Ballet

Hannah and Lily had their first visitors day of the year this past week.  I was able to attend Hannah's, but I came down with a stomach virus and past it to Jade by Thursday and was not able to see Lily.  It about killed me to stay home.  I was told Lily was the star of her class though.  Of course she is probably the oldest in her class and took it the year before, so she has an advantage.  

When I went to see Hannah I was amazed at how graceful and grown up she is becoming.  I know I say it all the time, but she is growing up way too fast!  I took some great photos of Hannah and her class.  Here is one of my favorites I took.  

The Little Monkey

Check out my store: www.lilmonkey.net

Want Some Extra Cash?

Home: 601-923-9502

Cell: 601-291-6624

Email: jalyah@gmail.com

myshp.com/mcasey

Businesses

I have been working on creating my e-business for the past two months.  I decided that I would start selling Stanley Home Products again in addition to starting my own eBay store.  My very own Stanley page is located here: myshp.com/mcasey 

My eBay store is called The Little Monkey and is located here: LilMonkey.net

I hope I am prosperous in my entrepreneurship.  My first shipments will include some holy saints necklaces, bracelets, and rosaries.  Also, I have a shipment of Stanley products and airsoft bb guns coming soon.  Wish me luck! 

Sympathy vs. Understanding

Literature: The Depth of Our Sympathy vs. Understanding

"Many scholars forget, it seems to me, that our enjoyment of the great works of literature depends more upon the depth of our sympathy than upon our understanding. The trouble is that very few of their laborious explanations stick in the memory. The mind drops them as a branch drops its overripe fruit. ... Again and again I ask impatiently, "Why concern myself with these explanations and hypotheses?" They fly hither and thither in my thought like blind birds beating the air with ineffectual wings. I do not mean to object to a thorough knowledge of the famous works we read. I object only to the interminable comments and bewildering criticisms that teach but one thing: there are as many opinions as there are men. "


Hellen Keller

Birthdays

The girls had their birthday party at the skating rink again this year.  It turned out good.  They had fun skating and Tahnya brought Tristen to the party.  She and Lily were born on the exact same day.  I think it is neat.  They received a lot of nice presents.  

When we got home and were proceeding to open up all of the goodies, Lily came to me and said, "This is the best birthday, ever!"  That is exactly what a mom wants to hear her child say after planning and executing a party for them. 

 I made a ballerina slippers cake with a heart cake on the side for both of them.  That is what they picked out after much deliberation.  ;)  In addition, it had to be pink for Hannah and yellow for Lily.  No other colors would do.  

Walking

Jade is officially walking now.  She walks everywhere except for when she wants to get there fast, she crawls.  She can crawl supa-fast.  :)  

Homeschool 2008-2009

We began our homeschool year shortly after I completed all of my work.  It is going good so far.  Hannah is on the second grade level while Lily began her kindergarten studies.  Lily's first lesson in Kindergarten, I remember teaching Hannah the same lesson, was basically a review for her.  I can see now that she is going to fly through all of the 5-K material I have.  She is so advanced for her age.  She is still 4 you know.  I remember trying to teach Hannah at the same age and she was just not ready, so we held off another year.  Hannah is not behind by no means, but she is not advanced either.  She is still having a little trouble with her reading.  She is improving quickly though.  Once she gets that down, I think she will advance in no time.  Hannah loves math.  It comes more easily to her than reading.  We moved the chalkboard inside the other day and started playing game on it to improve her reading skills and she loves it.  I think it is helping a lot.  Lily plays the games too.  She just blows my mind.  I think it might because she has Hannah and has always been right there with us during Hannah's lessons that she is so advanced for her age.  

We went to our first CHEC group event on Friday.  Tim, Hannah, Lily and I all went bowling with the group.  I wasn't planning on bowling, but Tim talked me into it and I had a lot of fun.  He beat me of course.  I didn't do too shabby though.  ;)  Hannah and Lily loved it and made friends in the process.  That is what it is all about.  I'm still sore from it.  You don't realize how many muscles are used to bowl until the next day, LOL.  

Testing Times

This past month was a very trying month for me.  I had fallen behind in my school work and had to catch-up to keep my financial aid and continue pursuing my degree.  I completed 20 tasks in 18 days.  Most all of the tasks were papers of some sort ranging between 2 and 8 pages.  One was a research report and one task was to create to lesson plans for health and science that were related in some way.  The lesson plans took me 3 out of the 18 days to complete and each were about 10 pages long.  I received a score of 4 out 4 (perfect!) for both plans.  I couldn't believed it.  Achieving that, lifted my spirits and motivated me to complete the rest in time.  After I completed all of the 20 tasks, I still had to pass a final exam before the month was up and I did.  So now I am in goo standing and can continue to pursue my degree in education.  It is getting very close now.  I can't wait!  

Jade

Jade got her first tooth yesterday!  She is crawling everywhere now and pulling up.  She took her first step between the chair and the couch last Thursday, the 17th.  She was trying to get a wrapper from me while I was sitting in the chair, so I set it over on the couch and she let go of the chair and stepped to the couch!  I couldn't believe it.  She will be 9 months on Tuesday. Time just flies by way too fast.

First Word

Jade has started saying Mama.  She started about a week ago saying mamamamamama when she was mad and wanted me to pick her up.  Now she says mama mama, it's getting clearer and it is so cute.  Even if she usually says it when she is mad and wants me to pick her up.  :)

Water Balloon Fun

The girls were playing with balloons in the jacuzzi today.  They got freakishly big.

Click HERE to see more pictures. 

Hannah and the Wild Cats

Here is a video of Hannah's softball game.  They are the number one U8 Softball team!

-They were until tonight's game.  The other team was tied for 1st place and they won.  So Hannah's team came in second this year, again.  Overall, the wild cats had 11 wins and 3 losses.   

T-Ball Lily

Here is a video of Lily playing T-Ball.  Her team is called the Blue Angels.  She is such a cutie!

Baby Jade

Here is a video of Jade sitting up and playing with her toy she got for Christmas.  She can sit up very well by herself now.  

Dr. Laura's Home-Schooling blog

Home-schooling Does Not Hamper Socialization
Posted By drlaura On May 22, 2008 (12:00 am) In Home-Schooling

One of the criticisms lobbed at the home-schooling community/movement is that home-schooled children are being shielded from diversity and a multitude of challenging influences which will ultimately handicap them in their ability to function in the “real world.”  In other words, “How will these children function in our diverse, multicultural society when they are raised in a setting with monolithic views and beliefs?”

Research examining home-schooled students’ academic achievements have consistently found that they score higher than the national norms on standard achievement tests.  So the only grenade left to throw at home-schooling parents is that they are hurting their children...

Read the ENTIRE Article at: http://www.drlaurablog.com/2008/05/22/home-schooling-does-not-hamper-socialization/
Article taken from Dr. Laura's Blog - http://www.drlaurablog.com

Scary Lizard

I was taking something outside today and when I walked back in I saw the strangest looking lizards.  Here are some pictures I took of them.  The longer I looked at them the scarier they got. ;-)

Why Parents Love Homeschooling

WGU Receives Distance Learning Awards from USDLA

The United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) presented 2008 International Distance Learning Awards in two categories to Western Governors University and its executive director of the WGU Teachers College, Dr. Janet Schnitz. The April 22nd awards were given in conjunction with the 2008 National Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 1987, USDLA has been the world's premier distance learning association. The USDLA International Awards program honored outstanding individuals and organizations for excellence in the field distance learning, education and training.

Western Governors University received the 21st Century Award for Best Practices in Distance Learning, in recognition for WGU's achievements as the nation's first competency-based online university and its success in expanding access to higher education for adults seeking bachelor's and master's degrees.

Dr. Janet Schnitz, executive director of the WGU Teachers College, received the award for Outstanding Leadership by an Individual in the Field of Distance Learning. Since 2004, Dr. Schnitz has led the rapid growth and development of the WGU Teachers College, which currently offers 22 programs. The college currently enrolls 5,000 students in programs that lead to initial teacher licensure, helping develop highly qualified K-12 teachers in such high-needs areas as mathematics, science, and special education. In 2006, the WGU Teachers College became the first and only online teacher education program to receive accreditation by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

"We are very honored to have received these two awards from the USDLA," said WGU President Dr. Robert Mendenhall. "WGU has been committed to our mission to provide access to higher education through distance learning and our competency-based learning model. We've succeeded in large part because of the dedication of individuals such as Dr. Schnitz. Her unparalleled leadership has guided our Teachers College to many 'firsts,' such as our NCATE accreditation, and it has become one of the premier teachers colleges in the nation."

WGU will also be featured on the USDLA site as an award winner. Read the WGU press release about the awards.

Sitting

Jade is sitting up by herself!  I timed her a little while ago to see how long she could sit without falling over and it was 11 minutes.  She reached for something and fell to the side.  I can't believe she can sit for that long.  She is growing up too fast.  I figured she was going to do stuff early.  She turned 6 months yesterday.  We had a WIC appointment yesterday as well.  While we were there the electricity went out in the Health department.  Weird, huh.  Thankfully, they had already done my paper work before it went out.  Jade weighed 14 lbs. and 12 oz.  The nutritionist said that she was short for her age.  She is only 14 1/2 inches long.  That just makes her ever cuter in my opinion. :)  She's my chubby little cutie.  I have three very different little girls.  Hannah is extremely tall and blonde, Lily is average and redheaded, and Jade is short and brunette.  

Ballet Recital

What can I say, it was beautiful.  Both of my girls amaze me.  Hannah is so grown up and Lily is right behind her.  I didn't know what to expect with Lily, this being her first year.  I know Hannah was scared her first year and wanted me to be with her backstage.  However, Lily did not.  I even went to check on her one time to make sure she was not upset and she was like, "Hey, what are you doing?"  I told her I was going to go sit back in my seat and she was like, "Okay."  She is SO independent.  She did so well in her dance too.  I just can't believe how much she is growing up.  Hannah's dance was a lot more complicated than it has been in the past, but it didn't seem to bother her at all.  She said it was easy.  They both love being on the "big" stage.  I actually got to sit and watch the whole show this time.  It was nice.  :) Jade even sat in my lap and was good!  If you remotely know Jade, that is amazing.  She is such a hyper little baby.  We had a good time.  As soon as we got home they both asked, "Can we play in these now!?" They were talking about their costumes of course.  :)  They have a nice assortment of dress-up costumes now.  ;-)

How Pavement Picasso Does It

Found this video...

WOW Art!

I happened across this particular man through an email group. Julian Beever, the pavement picasso.  Go to his site or google him and see his amazing work.  The picture below is one that was in the email. 

"Anamorphic illusions drawn in a special distortion in order to create an impression of 3 dimensions when seen from one particular viewpoint."

DIY Puff Paint

This is really cool and super quick/easy. Combine the following in a little bowl:

1 tablespoon self-raising flour
a few little drops of food colouring
1 tablespoon salt
Then add some water to make a nice smooth paste.

Paint away on a nice thick sheet of cardboard (if you don't have enough paint brushes use cotton buds - they work really well).

Microwave the design on high for 10 - 30 seconds until the paint puffs and it's all nice and dry. We did ours for 30 seconds.

Taken from HERE

My Anniversary

Wow, we have been married for 9 years now.  It doesn't seem like that long.  That makes 14 years that we have been together in all.  I've been with Tim for half of my life!  Goodness, that is a lot to take in.  We have three beautiful girls out of all these years together.  We don't have anything fancy planned for tonight because money is tight, but I did buy a banana cream pie for us to share.  :)  Nine years...I wonder what you are suppose to get for your 9 year anniversary.  I'm sure number 10 is suppose to be something special.  We have almost been married for a decade. LOL 

Ok, now I'm starting to feel old.  

Cute and Funny

I was out walking with my 4 year old daughter. She picked up something off the ground and started to put it in her mouth. I took the item away from her and I asked her not to do that.

"Why?" my daughter asked.

"Because it's been on the ground, you don't know where it's been, it's dirty, and probably has germs" I replied.

At this point, my daughter looked at me with total admiration and asked, "Momma, how do you know all this stuff? You are so smart."

I was thinking quickly. "All moms know this stuff. It's on the Mom Test. You have to know it, or they don't let you be a Mom."

We walked along in silence for 2 or 3 minutes, but she was evidently pondering this new information. "OH.....I get it!" she beamed, "So if you don't pass the test you have to be the dad."

"Exactly" I replied back with a big smile on my face.

When you're finished laughing, send this to a Mom

Overwhelmed

I just had aav phone call yesterday.  Oh my goodness, I am overwhelmed.  AAV stands for academic activity verification.  I have five different "classes"  that I have to complete by the end of my new term.  It is a lot for me because I have to teach and take care of my three children as well.  I am on probation this term because I put off so much due to Jade's arrival.  It is very hard to sit for a while and work with her. I have to type with one hand while I hold her in the other.  Hopefully she will be more satisfied soon when she becomes able to sit by herself.  She is such a busy-body.  Has to be doing something at all times.  Well, I guess I better go and get some work done now.  :) 

Jade's Doctor's Visit

Jade had her four month check up the other day.  She had to get three shots in her leg and a vaccination by mouth.  I was looking at the card and realized that they gave her 6 different immunizations.  Six!  I thought that was a lot to give a little baby. I don't remember Hannah and Lily getting that many shots at a time.  Maybe they did, but I don't think so.  She got very sick and ran a fever the next day.  It caused her the throw up as well.  I'm starting to wonder if all these vaccinations are necessary.  I know that there are a lot of parents that opt out of giving their child vaccinations.  I don't know , but I just didn't feel right about her having all those at once.

Just and update on how much she has grown.  She weighs 12lbs. 9oz. and is 24 inches long.  She loves to eat her cereal now.  Oatmeal is her preference.  I also introduced squash to her today.  She made a nasty face and wouldn't eat it.  I will try again tomorrow. :)  She wants to stand up all the time.  She can kinda sit in her boppy pillow for a while before she falls forward.  It won't be long and she will be sitting solo.  :) Growing up way too fast, as with my other girls.

I have another idea.

Searching for more stuff to make instead of buying, I found a recipe for playdoh.  I have never made my own playdoh.  I know people who have, but I haven't.  I think maybe tomorrow the girls and I should make some playdoh.  I found an interesting recipe here.

SMELLY PLAY DOUGH 

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup salt
• 2 pkg. unsweetened Kool-Aid
• 3 Tbls. cooking oil
• 1/2 cup boiling water

Children can mix dry ingredients if you wish. Add oil. Pour in boiling water. Mix. I continue to mix and knead with my hands. When mixture is cool enough, children can knead an begin playing immediately. I store in a plastic container with a lid. Contributed by Mrs. Mari

I made some wipes.

Today, I looked up the recipe to make my very own wipes.  It was very easy.  I ran out of wipes and couldn't get to the store, so I made some.  I used the second recipe from this site to make them.  I wonder what else I can make instead of buying.  

I can see the light

Things are starting to look up now, finally.  Jade is sleeping through the night and starting to cry less during the day.  Everything is looking good.  I need to catch up on some school work for myself and Hannah.  We will get caught up though.  Finally, I can see the light through all of the darkness.

New Computer

I bought a new computer!  My laptop has been broken since early December and now I have a new computer.  I decided to switch to Mac.  :)  I have the new iMac and it is awesome!  It is taking a little while to learn everything, but it is so much better that any of the other computers that I have owned.

Snow!!!

It snowed on my birthday! I couldn't believe it. The girls were so excited. It was Lily's first. Hannah was just saying the other day that it is never going to snow here again. Then, SURPRISE! They made a tiny snowman and put it in Meme's deep-freeze.

The New Year

Well, it's the new year. I wish I could be happy about it. I am thankful for all of my family. Without them we would probably be out on the street by now. I am hoping and praying that things get better soon. I am hoping and praying that something comes through for Tim soon. I am so sick and tired of everyone using him. He deserves something better. Hopefully that something will come quickly. It has been long enough! Something has to happen.

Today is my birthday and I have nothing better to do than to vent on this computer. What is left of my computer that is. My laptop screen broke before Christmas and I ordered a part for it but it did not work. So, I have taken the screen off of my laptop and hooked an old monitor up to my laptop. Now it is working somewhat like a desktop, I suppose.

I took all that I had today to not break down to tears. I still could be sobbing at the moment, but I am trying my best not to. It's not that everyone forgot my birthday or anything or that I didn't get what I wanted. Everyone is so kind and remembered, I so appreciate that I am loved. It's not even that Tim is so sick on my birthday. I think he has the flu or something. No it's not that at all. I just want to get out of the deep dark hole that we have fallen into. It's scary and dark and it seems endless. I can't see the light! I'm scared! All I can do is be happy that we are all still together for now and alive. My sweet, sweet girls! They are my lifeline.


Here's to a happier new year than it has been already.