Gerbils, a Fun Trip, and School

I have been living without a computer for quite some time now.  I can't believe how entirely dependent I am on having a laptop.  No bills got paid, no posts on here, very few on Facebook, half my emails didn't even get taken care of.  I'm telling you, it was crazy!  It makes me wonder about "the good old days" when people didn't have computers.  Bills got paid via paper, blogs weren't written, journals were, Facebook was just the town gossip, and email was good old snail mail.  I tell you what, I kind of want to go back to the way things were!

Despite a what a certain generation thinks, computers aren't going anywhere, so here I am.  Safe and sound, fully functioning from my new computer.


How about some adorable pictures of Kara!  Her two gerbils just have the best personalities ever.  She is old enough to play with them by herself, but I feel more comfortable with her taking them into the big bathtub, where I feel they are less likely to get away.  (Yes, we block the drain!)


Oops!  Brownie blinked.  lol! 

The little white spots on his head are so cute. 


Time for Snowflake's turn! 




I love this one.  These little rodents bring Kara so much joy.  :-) 



That was fun.  She was in charge of cleaning their cage today, so she wanted to play with them a bit first.  I like how the responsibility of it is helping her appreciate them even more.  Ah, I love having a big kid.

I just got back from a fun vacation with my dear friend Merideth.  She lives in Alabama.  I love just about everything about Alabama.  So does Michael.  Don't be surprised if one day we up and move there!  We tried to about 8 and a half years ago.  We went down there to house hunt, but the jobs didn't work out.  It wasn't a waste of a trip though, I came home with Kara in my belly.  But, I digress.  Here are a few pictures from my trip to Slapout, Alabama.

My trip there was much better than my trip home.  Can you see the mountains in the background? 

Pretty water everywhere. 

More mountains! 

View from the hotel - every room has a view of the river 

Merideth and I in front of the river - look how green the grass is - it's spring there!

Enjoying a perfectly perfect day in Alabama 

Waiting for a table at Olive Garden after church. It was very smooshy!  A lot of people had the same idea and we had a bit of a wait.

See what happens when you photoshop a picture?  Much better than the last one.
This is me with sweet McKenzie Grace.  I just love that little sweet girl.

What a fun trip.  I love it there.  While I was there, I went and saw Divergent.  It was really good.  I definitely enjoyed the whole book series.  I liked that it got you thinking about who you really are.  We all talked about what faction we would have chosen.  In case you don't know me well enough, I would have chosen Amity, the peacemakers/keepers.  Aren't you glad you know that now?

Let's change the subject again.

Kara and I haven't been doing a super whole lot with school lately, but her favorites have been anything having to do with fractions and ancient history.  Yep, you read that right.  We happened to have found a FABULOUS curriculum and these math and science nerds now love history.  I never thought I would say that.  (This week we learned about the ancient Indus Valley, and Mesopotamia - Shamshi-Adad.)

Here she is doing school in the car - she is getting really good at doing her work independently.  This is opening a whole new world for this momma/teacher!


Here are a few pictures from how we did our fractions.  We're talking about adding 1/3 + 1/3 = 2/3.  But, what if you want to add 1/3 + 1/6?  You have to convert 1/3 to 2/6.  So, I used the paper plates method, thanks to the great idea I got from pinterest.  Kara wanted to do more and more and more.



Now I feel like you're done reading and just skimming the pictures, so I'll leave you now.  It was great catching up with you!

Comments

Elisabeth said…
Glad you are back online! I've missed your blog posts. =) And since you mentioned it, I came home from a church retreat with Ryan in my belly. ;)
jeday0323 said…
Thanks, Elisabeth! :-) I miss yours!
Unknown said…
I missed reading them too! You too Elisabeth!!!