Sat at the conference

Jody and I woke up at 5 am and got ready on a half cup of coffee each....oh the suffering ;p

We didnt really know what time everything started at the Sheritan and got some vague info off a lady at the desk at 1 am. So- we got up really early and caught the 7 am shuttle.
Well the info was a little off and nothing actually started till 9 am. There were, however, a bunch of volunteers running here and there getting everything set. I made myself busy by volunteering to help out a little. There were translators for both Persian and Spanish speeking folks and there were hundreds of ear phones tangled in a knot. So I helped with that.

It wasnt long before the chairs were full and there was just room in the hall for people to watch the conference on TV.

Running away for the weekend!

Last weekend Jody and I made a spontanious decision to head to CT for a Baha'i Conference.
We took off Fri, late afternoon, and arrived at our hotel at midnight-ish.
When we left the roads in Ithaca were a mess so were worried that traveling was a bad idea but about two hrs into it we found the weather and roads to be perfect for a road trip :)

The event was held at the Sheritan in Stamford. Over 2000 people came so there were several overflow hotels. We chose the Holida Inn. It was the nicest Holiday Inn I have ever seen and the Sheritan provided a shuttle bus between hotels so once the car was parked were set for the weekend.

Nice Baha'i Quote

This quote struck me this morning...

Hear no evil, and see no evil, abase not thyself, neither sigh and weep. Speak no evil, that thou

mayest not hear it spoken unto thee, and magnify not the faults of others that thine own faults may not appear great; and wish not the abasement of anyone, that thine own abasement be not exposed. Live then the days of thy life, that are less than a fleeting moment, with thy thoughts pure, and thy nature sanctified, so that, free of content, thou mayest put away this mortal frame, and repair unto the mystic paradise and abide in the eternal kingdom for evermore.

Jenna gets married!

This is my lovely cousin Jenna!

She was married this month, in Cancune Mexico, to her long time boy friend, Scott.
Many family and friends were able to make the trip.I wish we could have made gone. I would have loved to have been there.

Sugar Glider in my pocket

We have been having a ton of fun with the new Sugar Gliders.

This evening I took Sheila out of her cage and tucked her in my pocket.

I fed her some apple and she licked my fingers.
She was sooooo cute!

Elanee took a turn holding her. She went up Lanee's sleeve and we had to fish her out.

Funny stuff!

Critter Visit

This afternoon the neighbor girls popped in to visit with critters.

Ravyn really liked the Sugar Gliders. They are kind of 'ugly cute' and she liked that.

She got to hold one in the carrying pouch.

Saige and Maya Rae had fun playing with Vayda's rat, Fae.

More new critters in the house

Look what we adopted!

~Sugar Gliders~

These are definately the last new critters landing here!

They originated in Australia so we named them

Sidney and Shiela

Last week our friends in Ithaca, Shampsi and Joel, offered us their little pets. We visited on Sunday and decided that these little ladies were something we were willing

to take on.

They kindly included both critters, the cage and all of the supplies.

We are enjoying getting to know them. They are a little scary being that they

leap and jump very quickly.
But they are so cute eating and licking their little fingers....and thumb!

They are absolutely insane on their wheel and they love being carried around in a pouch.

This is a fun adventure :)

Japan

Today Maya started a new unit on Japan. She was eager to figure out why the fat men

were wearing thongs ;)

This study should be a lot of fun.

A new world

My friend Christina, a Baha'i in Ithaca, has this awesome pillow. Every time we are there for Sunday classes I am so lovin it. Finally, I asked where she got it.

She said... www.forsmallhands.com

This last time I ran right home and bought one! Now it lives on OUR couch and I just love it!

The kids have fun tossing it around and Maya and I find it helpful to put the continents into perspective.

The Solar System

Maya is beginning a unit study on the Solar System.

To get rolling we built a model. She painted all the balls first then on Fri she labeled

tags to hang from the planets. I managed to super glue the glue top to my thumb. Maya thought this was very entertaining!

We both learned that to remove this item from my body I needed to soak my thumb in nail polish remover. Geesh!
At one point during the building I left Maya alone for a moment. When I came back into the room she was sitting and looking very thoughtful. I asked what was up and she said, "I feel so SMALL! I always thought the earth was the biggest thing ever but now I know we are sooooo tiny!!!!" "I just feel so smaaaaaallll !!!!"

WOW! That was amazing to me! I mean a person can always look up the names of the planets if they never manage to memorise them. But~ you just cannot TEACH self realisation and your place in the universe! Awesome!

Maya was delighted with this project and has a million questions about the solar system that she is dying to have answered. This will be a fun study.

By the way....mommy is relearning all this stuff too.

Flowers from the hubby

This past Thursday Jody said he was at work and was thinking of the grey weather and how his wife would appreciate some color. So...he stopped after work and bought me these flowers!
aaaahhhhhhh

A productive afternoon

Last Wednesday afternoon it was nice to see us all so busy.

Maya was starting a Solar System project....
Elanee was making cookies for the Ovid Teen Group meeting....
Vayda was painting her newest inspiration...

And I was working on my Many Religions, One God project.

( You can see this at http://handcraftedbyme.blogspot.com )

This is the beauty of home schooling at work.

Theeeere Baaaack!

And my two worlds collide!

Jody and the kids came back Sat night and Heather headed out shortly after.

Back to reality!

Chris

This is Chris.

Chris is our friend, Blake's, partner of 12 yrs (or so).

I havent seen him since Blake passed. Almost 5 yrs now. When he heard Heather and I were getting together he decided to pop over. It was sooooooooo nice seeing him. We all sat around and talked about missing Blake and what we're up to these days.

It was really nice to reconnect!

(PS- check out that big orb in the top picture)

OMG !!! We got Tattoos!

Extreme Graphix in Geneva should have locked up when they saw these two moms comin!
Heather and I ran to Geneva to get a few items for dinner. After we finished at Mother Earth we popped into the local tattoo shop. I said, "Hey! We should get tattoos." In we went to see how it all worked. We thumbed through the many design choices and then I thought of the perfect thing!!!! That was the moment I got serious about it.

I have never been inside a place with a sign that says...

'If you are pregnant, drunk, stoned, on any form of substance or Rude....

come back when you aren't!'

LOL

Maybe that was our warning to turn around and run.

Once I committed I was psyched!
Just waiting.

Here are the temp tattoos.
Here is Josh loading my needle!!!! Ahhhhh.
And here we go!

Now- anyone who says this process is not painful is full of it!

OUCH! Heather didnt think it was a big deal but I hear that it depends on placement.

It just didnt stop hurting till it was done. Its kind of like being stung in the ankle every milisecond for 15 min. I did alot of whining. And its not like its a relaxing environment. The art and music was less than serine.

TA-DA!!!!!
A henna brown recycling sign!

So- now when I am 100 yrs old, in a nursing home and I kick it....

they will know what to do with the body! LOL
And, a hot pink piece sign for Heather!

This was an awesome experience worth doing once in a life time.