fest!

Reagan riding a pony at the Cowboys for Cancer Booth!


Reagan holding a millipede!


Reagan holding a hissing cockroach! (We went back the next day and the roaches were VERY stressed out about being held a couple of thousand times so he really did hiss at her...she wasn't daunted in the least!)


I forget what this little guy is called..."horn" comes to mind, but we do know that he eventually turns into a moth! He reminds me of chewed up gum!


Purdue has a GORGEOUS campus...all brick and impeccable landscaping!


Josh and Reagan after the game, with her autographed football. (They were both a little awe-struck!)


I love this face Reagan is making!


Ok is he not adorable!?? This poor baby calf was soooo exhausted from the people oohing and awwing over him, that he needed help just to get up and reposition! He looks like swiss mocha!


Reagan showing off her coyote footprint cast--she thought it was so neat to actually get to see bones and stuffed (as in REAL stuffed) animals as well as make casts of their footprints.


Reagan hanging out with one of the many fun creatures roaming around this weekend (a huge KUDOS to Purdue students and faculty AGAIN!)
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This little guy was in love with Reagan. He kept cheeping at her and even gave her a peck on her mouth (YUCK!) and tried to run away when the students tried to take him back. He eventually nuzzled right up on her neck and kept closing his eyes, trying to sleep on her shoulder! SOO SWEET!



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And finally, here are two days worth of photos of Reagan and her beloved tarantula. There are actually TWO tarantulas here...the last photo is of a "baby" tarantula (only five years old) who had rarely been handled before the first day of the event (Reagan held this one on the second day of the event). The poor student that was handling the "baby" (Rosie is the spider's name) was shaking like a leaf and very nervous about Reagan holding Rosie...little he did realize Reagan is a pro at this type of thing now!

Don't Look Now Optimus....

Every child of the 80s desperately wanted their own Transformer to come to life. I personally loved Optimus. The fight between good and evil..cool cars transforming into even cooler robots...robots that LOVED us? ...Yeah, transformers were COOL.

And now, a new generation of Transformer loving kids abound, thanks in part to the enthusiasm 1980s-geeks have had in transforming our big, bad, aluminium part kicking pals to the big screen. My own daughter fell in a BIG way for Bumblebee.



Last July, in fact, she was running around playing with her very own imaginary friend--Bumblebee. This is when I stepped in and found a plush Bumblebee for her to sleep with...a retro Bumblebee if you will. Old-school. He turns inside out to make a car and then changes into bumper-kicking alien Bumblebee. Reagan loves him.

He did fall by the wayside for a few months a while back, but Bumblebee is back in full force..in a brand new way. This time, Reagan is the one in charge---and Bumblebee, poor, poor Bumblebee---gets to be her baby. Sorry, Michael Bay. Even you can't top this one!

A little too southern!

Most southerners drop parts of their words. I do it. My family back home does it. And even Reagan, who is one part southern, does it. I posted a while back about how she would drop the "a" on adult....making it sound more like "dolt" (which is, admittedly, sometimes correct!)

The other day I realized I needed to pay much more attention to our speech patterns as this was the conversation that occurred as we were leaving the park:

Mommy: What way do we go now Reagan?
Reagan: To the right!
Mommy: Very good! I'm so proud of you for learning all this!
Reagan: Mommy, I can drive now.
Mommy: Oh really?
Reagan: Yep, I can drive because now I know all my 'irections! (And if you read that properly without the "d" sound...you'll realize EXACTLY what she said!)

Reaganisms!

The other day I found Reagan under the sink examining the pipes and explaining to me the similiar parts the bathroom and kitchen sinks shared and the ones they didn't....keep in mind this is the same girl that took apart a pen to see what kind of parts were in it and the same girl that also took apart our back yard screen door to see how it worked. Oy vey!

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Reagan and I were painting our fingernails one afternoon. I did hers, then she wanted to do mine. I made the mistake of touching one and messing it up. Big HUGE sigh from Reagan: "MOOOOOOMMMMYYYY--you messed it up. That's ok, I'll just redo it." (She was actually doing a terrific job, which I made the mistake of telling her...) Then I noticed one of her fingernails needed to be redone....her comment "No, mommy, *I'LL* redo it. I'm VERY GOOD at painting fingernails." And the she proceeded to meticulously redo every single nail on both of our fingers as if disgusted by my inability to do something so mundane.

I'm not even sure she qualifies as a kid anymore...she's a little adult.

Hi Company Girls!

We've had gorgeous weather..which means exhaustion in the finest form--play dates, picnics, HOURS collecting bugs and flowers and a nice pink complexion for Reagan. And later today we're off for a weekend of football and.....wait for it..more bugs! Purdue hosts their spring game (scrimmage) this weekend and their entomology department goes all out with a host of events for the little ones including a bug bowl! Reagan loves it!

If you live anywhere close, I highly recommend this weekend as a family event! And speaking of family events, my best friend is due back home from Italy sometime in the next year. She desperately needs a break and we haven't seen each other in a while..so we're planning a relaxing vacation just for the two of us. We're thinking about an antiquing/junking trip. Any suggestions?

Have a GREAT weekend and enter my giveaway if you'd like...see post below or link on the side!

A Thank You! And a Giveaway!

I've said before that this blog is just a bunch of my ramblings, ideas, crafts, bargain shopping...a huge mix of stuff that matters to no one else but me. But apparently it does matter to someone, because lately I've had quite a few subscribers and followers join up! And you have no idea (or maybe you do) how exciting that is...to know that others actually care what you have to say!

As a thank you for hanging out with me and listening to my rants and raves and bragging, I decided I would host a giveaway. Feel free to share with others so they can enter, or don't, since this giveaway is mostly for those of you that stick with me!

Here is what's up for grabs:
Garden Gourmet Lemon Tea by Debbie Mumm (I bought a ton of these on clearance at a cute little gift shop and haven't tried it yet but it sounds sooo good!)
Gooseberry Patch Breakfast and Bunch Recipe Booklet
Gooseberry Patch Family Favorite Recipes Booklet
Orange Photo Album with Billowy-Butterfly Ribbon! (I've made a ton of these in various colors for craft shows and they are available for sale for $7.50 each if anyone is interested just email me at lovegrowsbest@yahoo.com)



And here's how you win:

1. Leave a comment telling me what your favorite post has been.
2. If you're a subscriber or a friend leave a SECOND post letting me know that.
3. If you blog about the giveaway, link back to this post and give yourself another entry!

I'll choose a winner on April 22nd at 12:00 pm (yes, lunchtime!) (And don't worry if your comment doesn't show..I'll be unable to moderate comments til Sunday evening..everything should show up then!)

Dino party

I don't think I ever shared pictures of Reagan's third birthday party--here are a few!

Reagan looking less than enthused with the outfit I made for her!


The dino-plates that warned not to put them in the microwave or they would catch fire!


The Dino-Dig! (We hid bones in sand for the kids to dig up!)


Pin-the-tail-on-the-dino!


The volcano cake! (If anyone is interested in how I made this, let me know and I'll piece together a tutorial!)

WOW

I found this video clip at Homeschool Creations and insantly knew I wanted to feature it here.

(NOTE: I wept for despair when Obama was voted in....but that's another story)

11 years....

My oldest furbaby is 11 today...isn't she beautiful!? (Sidenote: Fix Red Eye does not work for eye-shine!)


(This picture is of Reagan and Pritsha in Reagan's "cave" after playing "shiny", Pritsha's favorite game)