DO ANIMALS FEEL LOVE?

There are many people who believe that animals are not capable of remembering caretakers, feeling love or building attachment. After only one year of care, a lion is set free into the wild. Did he form a bond of love with his caretakers?

If there were ever a doubt, I give you this.

WE'RE NOT PERFECT. WE'RE PARENTS...

Anyone who knows me can vouch for the fact that I love to pick baby names. Anyone who has seen the names of our children will surmise that, I suppose. The topic of pregnancy, babies and naming babies has always been at the top of my list for interesting conversation.

As you know, we have 5 sons in our family. What you may not know, however, is that our family recently decided that we would very much like to include a baby girl into our family mix. Yes, we are going to be a foster family again. With this decision comes the pleasure of picking out a name for our little gal should she become a permanent part of our family. As I was scrolling through all the names on the ParentsConnect website I couldn't help but notice all of the other information they have to offer. There are topics ranging from pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, to blog widgets to parenting! The reason the site caught my attention is because their slogan is so very true.

"We're Not Perfect. We're Parents..."

If you are planning to add a new life to your family, this is a one stop must-add to your favorites for your website links. Look for me in the community section. See you there!

OUR FAMILY PHOTO

We went to get the boys' annual Homeschool "School" Pictures this year. On the way there we stopped off and bought some white and black shirts on the off chance that we could get a family picture taken. Well, they fit us in and boy are we ever glad they did. We LOVE our picture.

Click the picture to check out Marion's Studio in Richmond Michigan. They know their stuff my friends.

Guess what you are getting for Christmas mom. :o) Wait until you see the 16 X 20 picture we bought for our living room. So Nice!

HOW MUCH TIME DO WE ACTUALLY SPEND CONVERSING WITH OUR CHILDREN?

Quote: "Public school children receive almost 11,000 hours of time in a secular school from kindergarten through their senior year compared with only 264 hours spent in meaningful conversation with their parents within the same 12-year period."

Oh my goodness. I thought that was bunk but then I began thinking. When Kazz and Brisan went to school, I was the mom who yelled at them to wake up in the morning, hurried them out the door to leave then when they got home I was the mom who bugged them to do their homework and scolded them when they resisted. I was hardly ever "talking with" them. I talked "at" them quiet a lot though.

I've come to the conclusion that this quote is correct!

Let's do the math.

Let assume that we as parents sit and talk with our children for 1 hour a day. I know that we don't do this daily but for the sake of arguement, let's throw up that number for consideration.

I know, I know! If we get 3 minutes of time here and there every day we are happy. If we get to sit and watch television with them we are happy. Oh my, and if we have dinner with them we are ecstatic! But, for the sake of argument let's say we actually do speak WITH our children for 1 hour EVERY single day.

1 hour X 365 days per year X 13 years =

4745 hours from Kindergarten thru Senior year

VS

the school giving them their version of life for 11,000 hours.

I bet if we were to tick off the amount of time we actually do have meaningful conversation with our children the total amount of hours would be so much less. This actually makes me so very happy to have them at home for their schooling. We do spend so much more time talking and getting to know each other. Food for thought.

CAMPING IN THE RAIN

Our family went camping the weekend before last. We hit our local KOA and rented a cabin. We have a pull behind 30 foot camper but we've left it in Kentucky at my parents home for the winter. (and all last summer) LOL We just didn't have that camping spirit this year for some reason. But I digress...

We rented a cabin at the KOA on the rainiest weekend of the year. I'm not talking about a little downpour every so often throughout the weekend. I'm talking about the weekend when all the hurricanes were hitting the southern coasts and the rain was pushed up, up, up all the way to Michigan! It rained THE ENTIRE TIME! All of the time, without ceasing. We're talking the beginning days of Noah only it stopped long enough for us to pack up our things Sunday morning and hop on the highway home a day early.
Sheww...


The Kids, however had a ball. There were kids all over that park riding bikes. They had mud slung up their backs, into their hair and all up their legs. It was a kids DREAM Camping Experience! You have no idea! They didn't want to come in! LOL AND the pool was open. Who knew!?



So, as I swung on the porch swing of our little rustic cabin our boys played in the rain. Anyone who knows me well knows that I Love the rain. If it is raining outside I try to go walk in it at least once. I would rather walk in the rain than the hot sun any day of the week. There is just something about rain that makes me smile. Oh my goodness and if I'm shopping and I come out of the store and it is raining...Oh My Goodness...I get such a high from walking to my car. LOL

I just had a brain blast! I need to find some rainy day activities for the boys. I can incorporate this into our homeschooling days! Ahh!! I'm so excited!

SEE IF YOU CAN WIN!

Classic style is subjective to most people. They think of that and maybe think, little black dress or knee length dresses, but I think Khaki pants. More specifically, I think Dockers.

From as far back as I can remember Dockers have been the number one staple for any wardrobe, young or old, woman or man.

Trends come and go, as we all know; remember the calf length pants? Oh my! But rarely will we find a style that is as timeless and Classic as Dockers pants.

From Crocket and Tubbs in the 80's to the latest fashion models, Dockers Khaki pants have been there.

Even I, the woman who has nil to no style of her own, know that I must have Dockers in my wardrobe for the days when I have to look "put together."

A man in nice pants, for instance, knows he is is looking "hot" on that particular day but a man in Dockers

...well, not only is he looking great now, he will look great 20 years from now when we look back at pictures. Dockers are timeless.



We just know that dressing well makes our personality pop and heads turn. We all love it. Dockers clothes; they are timeless. They have been around for many years and will be here for our children and their children.

If you want to test that theory, pull out the video camera and enter the Dockers contest going on right now. The videos that have been uploaded so far are alright but I know WE can do better!

I challenge you to enter the Dockers contest. (Yes, you...right there reading these words.) I challenge you! You know you want to win, so let's give it a try. What do we have to lose? This is going to be fun! :-)

GET DAD THE NATION'S BIGGEST HDTV!

I don't know why I'm telling you this because I'm entering this contest for my own father. I'm about to drum up some competition for myself, but I'm just that nice I suppose.

I know that every dad wants to be able to say that he owns the nation's biggest HDTV. I know that most dad's want that more than they want a tie or that gift card to the hardware store.

There's just something about being able to say, "I have the nation's largest HDTV" that trumps a tie any day.

Do you want to help your dad experience this Father's Day in HD! I know you do, because you know your dad would love it too! Who's dad wouldn't?

If you want to try, you can actually register here to give your dad that chance! After you register you will be able to submit a brief essay answering the question:

“Why does your dad deserves the nation’s biggest HDTV?”

If your father lives in a qualified Charter Communication serviceable area, he can be entered to win the nation’s biggest HDTV with the best Charter HD service and The Charter Bundle™ FREE for life. Enter to win by June 8th or dad's out of luck.

Check out the Sweepstakes Rules

One lucky dad will receive the Grand Prize:

• HDTV
• FREE Charter HD service and The Charter Bundle for life
Other prizes for runner-ups include:
• Charter’s Biggest Bundle, FREE for a year
• FREE Charter HD service for a year

Good luck! ...but not as much luck a me. :-)

CAROLINA HOMESCHOOLERS BOOK DISNEY!

Carolina Homeschooler has booked THIS Disney steal!! The deal is open to all homeschoolers. If you are a homeschool parent you may just want to book that trip to Disney for Labor Day weekend this year. $175 parkhopper tickets per person, for 5 days PLUS Free Dining!

Need I say more?

Check it out. Reservations must be made by July 5th.

ADDICTED

Last weekend my son, Kazz, informed me that I'm addicted to the computer. Now, that may have hit some parents the wrong way but when he told me that, in a respectful manner, I took notice. I smiled and stood there for a moment to think. I had to smile because what he was actually saying to me was, "Mom I want more time with you." Except it sounded like, "Mom you are addicted to the computer."

He's almost sixteen. In two very short years, he may very well be living on his own. Brian and I both left home at 18 and never returned. Kazz wants and needs time now and I have time to give, so he's going to get what he needs.

I don't know if you've noticed but I've been off the computer quite a bit this week. Not much blogging has gone on that's for sure. My mom called to ask me what was wrong! She checked my blog to catch the posts for the week and there were none. That's when I knew Kazz was right! LOL If my mom is worried because I haven't been posting, there's a problem kiddo!

It's been an interesting week. I've played Monopoly a few times with Brisan and Vinze. Those two have taken it upon themselves to play other games together when I'm not available. They've actually been getting along quite like two very close brothers. THAT is new!

I took the boys to the local diner for breakfast on a very, very snowy morning. It's the little, smokey, old time diner that my father takes the boys to when he and mom come to visit. The boys enjoy that immensely. I mean, they REALLY like it. They get up at the crack of dawn when they hear my dad moving about the house so they can be ready to leave if he decides to head over to the diner for coffee and biscuits. MY boys people...getting up EARLY....like before 7:00 am...on their own. Yep that's how much they like that little, smokey diner. I think it's the early morning conversation and relaxing atmosphere. It's that kind of old fashioned feeling that makes your whole body relax and take in the safe feeling.

What else have I had time to do this week? I've learned that the twins are ready for Kindergarten math. I've taken a look around the house and made a list of honey do's. I've even folded and put away quite a lot of laundry.

It seems that in my want to type and save everything my children do through the day..here...here...and here...I've forgotten to be a part of the memories instead of the record keeper of the memories. hmmm...

That's not good.

This week the boys and I had a little pow wow. They helped me make a weekly plan for their schooling that would involve leaving our humble abode on a regular basis and enjoying each other. Monday is now library and swimming day at our local community center slash library and Wednesday is breakfast at Danica's before school begins.

This should be fun, if this past week is any indication.

I have to smile. My boy, my eldest son, WANTS more time with mom. That's awesome! :-)

BIKES TO CARS...

KAZZ'S
BICYCLE STORY CONTINUES...

A moment ago Kazz walked into our home with a fuming expression on his face.

"Mom. Did dad do anything with my bikes?"

I know he was half hoping I'd say,
"Yes dear you didn't put them away so he hid them." But that was not the case.

The bikes are gone. These are the bikes that he bought last year after finally saving enough money to get the great hoopty doo bike he really wanted. He went to the store to buy the $300 bike and the guy gave him two for money.

WELL! He couldn't pass up two Haro's for that price!

They're gone...right out of our shed. Goners!

God knows I'm afraid to buy the kid a car!

WELL TOO BAD...

Here is Kazz and Brian coming home from getting Kazz's PERMIT! :-)