Berning Life!

2012-01-11T20:20:00.001-05:00

http://chiroacademy.com/secret/info.php?way128.html

2012-01-11T20:17:00.001-05:00

http://pixelmeth.com/wp-content/themes/classic/test.php?talk128.php

2012-01-11T17:37:00.001-05:00

http://lvps46-163-116-204.dedicated.hosteurope.de/wp-content/uploads/fgallery/santa.php?before128.jpeg

2012-01-11T17:34:00.001-05:00

http://neatfocus.com/blood/admin/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/work.php?love128.html

Pool fun

2011-08-22T13:50:00.000-04:00

Sent from my Droid Charge on Verizon 4GLTE

Testing my new blogger app!

2011-07-09T20:22:00.001-04:00

Liv taking a break from her creations!

Happy Cow Appreciation Day!

2011-07-08T22:10:00.001-04:00

Sent from my Droid Charge on Verizon 4GLTE

Two Fun Days At The Wolf

2011-07-07T22:14:00.000-04:00

Sent from my Droid Charge on Verizon 4GLTE

Lexie captured by new phone!

2011-05-30T13:00:00.000-04:00

Warriors manga series has caught her fancy

2011-04-26T11:11:00.000-04:00

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

Monday, Monday!

2011-04-25T18:29:00.003-04:00

Much needed new bed spread finally arrives!

Two day heat wave has us seeking some cool fun!

soooo.......Water Cup Wars!!

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

Happy Easter 2011!

2011-04-24T14:23:00.001-04:00

The EB's handy work in the wee hours!

Oooh so many goodies!

Livia looking for eggs!

Happy Girl!

Highlights where some very cool beta fish and new Baggallini purses!

47 years old today...

2011-04-14T21:14:00.005-04:00

and we spent it at the zoo and celebrated with black bean cake!!!

The prairie dogs and all their social chatter where my favorite!

Movie Day!

2011-04-11T16:53:00.003-04:00

Today we saw HOP and the new "Arthur" Thumbs down on HOP.....thumbs way up for Arthur...we loved it.

Fully Charged!

2011-04-07T16:51:00.001-04:00

Circus, Circus we going to the Circus!!

Really sweet moment....

2011-03-14T23:49:00.000-04:00

We got our copies!

2011-03-06T23:47:00.001-05:00

What you can do with our soil..

2011-03-04T20:43:00.002-05:00

make clay pots!

We went tubing...

2011-03-01T23:36:00.002-05:00

with some of our favorite peeps and had a great meal afterwards at Wintergreen.

Black n White Tour ....

2011-02-28T21:38:00.034-05:00

we came, we played, we scored. We took an impromptu trip to Philadelphia on the 26th...to get our Pokemon fix on. Lots of fun, lots of free stuff...and we stayed in our 1st Hostel.

stairs to our room

i pod translator app fun.....no translation need in Philly..LOL!

Front porch of Hostel

Franklin Mall

getting our free Celebi character

waiting in long line to spin for free prizes we got 4 free Pokemon plushes!!

getting a sneak peek at the new games!!

VMFA in Richmond

2011-02-25T21:26:00.013-05:00

... mainly for the Picasso exhibit, but we enjoyed our look see of the rest of the museum as well!!

Delish!

2011-02-24T18:40:00.003-05:00

What I created for dinner tonight....spinach stuffed chicken!

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

Livia's Owl Cupcakes!

2011-02-24T17:44:00.018-05:00

Purple group of owl cupcakes!

Blue group of owl cupcakes!

Green group of owl cupcakes!

All the owl cupcakes!


Lex copying her cupcake!

Fun to make funner to eat!!

Messenger Girl

2011-02-23T21:18:00.000-05:00

Sims Fever

2011-02-20T22:17:00.001-05:00

What Lexie bought tonight Sims3 Late Night! She's enjoying it so much....I love that she immerses herself in what is currently bringing her such joy...so fully!

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

Brush Fires

2011-02-19T21:55:00.001-05:00

Heavy winds and brush fire not a good mix Parts of 64 closed...made me late getting to up north to pick up my gals...from "Best Sleepover Ever" and major detour home.

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

Going on a.....

2011-02-18T22:22:00.001-05:00

bear hunt...we're not afraid

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

Richmond Science Center

2011-02-17T23:30:00.002-05:00

Old friends, + warm day,+ cool place = great fun :-)

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

2011-02-15T20:53:00.002-05:00

Lex playing Sims 3...we got the mother of all deals the other day on a nearly complete Sims 2 set it came with 13 expanision packs at GW for $70

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

Happy Valentine's Day !

2011-02-14T14:07:00.022-05:00

This morning I lite this heart shaped candle that Liv and I picked out yesterday!

Liv made this beautiful Valentine's Day card inspired by Mel and Sydney the owls we've been watching.

Mmmmm ...Donuts!

Valentine decorated table.

Window art from a few weeks ago help spread the love!

Some candy, jewelry, new shirts, i tune cards and some $$ from Nanny & Pa...not a bad hall!

Girls try out shiatsu massage gizmo we got Wilks for V-day!

We made some xoxo ice for our pink drinks!

We ate pizza and than had some of this delish red velvet LOVE cake that Liv made .... it was sooo yummy!

Played a special Valentine Peanuts addition of Uno

From Wilks! ♥

Our love candles still burning brightly!!

Working the deals!

2011-02-13T19:28:00.002-05:00

I bought all this: 5 Quaker Oats, 4- 2liter Cokes and 1 -2.6 oz tube of Arnica gel for .80¢ out of pocket but got $9 back in store cash...so it's like they paid me $8.20 !!!

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

2011-02-09T11:29:00.002-05:00

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

Yeah! My new and improved two front teeth. Apparently I'm a nocturnal mega grinder....even smoothed out bottom set.

2011-02-08T18:32:00.001-05:00

Look what we found at the Thrift store.......and for just $1.98....Waylon Smithers did it with the poisoned dounut at the Kwik-E-Mart;-)

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

2011-02-08T16:25:00.001-05:00

My newly chipped front teeth....boohoo!

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

2011-02-07T22:59:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2H-3Gf_fL8&feature=youtube_gdata_player Can't wait to get mine!

Ok actually I'm conflicted...thinking for a over a year Droid was my only choice...I've kinda have a tech crush on it =) but my g's have I pod touches now and the whole video chat thing seems so appealing....I have a few months to make up my mind...what to do...what to do!

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

2011-02-07T19:46:00.001-05:00

Lex Lex smiles

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

2011-02-07T19:33:00.000-05:00

Getting some air and breaking some rules today!

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

Sick house

2011-02-07T18:57:00.007-05:00

Still sick...all of us different symptoms. This coming Friday Wilks will be 28 days suffering. Today he declared war and bumped up his vitamin regimen. We are all super tired. Despite yuk we managed to have our family Superbowl Game Party.....we don't follow the game through the season just this game for entertainment...the half time show and commercials For the past 5 days Liv & I have played Banana grams when she wakes....we love this game:-) and the way we play together. She and Wilks engaged in a 7 hour game of Risk a few days ago....while Lex and I did our things. Lex's latest obsession....Sims 3 for Pc version...she has the DS version and a few i touch down loadable ones...but now she has the mac daddy one and is sooo happy.

Hang Day!

2011-01-29T15:06:00.005-05:00

We woke dreary today, all with different and some shared aliments. Lex has got a crick in her neck and sore ankle ( took a few hard fall over the past few days) . Liv is overall tired and we are all sneezy and sore throaty.

Even weary we have fun. Lots of dancing...to newly burned cds, A cuddles, TV, Netflix movie and putter time day.

The girls being inspired by "Walking with" BBC series have decided to 'play' evolution LPS style the whole living room is covered starting with the water and the simplest life forms all the way to the evolved Homo sapiens ala Monster High Dolls. =)

Friday gals

2011-01-29T00:11:00.005-05:00

Back to Richmond today...for GJWTHF group, the girls had fun at skating/sleepover with all their friends. I had fun visiting with my adult pals, After group, 1/2 of us went to Connor's 11th birthday bash. Took my first ride in a Hummer. Met Tiff's husband and older son and Lucky his gf for the 1st time. Saw the Wii drawing board in action at their home...very cool...going on our wish list. Home made choc b-day cake was big hit with all. Home around 10pm. Wilks was up when we got here and he seemed to be feeling a bit better...girls watched him work on his next ice carving sketch, (which he'll execute tomorrow at work) while they caught him up on all the past 48 hrs of excitement in their lifes . Chef Daddy is snoring soundly and now that it's 12:30ish, girls have gained their second wind and are playing LPSs and watching TV and gaming and I'm saying goodnight =)

Smoothies, CC b-day party...skating over night

2011-01-27T23:24:00.004-05:00

Woke the girls today to hop in the car and head to Richmond for Bessie's turn 3 b-day party!

Lex has been having a hunkering for a TS smoothie for about a week and half now...so worked out well for us to grab a few for the trip up to the 1pm b-day party!!

Lot's of our favorite peeps where there and Liv got to do the Ticket Blaster experience(30 seconds to grab as many tickets as you can)...Bes Bes was having nothing to do with that tornado wind tunnel =) Liv scored something like 400 points for the birthday girl.

We had arranged last week for the girls to go rollerskating with and than sleep-over at the Hawes up in Richmond...so we said by at CC and I had to drive home by myself...I really feel off when my gals aren't around me and I have a half empty very quiet house...Wilks is home and was off today, but he's very sick! So he's a much needed comatose.

Thunder, Lighning and Snow!

2011-01-26T22:42:00.003-05:00

Oh my! We do have some bazaar weather here. And usually not much of any snow accumulation =) Donna and Molly joined us today for girls group. The girls all played on their ds's for a while...than we played "You've been sentenced" and "Apples to Apples". Lots of laughs. For the first time ever I bought and prepared Velveeta...I made that queso dip...who knew processed could taste so yummy!
Wilks is sharing "Airplane" and "Eric the Viking" with the girls this evening.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-25T23:52:00.002-05:00

A bit late but.... 2010 what a year for we 4 Bernings!!! 2011 glad your here and glad we have our home and employment.

Christmas rocked! Apple Ipod touches need I say more 8D.

New Year, new excitement: family board game play is back with a vengeance.

New semester of art class...closer location.

Great friends wonderful get togethers.

2010 Xmas-Day! The year of 2 trees! Ü

2010-12-25T11:24:00.012-05:00

IPod touch discovery moment!

Cool Panda!

2010-12-22T21:09:00.004-05:00

Is that a Lex under there?

Photos by Lexie

2010-12-20T18:36:00.005-05:00

Lexie is 10 years old!!!!

2010-09-08T22:17:00.002-04:00

100 dollars

Birthday Breakfast

oh what we can do with duck tape

Panda bear lover

jumping for joy on our bargain trampoline


Livia made this cool Pokemon b-day card for Lex

making her jar candle at Yankee Candle

fountain squatting

10 cupcakes

making wishes and blowing out candles

Lex's Birthday candle burning brightly

Inflation Nation...open house!

2010-08-07T21:48:00.001-04:00

Bye-bye kitchen floor.

2010-07-31T17:25:00.001-04:00

Lex is chalk art.......

2010-07-30T18:24:00.001-04:00

Lex made me a play dough plaque

2010-07-27T16:44:00.001-04:00

Lex channeling her inner elephant today

2010-07-25T21:32:00.008-04:00

Multi tasking

2010-07-13T18:12:00.003-04:00

Here's Liv working her ds and laptop all at the same time. It's all about the Pokemon......Silver and Gold versions have restarted the passion...that was temporally on hiatus for almost a year and half!

-- Sent from my Palm Pixi

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T20:25:00.001-04:00

Lex made this beautiful patriotic fruit salad.

We did something we rarely do...

2010-07-03T20:20:00.014-04:00

we ventured out on a weekend day! We usually try to avoid crowds and it being summer in a tourist town and 4th of July weekend...it's like a triple threat. But free admission to Pfac intrigued us. We have never been before, so we packed a afternoon snack and headed out.
"The Common Object" exhibit had each painter incorporate an ordinary dishtowel into their work. Here are two of our favorites:

We got to meet and chat with the artist of the second biggest collection "Pencil to Paper" there. She lives locally and was working on a huge canvas piece...it was very cool to see her work. Other than sharpies, pencils plain or colored are Livs favorite medium to express her self artistically...so she really enjoyed her collection this one of glass bottles could have been a photo, it was really really good.

Here's Mary Lee Ruff talking with Liv (out of the shot)

This is a very different sculpture of St Francis by Emanuele De Reggi it depicts him in his youth at the moment of his discovery of his harmony with nature.Here Lex tries her hand at still life drawingsSnacking and playing outside the art center:

Our garden view this am.

2010-07-01T13:19:00.006-04:00

These are limited views, the side beds are not shown. But it's come a long way! Tomatoes are just starting to appear and we're still waiting on zucchini...we've got our hearts content of cukes and they are very yummy! Milder temps made it quite enjoyable to be out here this morning. Next year we'll work more on pest control and maybe less variates...a lot of what we planted, herbs, broccoli ,peppers, beans, lettuce, melons, strawberries have been destroyed by various critters. Learning-takes, life's full of them!!!

Let these two get a bit too big and fat...they are from the side beds and both were growing on our neighbors side..the one on the right started growing tru the chain link in our fence causing the scarring and deformity.

Eclisped!

2010-06-30T13:05:00.000-04:00

I met up with the girls today around 4pm ( they had a sleep over) and we saw " it"!!!!...#3 in the series. We loved it!

2010-06-28T12:50:00.002-04:00

Real or Fake?

Fake.....Lex, my budding make-up artist has perfected her bruise making!

She been making them with crayons....we have all looked quite battered these past few days. = D

Avoiding the heat!

2010-06-27T20:43:00.012-04:00

We may be turning into vampires...ok maybe that's extreme...more like nocturnal beings. We avoid the hot day(100 degrees + all week) sun and have started waiting till near sun down to go out and play. The girls already stay up later than both Wilks and I now ( at least when he has to be at work before noon). This past week I ran errands during 9-5 hours as needed, but the fun usually starts most days after 6pm!

Monday night the girls and I headed over to BG to see the new Ireland dance show “Celtic Fyre” and for the girls to ride the new 'Europe in the Air' ride, they got a simulated ride over some of Europe's most famous land marks. We did actually go to girls group Monday too from 1-5pm (they wouldn't have missed it for the world...not seeing everyone for over 3 weeks they couldn't wait to go!!!)

Tuesday we ventured out during sunlighted hours...but it was to a darkened movie theater. We saw "Toy Story 3" and "Marmaduke " On the way home we went thrifting. We got a new hamster cage for the new baby that's coming our way thanks to Amanda. We also got some great books.... dirt cheap.

Wednesday we had friends (Garell gang) over during the day....a few of us went bowling and some of us ran some errands. After 5 I packed a light dinner and we headed out to York River Beach.

Liv requested a hair trim after showering off from the night at the beach.

Thursday, hottest day of week...we waited till the sun was well on its way to setting till we headed to the first night of the James County Fair. Here is a picture of the setting sun near chickahominy park.
The main reason we wanted to go to the fair...was to try out the mega mess-less paint ball attraction...Lex discovered it was not pain-less ...she still has two bruised welts on her leg from the hits she received. OUCHY

They loved the petting zoo!

Good thing about the 1st night of the fair, it's usually not that crowed, bad thing more than half the attractions/events they advertise aren't there yet...the girls had the bouncy rides almost to themselves =)

We found this cool play ground when we where leaving the fair grounds.

Friday was Wilks day off and everyone slept in. He gardened, took care of some errands and took the girls to the beach after an early dinner...I thought they may want to go to WC since, Wilks has not gone this season yet...but the girls wanted to beach it.

Besides the over the top temps we wanted to avoid this week...we also tried to avoid all the bugs..several tick bites this week...tons of mosquitoes feasted on us....ahhh the good old summer time! But all the yummy fruits make up for it.... the peaches, cherries and melons have been scrumptious...we can't get enough. And now that our gardens' so well established we can't wait for some equally yummy veggies!!!

May,June Update 2

2010-06-24T12:21:00.029-04:00

The girls and Wilks visited with Nanny and Pa in NJ May17th thru 20th. They had a great time. The girls got to drive with Alyssa Grace. Wilks took them to the movies and got some quality Monmouth Mall time in with them = )
We went to WC on opening day 5/22...here Lex stops for a short snack..before hitting more cool water rides!

Lex with a mega tan.?...nope, just playing around with a little bronzer...both girls had fun playing Umpa Lumpas for hours.

Kids bowl free program started back up...we love this program, specially since the alley is with in walking distance from our home.

Lex's silly bandz collection keeps growing....when I shared the article about the bandz and why schools are banning them...she sighed....."but mommy I learned my 4 times from them"

The girls went back to NJ with me from June 3rd tru the 15th....

I got lots of holding baby Julia time in!

The girls got lots of loving up and playing with the cousin time, plus...of course plenty of pool time.

We all put together this 500 piece puzzle during our NJ stay at Grandma Mary's

While in NJ, the girls and I attended GBHL for the 2nd year in a row...we had a great time catching up with old friends and making new ones....this year the G ladies, drove up from Richmond, VA to join in on the fun, it was blast!

The day before we left for home we visited the Liberty Science Center. Always lots of cool things to explore!
Lex is wearing her dreads she got at GBHL

We had a wonderful visit, filled with NJ's finest Pizzas, and the girls got treated to two separate shopping sprees, one for jewelry (Pandora bracelets like mine =), thanks GM) and one at Game Stop (thanks U. Phil and A. Cindy). Only downer was my ears where clogged almost the entire time we there.

Here's our traditional 'By the tree, before we head out photo'...only it's not the same tree, winter storm damaged it and it's been replaced with a new one!

By the time we got home I was sure I had a full blown ear infections, I procrastinated a few more days before heading to urgent care (no insurance)...they set me up with meds and when I woke the next morning this hand made vase was bedside, waiting for me with a get-well note from Lex. Liv tended to putting the drops in each ear for me. Both, took such good care of me...it was really sweet.
While we were gone..oh my how the garden had grown...Lex got to harvest the first few cukes...probably like her favorite food ever!!!

Wilks had to work on Father's Day...so we celebrated when he got home: steak dinner, homemade brownies made with love by the girls, his own copy of Square Foot Gardening, A diploma for being the best Dad EVER from Lex and this awesome sharpie art....by Liv, T- shirt!

May,June Update 1

2010-06-22T21:43:00.018-04:00

We found a bunny who now lives in our yard....pretty sure it likes to visit our veggie garden often =(

Rare chilly May am.... sitting near the garden making flower crowns and jewels!

Playing and Learning while checking out the new 'Animal Grossology' Exhibit at the Hampton Air & Space Museum!

Arriving home and daring Chef Daddy to eat Mexican flavored Larva...he was very willing and able, Lex even had a taste!

What pray tell would our Berning Life be without slimy putty?...this one was of the mood/color changing type.

Luna looking purrfectly, bowtiful!

York River beaching with our friends!

Liv working hard on her sharpie tye-dye master piece!

Hours upon hours of cup stacking and racing competition bought on by buying more cups for Tye dye crafting.

We celebrated Liv's 1/2 (11&1/2) Birthday on May 21st ...she requested cheeseburgers and milkshakes as a celebratory meal. Of coarse we had cupcakes too...and an awesome water fun battle. Sleep-over fun lasted into the wee hours of the next day.

Mother's Day, Anniversary, and ARGH!

2010-05-09T16:27:00.021-04:00

This past week the girls and I went to ARGH and shared a cabin with Mel and her kiddos. The weather was just beautiful and we had such a great time hanging out with some of the coolest people we know!!

Cabin 5 was 6 gals and a hill side of ground covering bees....oh my!

Children and Mud...it's magnetism!

Livia and I tried our hand at some sharpie tye dyeing...and now it's all we want to do. I also got to learn some fun shirt alteration techniques.... the end result being a real rocking tee for Lex.

We hiked, picnic ed and played on the Roan Mountains.

Unschooled Zombies dancing the"Thriller"

We danced, Nerfed and talked the nights away!

We had such a great time visiting old friends and making new ones! We can't wait to go back in the Fall!

May 7th, Wilks and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary! He worked most of the day...so the girls and and I went out to breakfast and than Thrifting for the day...Lex bought this cool ARGH inspired skirt and belt. We all went out to dinner that evening.
This morning Lex pick the 1st strawberry and gave it to me for Mother's Day =) I shared it, of course! She also made me a flower crown, bracelet and scepter.

We had a lovely morning tending to the garden....this is a small peach on our peach tree...it's the first year we've seen fruit on it....so exciting! . The outdoor fun extended into the afternoon as we decided to pitch our new tents and play for hours inside them =)

We decided to come in around 5ish and watch "Whisper To Your Heart".....what a wonderful way to spend this day =)

Just pics!

2010-05-03T00:10:00.003-04:00

Unschooling week in review.....

2010-04-25T22:14:00.001-04:00

Started the week out attending Girls group on Monday. Lex chose to stay home, with Wilks, as she was totally and joyfully engrossed in her new Wii My Sims Agents game. She completed the game just a few days latter! Wilks, Liv or I was by her side, to assist with the heavy reading.

Lex's tries on a rock and roll persona

We went to VLM to check out the Charles Harper exhibit.

Checked out a totally Green house!

Had a ball at Shirley Plantation, the oldest in VA. They had a home school day with several special activities set-up. We met up with great friends and everyone enjoyed being outside on a gorgeous Earth day. They loved writing with slate pens and quill feathers.

Bess Bess in pure bliss!

Liv went on a sleep over on Thurs. night....so Lex and I went on breakfast date Fri morning...she decided to have a syrup tasting and we had a bit of silly fun.

We finally got the supplies we needed to make some more ooblek.

Em stayed with us over the weekend and on Sat she joined us for our UU Earth day clean-up...the girls worked really hard and it was quite impressive for them to see how much trash we all collectively picked-up...... 33 bags in total! We had a nice lunch and enjoyed great music and spirit dancing and story telling afterward. The girls also each made really cool dream catchers and helped decorate some sun catcher discs with inspirational words and art for our planet.

Our neighbors HS'd grandchildren where also visiting for the weekend...so lots of kids and lots of outdoor play, spy games with walkie talkies, bike riding, head lights for nighttime back yard adventures . The girls plus Em spent a good part of today making their own version of a Ke$ha music video...they even gave me a small part =). Wilks worked 4 days this past week...it was really weird not having him around that much.

The girls have discovered Jim Henson's The Storytellers series and Growing Up Creepie on Nexflix streaming. We also started watching a few of the Liberty Kids episodes thru the stream. We are all (Wilks too) now hooked on Ugly Betty and are about half way thru season 1. Liv is reading the Twilight book and the girls and I are currently all listening to Saffy's Angel

Rare photo of Liv using the Wii this week...as Lex was on a mission!

46 years on this planet!

2010-04-18T19:08:00.029-04:00

This past week held my birthday..Wed April 14th. Seems like a lot of years that went by, way to quickly...I fretted over the number (inching closer to 50) but then I slowed and really looked at what I have gained in all the years.....it humbled me and filled me with a joyful peace. I hope I have at least 46 more to experience all the wonder life has to offer.

Some of this past weeks' joys:

Riding buses with these cuties!

Making and then uncontrollably cracking-up over our self-portraits, after just spending a hour on a very dignified Art Detective tour at the Dewitt Wallace Museum at CW

Getting to ride around in a brandy new Santa Fey for a few days...girls thought it was so cool that it had a port for an I Pod. Happy to report the Subby Dubby is all fixed minus the squealing noise that it had prior to the crash. We love our Subaru..it's taken us across the country and on many a great adventured .

A great birthday lunch at Fudruckers with my favorite peeps;

watching Liv enjoy fries with a some milk shake on top.
Discovering a wonderful unexpected garden, while on a tedious errand...

Gaining a new appreciation for balloon sharpie art =)

My new lemon tree....ok not quite a tree,or a bush at this point....but I have high hopes =D
Very hot days sandwiched between very cool ones.

Our azaleas blooming

My Sims Agents game on Ds and for the Wii

Watching our garden take shape:

Dreaming of scrumptious strawberries

Having fun with great friends at BG

The ability to now stream Netflix thru our Wii absolutely tickled me this week. Having Wilks make my birthday so special and watching him smile as he headed out to work...if only for a few days was marvelous...sitting here typing while my gang sits on the couch right next to me, sharing belly laughs together over Sunday nite Fox shows, just priceless. And of course..........

being privileged to parent kids that are so cool...they gotta wear shades!!!My life is full of joy...and happiness is the state I live in!

I'm a bad blogger!

2010-04-12T21:32:00.006-04:00

Hardly ever get over here! Not having a working computer did not help. Girls have been wonderful about sharing their laptops, but Wilks recently fixed mine...early b-day gift. Thank-you!!! Making no promises...facebook, yahoo groups and email take up enough of my online time...but I'll try a weekly effort. Here are some recent photos!

Playing in the woods/creek (at girl's group) on one of those killer hot days we had a week ago.

First visit to BG for the season(4/7/10)...also very hot day, also Spring Break, what where we thinking... we know better...it was sooo crowded....this ride was for for BB's sake, riding in the car behind the 3 amigos.

Lex swinging last Fri (4/9/10) in back yard...photos taken from my car as I head out to shop...much milder day!

Speaking of my car, my poor car, two accidents in 4 months ugh!! We, (girls and I) where headed to a unschooling/camp gathering in Cville VA on Sunday morn...when bam...crazy motorcycle man collides right into us, All involved where unharmed,THANKFULLY and I'm very GRATEFUL for this...thank you, thank you my angels. Our trip and car where derailed...now sporting a kool new black Santa Fay rental while the Subu dubie is in the shop. Sad we could not meet up with great friends =(

Lexie turns 9 and 1/2 Today!

2010-03-08T19:57:00.011-05:00

I made cupcakes last night and Lex and Wilks iced them this morning...18 total! We thought we'd bring them to girls group today...but it was canceled. Of course we had to try them ! Happy to report the cupcakes are uber yummy... Lex made the icing color by blending two neon colors Came out a light lavender . Lex decided she wanted to go the beach and play in the sand. Thankfully today was the warmest day we've had in weeks...sunny and in the high 5o's. Nice drive down Colonial Parkway to York River Beach...we had late lunch at York Pub and the girls played on the beach and jetty rocks for a few hours. The air was still very chilly...and I had to retreat to the car after a while...can't wait for the more steady spring weather to arrive. We stopped at two thrift stores on the way home: Liv found 3 pair of jeans she liked , Wilkes got 4 pairs of dress khakis and a Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Italian book, Lex and I found, Pokemon Yahtzee and a complete set of wooden peg games, a new hurricane glass thingy for our blue glass lamp and a Barrons's book about Hamster(best deal at .25cents!! $12.99 local bookstore sticker still on it). We love thrifting! Happy Happy Day!

So good to be back home!

2010-01-31T18:05:00.005-05:00

Been back for almost two weeks now...and quickly we jumped back in where we left off....only this time with a more appreciative lens!

Vacaville

2010-01-07T14:56:00.002-05:00

We been here almost 2 weeks...if we where staying.... I think I'd like to live in this city. Since we got here....it's been foggy, everyday....very appropriate as our state of mind has also been foggy.

Liv has lost two teeth...the Wii and TV has been a welcome diversion.

I really want the fog to clear!

Boo hoo

2009-12-12T12:59:00.004-05:00

Here are my turtles. I had to get rid of them because were moving. My mom says "fake it till we make. So I'm happy I gave away the best TURTLES I EVER HAD!!!! We also have to get rid of the rest of the pets. :"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""(
They all went to loving homes. =)

Over the river and Thru 95 traffic...

2009-11-27T22:53:00.001-05:00

to Grandma Marys house we go!

Short trip this time around =(

Liv turns 11!

2009-11-21T19:53:00.004-05:00

Lex & Me, Silly

2009-11-14T15:17:00.010-05:00

Ohh mm gee there are 16 Lexie's!!!

Wow she can fit in that box. ( I wish I could ).

Lexie look's silly & cute at the same time.

PeAcE oUt!! People of earth!

Ha Ha!!!

The Whole Family!!
Big one: Pikachu, Little one: Mudkip.

I love you Pikachu!!

Catch-up with photos!

2009-10-30T10:28:00.013-04:00

Fall fun at Waller mill park!

Some time early September.....Hanging at Fort Fun! A very cool playground we found located in Newport News!

Driving and than hanging at the "Enjoy Life" conference (Sept 21st and 22nd with our buds)...and despite the gnats we had a great time!

Two days later...we meet up with Kat and Blue again at GWL for some great water fun and serious dragon slaying Magi Quest!

Liv and I attend BG's Hollow Scream on its opening weekend....only to be quite disappointed that it didn't hold up to years past frights =( didn't keep us from coming back thru Oct.... though =)

Sept 27th Liv at an Archery event!

Oct. brought new: park days gatherings, Monday girls club, great friends, sleep-overs, and
lots of fun ...... and of course beautiful color!

Halloween party on the 24th!

Our Hamsters!

2009-10-09T20:35:00.003-04:00

Welcome to the family, Coconut and Shopia!

2009-10-09T10:43:00.002-04:00

I love Sophie!!! <3<3<3<3<3<3>.

Summer went by to fast this year!

2009-10-04T13:22:00.022-04:00

Here are some summer pics I never got around to posting:

First day of GS camp!

Pool fun....hours of fun...no one cared that it was not on even ground..it was oblong bliss!

Webkinz made a huge resurgence in our house this past summer and many enjoyed a pool dip also!

Just a sampling of my new found skills that kicked into high gear this past summer...got all this and that's 2lb of Smithfield turkey for $6 something!!!

Lex and Liv got into making new dos for their AG dolls...lately they are staring in many of Lex's videos.

We got picked to Host a Wizard of Waverly Place Island Movie House Party it was Magical! The girls are so missing the Disney Channel :**( lately.

Cake we made for the party! We served 'make your own' Hawaiian pizza and tropical smoothies drinks.... great time had by all!

The wand got the most use!

Limbo queen!

Explosive volcano experiments...Wilkes and the girls had fun making and playing with this one!

Busch Gardens...always offered new frills!!!!!

The girls never tire of walking thru the Jack Hanna wildlife exhibits at BG. They now have 6 rehabilitate American bald eagles!
So beautiful!

Seems we dove right into Fall this year! It was a summer filled with adventure and though I'll miss the hotter weather( IE more pool, ocean time less crowds) Fall temps rocks as well! We went to a great Unschooling Conf at Mar-Lu Ridge in Frederick, MD...weather was perfect! The milder temp sans the humidity have made all our park gathering so much nicer...the kids can run and play more without getting overheated. Yeah, time to embrace the wonder of Autumn, specially cause it not something we always get to experience around here!!

Hanging with mom,

2009-10-04T12:48:00.001-04:00

Been busy making vids with my AG dolls coming soon to youtube.

Great Holt Quote

2009-10-04T12:28:00.004-04:00

"We made a terrible mistake when (with the best of intentions) we separated children from adults and learning from the rest of life, and one of our most urgent tasks is to take down the barriers we have put between them and let them come back together..." ~John Holt

Lexie turns 9! 24 hrs of a birthday...

2009-09-08T20:55:00.049-04:00

It started at little before midnight on Sept 8th: We decorated and put out her presents.

At midnight we sang "Happy B-day to Lex ..while she a had a bowl of strawberry ice cream served with a candle! She then decided to open one gift...it turned out to be...

Picturecka! which lead to a few early morning rounds of fun game playing .

She also was the winner of our first jelly bean game...Guess How Many...she guessed 99 and was spot on...Hooray Lex...they where the sour variety her all time fav!!! I think we all where in bed by 2am!?! I think...Wilks and Liv are the real night owls in our house.

In the morning I baked cupcakes and set out our first activity: beads for making wishing bracelets.

Liv just waking up and ready for breakfast...is checking out her goody bag!

Wilkes makes a cool necklace that says "Will is cool"

Here's Lex's bracelet which says Laugh, Believe, Dream....all that I hope she is blessed with for all of her years...lots of laughter, always to believe in herself, and to never give up on her dreams!

Next came opening presents... make-up, webkinz and clothes oh my!

she loved the clothes and was so surprised to get a webkinz deer from Liv ( it's retired and very hard to come by) we filmed most of the gift opening and her reactions and commentary was priceless

A blue glass prism..paper weight...she'd been conveting at a local museum gift shop for about a year! We start to make plans to go to Target so she can pick out her camera later in the day!

Time to play with all the new stuff...

About a hour later she decides to get dressed in some of her new b-day fashions...including a new knit hip hat!

Next came our jelly bean tasting challenge...13 flavs in all!

Eeew....not liking this one...it turned out to be root beer flavor!

Liv takes her turn........

and Wilks...the consummate chef must cleanse his palette in between each taste...too funny!

and the winner... by one point.... the b-day girl... now with her new fake hair in!

More exploring of her new stuff...this is a cool make -up sketching book.

We went to CC's to do the arcade thang...it wasn't crowded (first day of school for most and heavy rains) we had a ton of fun...and what made this sooo great was the girls each had way over 2000 points (from all the past visits over the years) to trade in... they both chose great prizes, Liv got a cool water ball and Lex got a Bratz baby animal set and they still both have about 1000 points left.

After CC fun we headed to Toys R US because Lex had wallet full of b-day money and her $3 Geoffry B-day club gift card....long story short she circled the store about 4 times...with no clue of what she wanted...she ended up at the clearance shelf in front of the registers...she bought 3 boxes of Kashi cereal and a large bar size Reece's' for a grand total of .20 cents after her GC...no kidding...LOL...I think all this couponing is rubbing off on her! Next we headed to Target...and after much deliberation...she went with her 1st choice and got a cool Sony camera!

By the time we got home it was dark out...I put Lex's B-day dinner choice in the oven, to heat up and we got busy with the decorating of the cupcakes...yummy fun...Lex had fun making cool colors with the frosting!

Here's our finished product....later we added candles and a darkened room and some joyous singing voices!

Baked Ziti dinner hot and delish!

After dinner and b-day celebration song its cupcake eating time...oh yeah!
Then outside for our last game: a jelly bean race...nine on a spoon held by the teeth...Liv was the big winner this time...all though Wilkes and I impressively dropped none!!!

One last card around 10:30 pm this one sang to her..."yoo make me feel so goo ee goo ee goo."

This was the last scene I saw...the girls.... happily playing......before I headed up to bed just around midnight.

Happy 9th Birthday ! Baby Girl!

Momma Love

2009-08-20T13:08:00.003-04:00

Momma and puppy on a picnic. By Lexie

Jellyfish One Lex Zip!

2009-08-18T07:44:00.007-04:00

Ouch! Poor Lex got stung last night swimming at York River Beach. We tried the pee thing..but (it) did not give her much relief...we ended up calling from the Help Box...EMTs followed shortly after...and fixed her right up! The pic above was taken this morning...looks so much better, just an oblong discoloration...last night it was quite swollen.

This was about 45mins before the sting!

This was 45 mins after treatment....enjoying our outdoor supper!

Petting Sharks and Gel Putty Farts!

2009-08-14T18:29:00.017-04:00

Today we went to the Richmond Science museum...to check out thier new Shark exhibit...they had some wicked cool sand sculptures on display and the girls got to pet a white spotted bamboo shark. We enjoyed ourselves... on the way out we stopped at the gift shop...we found and purchased some sea putty with little sea creatures in it...It's so cool and cold to the touch...its providing hours of fun this even. Among it's many amazing abilities...is it's fart noise making one, when pressed it into a container.

Swimming with the Sharks!

Sharks have supper sensitive sense of touch!

The Sand Sculptures were amazing!

Liv and Lex got to do some sculpting of their own, at the outside sand boxes and Liv found about 10 more shark teeth to add to her collection!

Lex made jewelry with her putty among other things...it's definitely some of the best slime/putty we ever played with.

"B" Campy

2009-08-13T14:20:00.008-04:00

That's the name we have come up with for our new to us 1988 Xplorer RV Van. It fits in so many ways....for one, smaller RVs are called B Classes in the RV world. Two, the previous owners' grandsons had nicknamed it 'Campy'...ta girls liked that and decided to add our initial for extended ownership...and three 'Be Campy'...it's cheesy funny....just like us!

Since we bought it home, it's been a home away from home for Liv and Lex....we all love hang'n out in it....could use some air con....but it meets our criteria.....we can't wait to go on our first trip! We have to conserve our funds so it may be a while..but for now we got it juiced up...curbside...gives a whole nother meeting to staycation.

Closer to the Dream!

2009-08-03T09:53:00.003-04:00

Ok...fingers crossed in a few days we should be the proud albeit totally green owners of this Dodge 1988 Class B RV 19' long...

NJ Hightlights!

2009-07-30T17:28:00.031-04:00

Great week in NJ! Here are just a few of highlights!

Hanging with the fam at Grandma M's.........

Making and eating Smores!

Buying new shades!

Trenton, NJ State Museum....Liv toke some great pics...me not so much. We were so taken with the global warning exhibit and the the kindness we encountered that day!

The wedding......

this is the beautiful, fabulous Grandma M. !!!

It's was a beautiful event....the extra touches really spoke of Aunt Rhea's talent. It's was great to see all the Fluhr's in one place.....Dad and Mary K you are soooo missed!

We also got to see the movie "Ice Age ...Dawn of Dino"; do the "Mall" and get lots of Cuz'n playing time, during this visit. Liv and Lex had a wonderful time with Aunt Joy and Alyssa in Ocean Grove and overnight. Joy took them to visit Nanny & Pa, they always enjoy the ice cream treats Nanny buys for them...and seeing Pa and giving him their gift, they made....made their visit! We'll be back...real soon!

NJ!

2009-07-20T12:07:00.002-04:00

We're in NJ...been since Friday. Worst drive ever..... but the weather has been cool and gorgeous! The girls love Grandma M's pool and of course the beach....just the smell is great! That cool Ocean breeze...aroma. We tried to visit Pa in the hospital..... but he did not want to see us. Hopefully he will be well enough to be released soon...the girls are anxious to see him. Today running some errands in preparations for family gathering at Grandma M's. The week will end with a Fluhr Family wedding....and then we're right back to VA... girls start GS camp(only one they were interested in this year) on Monday the 27th!

Just a small glimpse...

2009-07-14T22:55:00.008-04:00

into what lies behind...the cutie we know and love as Lex...she's such a pip! This photo was taken in '08!
Embracing her inner hippie!

My Webkinz

2009-07-13T23:43:00.007-04:00

These are all of my webkinz.

As of today I have 39 actual & 1 virtual webkinz pets. My newest webkinz are Freddy the Spotted Frog & Jup the Tomato Clown Fish. I got them yesterday 7/13/09 . Freddy smells like cinnamon cause we got him at the Christmas mouse. My fav webkinz is Sparky he was my first webkinz ever.

What we do!

2009-07-12T21:56:00.026-04:00

Build projects at Lowes!

Celebrate National Cow Appreciation Day!

Buy Some Not Back-to School Supplies!
* Sidewalk chalk

*Water balloons

*pool goggles

*water ball ... bounces on water how neat!

*pool diver rockets

Visit Museums:

Pic's from our Mariners' Museum trip. This 1st one is a stained glassed dome taken from The Spirit of Norfolk. The Museums' big claim to fame is The USS Monitor. The girls really were moved by the "Message in A Bottle" exhibit an artful collection of photos by two different artist depicting trash washed up on beaches and American consumption/waste. No photos allowed in that section. Andy Hughes and Chris Jordan are the artist.

We went on Sunday during one of the Free times, but I checked at the desk and we can get in for free anytime with our Charlotte County Historical Society Family Membership(best $35 we every sent!!!!). We have been before, attending different programs that they have offered in the past, but this is a big museum with lots to see and do....so knowing we can come back and explore at our leisure is supper cool!

They had Morse code booths set up in the Titanic Exhibit...the girls both made the instant connection to Marconi and the museum InfoAge we visited in Wall NJ back in April. They had fun coding out there names and words to each other.

We didn't get to check out the subs this time....which the girls love to play in and we want to check out a newer exhibit called Sea Glass...so we will plan to go back soon.

Cool Quilted Artwork (made from bottle wrapper) out side the building!

I love my wife.

2009-07-10T22:00:00.003-04:00

I love my wife, because she lets me be me!

I Love my Life!

2009-07-10T15:17:00.004-04:00

I love my cats . I love my mom. I love Livia. I love dad. <3

I Love my Life!

I just got free chicken

2009-07-10T14:56:00.004-04:00

Mommy, Lex & I dressed up like cows & got free Chick-fil-a meals!

This is me.

Friends, Fun, Trees Coming Down!

2009-07-10T08:42:00.011-04:00

Two weeks ago! Back Yard Water Slide! There was one huge mud puddle at the bottom!

Sleepover with CA friend! We look foward to her annual summer visit!

One last look at the 3 pines!

And then there was one! (That's D the tree man )

Days later this was all that remained...now even these are gone.

Lexie asked all to go here and plant (in honor of those that most be cut down) a tree in your state forests/parks.

Liv and Lex exchange Independence Day Gifts! (They gave each other webkinz)

The cake the Girls made for the 4th of July Party we attended! We watched the firework right outside our host's house, smack dab in the middle of Duke of Gloucester St. in Historical Colonial Williamsburg.

Last and this week both girls attended different Broadside programs in Historic Yorktown. The girls have been participating in these programs for years...they enjoy them...this year was no different. This day we're dropping Liv off ...Lex wanted to dress like Liv...and Liv wanted to do a 'Girly' look....they're even wearing earings...which is rare!

Later that same day at a local park...just hang'n having fun!

Happy Fathers Day!

2009-06-21T11:46:00.006-04:00

The girls totally surprised Wilkes at 12:04 am today with thier Father's Day cake and gifts! These midnight celebration are becoming more and more common place for us...as we are all usually up....and Wilkes is home and awake... and most likely working during most of the Holiday.

Freedom to make our own schedule rules! Here is a close-up of the yummy chocolate cake and the girls making it earlier during the day yesterday!

Lex bowled her best game ever!

2009-06-19T20:25:00.001-04:00

She bowled a 110 with two strikes! Yahoo baby girl! It's helped greatly that the the last few games she bowled we used the bumpers! Liv has a dynamo arm and whales that ball down the lane...she has the best form of all of us!

We added some new board games to our collection...51 total as of yesterday... Liv counted them for us! Last week we got the original version of 'The Game of Life' thinking that Lex might enjoy this more than Monopoly which other than being the banker...for about the 1st 15 min...she's just not so interested in. We played our first game of Life over a two day stint! She didn't enjoy it ...too much going on . We invested in Monopoly Jr and that she loves!!!! I also scored a Disney 'Monsters' version of Life at the thrift store for .98 cents.... and that was so much easier and so much fun for all of us! We also recently got Sea Monsters...which everyone liked and just the other day we added Clue Jr to collection....but we have yet to play it!

We finally got our Flip video recorder... the 1st we had to send back, the audio was not working on it. But now we are all set and have had fun filming little tidbits this past week.... and if I can figure out how to edit some of it I'll be sharing them here!

Big news, Lex traded in her DS for the new DSi this evening....and she is sitting across from me having fun with the photo feature.

Liv bought the used Spore game for her DS....she busy creating her creature. We love Nintendo!!! Thanks Cat for showing Liv how to play this game!

The dining room is almost completely painted....just one more wall to go! The color Camel looks so great.

Some highlights from the past two weeks:
*The girls wrestled a mighty anaconda at a great Amazon exhibit at Living Museum!
*Lex bought and ate/tortured a giant green apple gummi bear.... we have video to prove it...the two prior days viewings of 'Mr Bill' on Utube was big influence!
*Liv did some more brick art on the front of the house.
*We gals got our summer hair cuts.

Things we did yesterday!

2009-06-10T08:52:00.002-04:00

Things we did, pondered, discussed or googled yesterday:

* Do cats see in color? A= mostly no..they do have some cell cones that are responsible for color perception...but more likely they help with brightness....used for their keen night vision.
*We groomed our two long haired cats. Talked about tics. Actually talked a lot about the upkeep of the cats...and fears about getting disease, tics, from the cats.
*The girls played Animal Crossing, Lex checked-out Animal Crossing videos online.
*We watched some Animal Channel shows: Animal Cops type and one about a Linx
*The girls gave each other make-overs.
*Lex did some word searches.
*We watched the pouring rain and t-storm outside.
*Both Liv and I took a nap... me,cause, just not feeling 100% Liv, was up early...she normally gets up about 10:30 ish, she woke much earlier, than her norm.
*Watched the Simpsons.
*I updated the freebie blog.
*Checked up on Webkinz.
*Made and ate some yummy food!
*Did Laundry.
*Cleaned the thrones.
*Talked, shared dreams, cuddled, laughed,talked some more!
*Had a late dinner ,which timed perfectly with Wilkes arrival home from work.
*9pm outside catching lighting bugs and running in the gusty wind
*Played Disney Monopoly till midnight....had a laugh riot ball auctioning property with our $1 intervals bids!
*I went to bed right after the game..the girls decided to stay up to check out more videos and webkinz on the net.

Today the suns out and we may hit Water Country...we will def be getting over to California Tortilla for some great free food! Maybe some bowling ...who knows its early 8:50am girls are sleeping, Wilkes just left for work and I'm coloring my hair.