Empty Nester – Extraordinaire

Archive for the ‘Daily Life’ Category

42-48/365

I’m really loving this project. Now, if I could just get to work on the Day In The Life photo project.

WEEK 7, YEAR 1

Sunday, the girls took some quiet time at home to work on the math projects they requested over the summer.  No, really.  Ravynn is 10 and is heading into 6th grade. She’s reviewing pre-Algebra and wants to learn Algebra when she’d ready.  I see that happening in August.  🙂

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Blessed Midsummer!  Our ritual table.

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The girls have gone nailpolish CRAZY!  I caught them on ‘home spa’ day.

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Ravynn was a dear and rubbed my feet after an especially long day.  She’s dreaming up some secret plans at the same time.

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Whisper with Big Girl hair after her shower.  She’s always so proud when she gets it wrapped [mostly] right.

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My girls are spending a week with Grandma. I do not love this, but I’m not as crazy this year as I have been in the past.  Being a mom of 1 [Alek is off in Houston still] has been weird, but I’ve been able to hang out with Jordan a little more.

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Friday, the world tried to fall apart.  Three trees down in the neighborhood; one on a tree [this one], one on a power line, and one [behind the house you see here] on a house which started a fire.  Thankfully power wasn’t out for long and the cleanup went quickly.

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Foodie Pen Pal Reveal – June 2012

I want to begin with a disclaimer that I am not on my home computer and unfortunately don’t have the name of the person who sent this amazing FPP box to me this month.

Foodie Pen Pal – June 2012

 What an amazing selection arrived in the mail.  She hit on every key aspect that I value in food 😉  And even included “something disgusting” for the kids.  I took the picture right away, so the girls and I could enjoy the DARK chocolate while we mixed up the honey bran muffins and made plans for everything else.  The muffins were lovely, but didn’t last long [I love having kids who like healthy muffins just as much as non-healthy cupcakes].  What looks like a box of stacked tomatoes is actually a tube [think toothpaste-style] of tomato paste.  Perfect for those Indian recipes that don’t use a whole can.  Bear Naked granola was nabbed by someone else as it sat with the rest of our cereal and I understand it was really good.  And the pilaf and Italian spices in a grinder have been used and enjoyed.  The “something disgusting” sent for the kids was LOVED by all the kids [and the husband].  They let me try a bite of one of them and I will admit… that’s enough to last me through eternity 🙂

But wow!  How awesome was it to get this in the mail ??

Here’s a detailed explanation of the program:

• On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
• You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
• The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
• You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
• Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
• Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!
• If you’re in the UK, please contact Carol Anne from This Is Rock Salt at rocksalt@thisisrocksalt.com to get involved!

Sign up at The Lean Green Bean

35-41/365

Should have posted this yesterday, but I used that as a catch up day. Very excited to be back on track 🙂

WEEK 6, YEAR 1

Day 35 was hard 🙁  We took Alek to the airport to send him off for a 3-week dance intensive.  The longest I’ve been away from any of my kids has been an almost 1-week visit with their grandmother.  Needless to say, “mama’s freakin’ out!!”

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Fathers Day Dinner.  Seared scallops with wilted Asian slaw. The kids told me they as good as Chef Ramsey’s.  Haha!  As long as no one calls me a stupid donkey, we’re good.

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In my world, dragonflies = faeries.  This one landed on me an then was kind enough to pose for a picture.

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Pretty girls.  We stopped by the park after dance camp and played in the water.  Does my heart good when sisters are friends.

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Yeah!!!  My girls are learning something from Winnie Cooper 🙂  We picked up the ‘middle school’ book for Ravynn. She read it in two days and said that it was a “nice review”.  She’s now moved on to a pre-algebra workbook. 

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Girls night! Ravynn did my hair in a fishtail braid that she learned from her new American Girl magazine.

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Also from American Girl magazine… a poster the girls are coloring together.

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28-34/365

Yes, we got behind again. Life… you know…

WEEK 5, YEAR 1

The girls wanted to take a walk around town looking for Walking Men Project statues.  As we hunted around AU for their contribution, the girls took the opportunity to walk the fountain.  Ravynn was a little more sure of her footing than Whisper was.

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PIZZA!!!  Homemade 🙂

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Nature at Shadyside. 

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No matter where you go in Anderson, you WILL be stopped by a train.  When we stopped for our third of the day, we decided to take a picture.

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More nature at Shadyside.  I love when ‘in color’ photographs look black and white.

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Flat Stanley [from Cali] with the big grafitti eyeball we found in an alley downtown. 

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Researching and writing at Panera.  In fact, those are my plans for today as well. 

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And they’re off…

Our Flat People  have hit the streets via Priority Mail and are off toward their destinations.  We’re waiting patiently for their arrivals, but we wanted to update you on their plans.

Flat Sapphire has made her way to California.  She’s very excited as Cali was on her “must visit list”. 

She is looking for a place to visit after she returns.

Flat Spring is on her way to Valparaiso, Indiana.  She’s visiting old famly friends and we wish we could have gone with her.

She is also looking for a place to visit after she returns.

Flat Stefan is travelling with Alek to Texas and then is heading to New York City.  The flat dancer is looking forward to this artistic journey.

He will be looking for a place to visit after he returns.

Flat Jordan was also lucky enough to find a host in one of his dream locations. He’s on his way to France and we can’t wait to share his adventures.

He will be looking for a place to visit after he returns.

Flat Ophelia is on her way to Massachusetts.  I don’t know how close she is going to Boston or Salem, but hopefully it’s not too far and she can check a dream destination off her list.

She is looking for a place to visit after she returns.

The Flat Gothlings had initially scheduled a trip to New Hampshire with plans to make a road trip to New York City.  I just got an email from the coordinator of this trip who reported interest in flying the Flat Gothlings to Afghanistan to visit with the father of one of the girls in the NH group.  They might be gone for awhile, but that’s okay.

Where Do You Want to Go?

I don’t remember when I first learned of Flat Stanley.  I’ve never read the books and the kids have never done Flat Stanley projects for school.  I suspect a friend mentionned it or it was featured on one of the blogs I follow.  I do know that it’s popped under my radar several times since then and several times I thought about doing a home version.  Neither of the boys were especially interested and the project was too intended for their benefit for me to do all the work.  Ravynn and Whisper, however, are incredibly interested.

So far, they’ve designed Flat Stanleys for themselves and one for each of their brothers.  I have one ready for me and the girls have completed the pair that I was going to do.  We have trips scheduled for a couple of them and are signed on to serve as a host family for someone else. We really look foward to that.

After browsing the website, it seems there aren’t rules so much as suggestions, so it’s up to each participant to decide how they want their Flat experience to go.  I’ve talked with the girls and at this point, this is the plan.

• Write a bio for each of our Flat People [posted below]
• Ask hosts to fill out travel logs and sign signature pages [encouraging them to decorate the pages]
• Allow return of digital picture files
• Plan visits for 1-2 weeks. 
• Create a binder to hold the travel logs and signature pages. 
• Blog their trips!

First, though, let me introduce our Flat People to you.

Flat Sapphire [designed by Ravynn]

Birthplace: Anderson, IN
Birthdate: 6/9/2012
Favorite color: Blue
Lucky number: 5
Hobbies:

• Drawing
• Reading
• Exploring nature

Where she wants to visit:

• Japan
• Caliornia
• Manhattan

She wants to learn about:

• Nature
• Museums
• Famous people

 
Flat Spring[designed by Whisper]

Birthplace: Anderson, IN
Birthdate: 6/9/2012
Favorite color: Orange
Lucky number: 7
Hobbies:

• Ballet
• Volleyball

Where she wants to visit:

• France
• Africa
• China
• Texas

She wants to learn about:

• Science
• History
• Your schools

 
Flat Stefan[designed by Ravynn]

Birthplace: Anderson, IN
Birthdate: 6/9/2012
Favorite color: Orange
Lucky number: 7
Hobbies:

• Dance
• Acting
• Flirting with girls

Where he wants to visit:

• Moscow
• New York City
• Virginia

He wants to learn about:

• The Arts
• History
• What teenagers do for fun

Flat Jordan [designed by Whisper]

Birthplace: Anderson, IN
Birthdate: 6/9/2012
Favorite color: Blue
Lucky number: 16
Hobbies:

• Tennis
• Hanging out with his girlfriend
• Computers

Where he wants to visit:

• France
• Canada
• China

He wants to learn about:

• Technology
• History
• Colleges

Flat Gothlings[designed by Whisper & Ravynn]

Birthplace: Anderson, IN
Birthdate: 6/9/2012
Favorite color: Orange & Purple
Lucky number: 7 & 5
Hobbies:

• Dance, volleyball, and tennis
• Canoing, making people laugh

Where he wants to visit:

• Canada
• Japan
• Texas
• Europe
• New York

He wants to learn about:

• History
• Food

Flat Ophelia [designed by Sheila]

Birthplace: Anderson, IN
Birthdate: 6/9/2012
Favorite color: Black
Lucky number: 13
Hobbies:

• Gardening
• Dancing in the moonlight

Where she wants to visit:

• Salem
• New Orleans
• Ireland

She wants to learn about:

• Urban legends
• Old cemeteries
• History
• Famous people

If you know anyone who would be interested in hosting one of our Flat People, please let us know.

21-27/365

Yes, I plan to post these 365 updates on Saturdays, but I’ll be honest. Yesterday was difficult for me.  It would have been my dad’s 85th birthday.  I really just wanted to sit around and snuggle my kids.

But, we’re back at it and I have some photos from this past week to show you.

WEEK 4, YEAR 1

Last Saturday, Ravynn decided to start a 3,000 piece puzzle.  She made quick work of most of the border, but then decided she didn’t like sitting on the floor to work on it, so she boxed it back up. After spending a couple of days rubbing her sore back, I thought this was a great idea. 

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After feeling really proud of myself for going to bed early, I was slightly annoyed with Eric when he woke me up to see this “really cool thing” in the living room.  I got over that immediately when I saw this incredible dragonfly on the ceiling fan.  I wish the camera had captured how gold it was. 

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Sweet snuggle bug waiting patiently for her turn on the computer.  She got a little sun.

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Yes… those raspberry bushes that I planted in the fall and keep stressing over [we need more rain!!] finally produced fruit.  Two little berries.  I let the girls have them.  I understand they needed sugar.

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Ravynn completed her Flat Person and wanted a photo of the two of them together.  After watching the first two seasons of Vampire Diaries, she was understandably upset when I referred to her creation as a doppelganger. 

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Whisper go a foot tattoo to remind her while I was at work that I love her CRAZY BIG.

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THIS is what happens when I let Alek make his own lunch… spaghetti salad. I don’t even know what to say about it…

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My Path Less Traveled

14-20/365

Just about caught up with the 365 pictures 🙂  This should do it, then I’ll be back on track to post every Sunday. 

WEEK 3, YEAR 1

Alek’s final paperwork ready to head off for his summer intensive.  He attended his first real audition in Febrary and was accepted into a relatively high level of class. Unfortunately another dance opportunity kept him from attending the 6-week program. 

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While Whisper attended a birthday party at a local park, Ravynn and I took a short walk around the walking trail.  How lovely that we have a little covered bridge in the middle of the park.

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You’ll see a theme. I just adore the wildflowers [weeds?] that grow in central Indiana.  They don’t compare to the ones I enjoyed as a child, but some of them are moving our way. I’ll do my best to photograph them as I find them. 

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 More weeds.  These tiny little flowers would be welcome all over my property. 

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 Cleaning up the art projects the girls brought home from school.  Some are just too big to realistically keep, so we photograph then and keep the pictures. 

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 Walking Man party!!  Jordan’s girlfriend created this 10.5′ masterpiece as part of the Waking Man Project.  Because it was near dusk, the Anderson Indian didn’t photograph well.  One of the goals we have for the summer is to find them all.  Watch for photographic evidence.

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