Today in the mail, Keree got a St.Patrick's day card from her Great-Great Aunt F. It amazes me how she remember Keree in such small ways, just like she always remembered my Brother and I growing up. Inside the card was a pair of St. Patrick's day socks that looked like little mary jane slippers. Keree just ohh'd and ahh'd over them. Then since it's Monday, I decided to fix Keree a Muffin Tin dinner. We had picked out some yan yan sticks while at the store today, so that was my inspiration. So in the first container we have some chicken wontons. Next some dipping sauce, followed by some shrimp chips. The next row starts out with some ramen noodles, next a veggie egg roll and finished with some more ramen noodles because Keree loves them. Of course, when I asked what her favorite part was, she answered the yan yan sticks.

Sunday

Nothing really exciting happened today. Keree of course woke up early and I fixed some sausage pancakes for breakfast. I spent the majority of my day upstairs working. I finally had a break through on a few business craft things, so I'm throwing myself into them. Keree spent most of the day upstairs playing but did lay down for a nap with my Mom. After naptime, my Mom let Keree play outside for a very short time before they both joined me upstairs. We spent alot of our time moving and organizing to make more room for Keree to play in the main room. She's excited because that means more toys to play with out there. We ended our night with pasta for dinner and then trying to have an early bedtime.

No Go

Well this morning, we took our time. Keree's squad wasn't cheering today, so it worked out perfect for us to head back up to the Farm. As we were getting ready to head up there, my Aunt called and said that my Uncle didn't want us to head up there today. She said that they weren't heading up there either because it was just too cold and rainy. So since our day was now wide open, we decided to head over to a craft show. We actually were suppose to be doing this show but with how bad my Mom has been feeling, there was no way I could handle setup, the show and tear down completely by myself, while also having Keree along. Which honestly, I'm glad we didn't do the show, the Producer had actually allowed people with flea market type stuff in and I was really disappointed. I did find it interesting because I dressed Keree as plain as I could today because I was comparing prices and such. I was shocked at how many people recognized her. It was also nice because we did run into a few Crafty friends and we had a nice visit with them. It's also a little sad because we won't see most of them until Fall now. As we were driving home, we always pass a grain elevator. Keree loves this elevator because it looks like Rapunzel's tower. So since we didn't have anything planned for the day, we stopped and grabbed a few pictures of her and the tower. What's cool about this grain tower, is unlike most of them in the area, it's still being used for it's intended use. When we got home, we spent the day upstairs. Of course, I worked and Keree played.

"Cleaning" the Farm

After dropping Keree off at school, we ran a few errands before picking her up. Right as I was heading in to pick her up, the phone rang. I let it go to voicemail because you can't talk on the phone while in the school. So after I collected Keree and read the summary, which said that they worked in their journals (yet again), sang the ABC song (seriously...such a basic song) and worked on writing their names (which didn't apply to Keree since she already knows how to write it). I listened to my voicemail after hooking Keree in her carseat and it was from my Uncle T. He wanted me to come up to my Grandparents farm, since he is cleaning it out. Which I hate the whole "cleaning" word because these are my Families memories and traditions that will be donated. He offered for me to come up on either today or Saturday, so I thought, we better go today because he's know for changing his mind. I was heading up there, when I called him back. When we got there, I told Keree she had to be on her very best behavior and not talk. See this is the same Uncle who's ignored Keree completely and literally hasn't spoken to her at all. I'm mean, honestly, he's seen her at my Great-Aunt's birthday party and no acknowledgement and then at my Grandma's visitation and funeral, he didn't say anything then to her either. As we walked in, he was very welcoming and I've got to say it was weird to be there. It looked like the Farm house, just the closest were bare and all the paperwork they always had laid out wasn't there. What shocked me the most, is when he engaged Keree in conversation. He asked her how school was, how old she was, he treated her like she mattered, like she really is a member of our family. It was weird. While my Uncle walked me around, my Mom and Keree waited downstairs. I was surprised at how open my Uncle was, he gave me my Grandma's wedding dress and the Maid of Honor dress she wore for my Great-Aunt's wedding (which I didn't know that existed). Now there were a few things when I was growing up, I really, really wanted and had asked that when they died, if I could have them. My Grandma always told me "No" they were to be passed down to her daughter or her sons. See my Grandma didn't consider me, her granddaughter because I didn't come from her daughter's womb. Yep, my Grandma was nuts. But after my Grandpa died, the family basically blew up and we were basically the only ones who came to visit her, other than my Uncle. So when my Uncle offered up the Engagement present my Grandpa bought for my Grandma, I about burst into tears. I had thought about those lamps, dreamed about the lamps and knew the story behind them. My Grandpa paid $35 for the set, which was amazing because that was a ton of money back in the day. I claimed quite a few pieces of furniture, even though I don't have room for them but some of the pieces date back to the late 1800's and early 1900's and belonged to my Great-Great and Great-Grandparents. I didn't have alot of room in the van, because I was still loaded from our last show but I was able to take a few things. My Uncle let me take my Grandma's mixer, most of her pots, pans, cups and plates. Because he had to leave by a certain time, we cut our visit short. He said I could come back up the next day, so I'm looking forward to being able to go through some more stuff. When we were driving home, I was still amazed that he gave me my Grandma's wedding dress and the Engagement gift. Since it was cold and late, we decided to pick up pizza for dinner. When we got home, we unloaded the car, so we could pack easier tomorrow. We spent the rest of the evening resting because we were all exhausted. I especially was exhausted both mentally and physically.

Wind

Keree woke up super early this morning, like 445a early. I tried everything to get her to go back to sleep but it was no use. So after breakfast, getting dressed, we headed off to school. When I came to pick Keree up the summary said that they worked in their journals, played outside and sang songs. Since today was Thursday, it was also homeschool day. Our teacher was running almost 15 min late, so I really thought she had canceled and not called us. So right as I was about to leave, she showed up. This month, our lessons are about wind, weather and seasons. Keree was actually really bored in the beginning. She let her play sight word bingo, which was not a challenge at all. She let her play on a vtech spelling computer but again, Keree aced through the two levels. The Teacher was a little at a loss but eventually, she let her draw and cut out some pictures. We were originally going to make a kite but when that didn't work out, we drew some animals we see in the spring time. Keree cut them out and glued them on the paper. Then at the very end of our lesson, they did a science experiment. Keree had four objects, a cotton ball, rock, golf ball and tissue. She then had to predict if she could move the object by blowing through a straw. Both the Teacher and I were surprised when she made all the objects move a little bit. Even though the rock only wobbled back and forth, it still moved. Keree spent almost 20 minutes continuing blowing the different objects to see if she could keep producing the same result. After our time was up, we headed home. I would love to say we did something exciting when we got home, but we spent the rest of the day upstairs. Because of how badly I've felt the entire winter season, I'm super behind on building my stock. So since I've got some big shows coming up, it's work, work, work.

Dr. Suess Birthday

This morning we all woke up late, so Keree got to stay home from school today. Because we knew it was Dr. Suess's birthday we planned on reading Go Dog Go. I swore I have a copy of it but to no avail, I couldn't find it. We headed out to get a few business supplies and stopped by Michaels. They were having their make and take craft which was a Dr. Suess bookmark. We got there right before the stopping time and I'm pretty sure Keree was close to being one of the only ones who stopped by. Keree got full reign over the stickers, paper and markers. She created bookmarks for not only herself but her Great-Grandparents and Uncle. After our short trip shopping, we headed home. We ate a quick lunch and then curled up and read "I can read with my eyes shut." Keree would read the pages with less words and Mom had to read the pages with more words. After nap, we headed upstairs where I spent my time working and Keree spent her time digging through my scraps and creating. Because I was punching out bottlecap images, Keree imagined that the paper scraps could be made into crowns. So she made a crown for all of us to wear. Before heading to bed for the evening, we read "The Cat in the Hat". Again Keree read the less word pages and I read the more word pages.

Belated Birthday Fun

Keree really wanted to go to Chuckee's for her birthday. She really wanted to have her birthday party there and everything. My Mom and I...well we didn't think that was a good idea at all. But after doing some errands, we decided to reward Keree with some time at the pizza place for a sort of belated birthday fun. After ordering our pizza, we played Deal or No deal. Then Keree and I split our time between, whack-a-alien, riding the horse and skee-ball. After eating some pretty greasy pizza, we rode the electronic roller coaster. Keree has never been into riding rides, so this was a first for her. She was going to be brave and sit next to me but after the first jerk. She begged to lay on top of me, while we were tossed this way and that. Honestly, by the time it stopped, I was ready to puke. I couldn't believe how motion sick I got. Since my Mom wasn't feeling well, we decided to leave before spending all our coins. We cashed in our tickets and let Keree pick out a prize. Of course, in true Keree fashion, she picked the baseball bat and ball. After we got home, she talked non-stop about all the fun things we did. She asked if we could go more often. My standard response was it costs lots of money but honestly, I would rather kept the place as a once/twice a year place to visit because all the electronic lights & sounds can be annoying, even though my daughter does so enjoy it.