Heading to college - on the ferry

 On board the Anapolis ferry and heading over to Bremerton at 7:05 a.m.

And off he goes!  :(

On the flip side ... this is what Ian saw as he got off the ferry the other morning.

 Then the sun rose and the big ferry was coming in toward Bremerton; Port Orchard behind the ferry.

This marvelous shot was taken today.  We got down to the ferry about 6:50 a.m. or so and we could see the sun starting to peek up on the Seattle side, so it was rising behind me.  When Ian got to the other side he has this view.  What a great way to have God say, "Good Morning!" to you!

Venting for personal reasons - not readable for others

The following is just me venting.  Ignore it.  I had to write it somewhere.  Consider this a personal journal entry for nobody's eyes but my own.  Thank you for understanding.  (And Mom, if you do read it ... please no comments ... )

I am ready to throw in the towel on boy #2 as far as school is concerned.  His attitude leaves much to be desired and when his response to me indicates I am interrupting his day with school work my only thought is ... fine ... go to public school, buddy.  Let them deal with your attitude; see how much you'll like it there when you have more than one person during the day telling you what to do!  I left at 7:50 this morning to take Amber to violin.  Returned shortly after 9 only to hear he was "done" with his schoolwork for the day.  Granted, his math class starts next week, but his grammar books arrived yesterday and you'd think I had asked him to pick up dog doo, mow the lawn, weed the garden, pick up and vacuum the house, plan dinner, and do the laundry ... and all I asked was for him to do lesson one!  This happens every year throughout the year.  Does Daryn see it?  No.  It is conveniently held for me to deal with on a daily/weekly basis.  Fantastic.  I should feel so blessed!  Additionally, it is one horrible example for the younger two to witness.  Urgh!  I thought we were done with this attitude ... I guess not.  Where's my wooden spoon?  Where's the principal?  I need to send him to the office!  Daryn Bartlett ... get home ... you have a student waiting for you in your office!

Now that I've ranted and raved ... I love my son so much it hurts.  Maybe that is why it bothers me so much when he does this to me?  It kills me.  I feel I walk on eggshells with him and have to tread very carefully so I don't piss him off.  He always seems to be pissed off at me.  I hate that term, but that's exactly what it is.  Anger, pure and simple, aimed directly at me and I have no way to deal with it other than telling him, fine, do it yourself.  Good luck.  I want him to excel in school and flourish and want to learn.  I know he thinks he knows it all, but he doesn't.  I'd love to say to him, fine, you don't have to do the ABeka grammar for 10th grade.  But, he does.  I have eliminated the spelling/vocabulary, and poetry on the premise it is covered in his HOW I curriculum.  But, I have to have him know all the literature terms this year.  It is his last year with grammar studies and he needs a firm foundation.  Does he see that?  I doubt it.

Now, Evyn, I know you are going to see this and probably get all ticked off again.  Maybe that is a good thing.  You won't listen to me when I talk to you at the table, so maybe you can further understand how I feel if you see it in writing.  Grammar is a necessary evil ... you have to do it whether you like it or not.  I know you're mad I had you start today rather than Monday.  Too bad.  It's one day closer to summer next year.  I love you, more than you will probably ever know.  I do not give you these things because I dislike you, but because I love you.  I pray you will understand.

I love you.

Wee Tiny Humpback Whale Sock

      Well, I have finally finished this month long adventure.  This little guy still has to pass the Ethan inspection, as he is my whale expert.  If my Wee Tiny Humpback Whale Sock passes with a 100% in flying colors, then I can get started on some other small sock ideas.

     I was approached with the idea of teaching a Wee Tiny Sock of the Month Club KAL (knit along) at our local yarn shop.  However, I need to have some ideas.  I have compiled a list of sorts, and now need to work on what would be a January idea.  I have two whale ideas which will work wonderfully for our local Whaling Days celebrated each June in Silverdale.  I will also need to find bigger sock blockers or maybe sweet talk Daryn into making a few for me that will fit my socks.  At any rate, for purposes of size comparison, this little guy measures about 5 inches from tip of nose to tip of tail.

First Day of School (well 5th day anyway)

     I had really good intentions of getting a photo of the first day of school this year.  That would have been five days ago.  It was even on my electronic calendar.  However, life intervened and the photo was never taken.  Ian wasn't up, then boys had to go off and do a wood stacking job ... yes, life intervened.  Next thing I knew, it was Friday.  Amber came downstairs this morning all dressed up and ready to have her photo taken.  Well, we don't ever do anything traditionally ... so we weren't going to pose on the front step as if to head off down the driveway either to walk to school or catch the bus.  So, the boys are dressed for the photo in whatever they were in when I said, "Let's go ... time for the photo shoot."

     So, here they are.  Ethan is "using" the thesaurus, Amber is studying something from her language binder, and Evyn is diligently studying his Algebra (from last year).  In regard to Evyn, he and Ian are getting tutoring for their Algebra classes and should be able to finish before long.  Ian should be complete with Algebra 2 by the time he begins Running Start with Olympic College, and Evyn could be a bit longer than that.  However, their tutor, Tanya Sutter, is willing to keep working with them until their lessons are complete and they have an end of year grade for next year.

     However, I digress.  Our first photo:

 All their lovely faces

     And lastly, our "graduate" joins us with his version of his first day of school.  As I wrote earlier, he starts mid/late September.  In the meantime, he's completing a few other things before heading off.

   Non-traditional ... yup, that's what we are!

Kitsap Fair - here we come!

7:42 a.m. - Alarm, snooze, alarm, up.  Time to get things going for the day.
8 a.m. - Feed kids, shower some kids.
8:50 a.m. - Makeup and hair - well, for Amber anyway.
9:07 a.m. - Packing dance bag, some still showering ...
9:25 a.m. - Car packed and out the door
10 a.m. - $6 to park the car and unload and head to the front gate at Kitsap Fairgrounds
10:15 a.m. - Still waiting at the gate for Ian's Scholarship Class kids
10:20 a.m. - Still no kids, head toward the Pepsi Family Fun Stage
11 a.m. - Just For Kicks performs - most of those sitting on the stands are family - as usual

Simply Irresistible

 Performance Team's jazz number.  Amber is third from right (in pink).

 Amber and her high kick.

Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend

 Musical Theatre number.  Amber is on the right.

 Amber is center between her friends Erin Alonzo (left) and Piper Burke (right).  Ethan was also in this number this weekend, but sadly I didn't get a good photo of him.

Black Horse and a Cherry Tree

 The boys tap class number also went to the fair.  Originally the class had 12 kids, one of them Ethan.  Unfortunately, they were a girl shy, so he opted to be "big guy" and sit it out.  Additionally, his tap shoe is broken and we have to replace it.  Evyn is on the left with Sidnee Sutherland and Ian is on the right with Vanessa Alonzo.

 Final pose for Black Horse.

Rhythm of the Night

 We also brought the older kids' Musical Theatre number.  Ian is on the left and Evyn on the right.

You Give Love a Bad Name

 Ian's Scholarship Class was invited to perform at the fair.  He taught four classes over the summer and had some new kids, so they did an abbreviated version of the song.  The kids did a great job.  The boys' scout friends performed.  They are center:  Mark Mathis (left) and Noah Mathis (right).  The center boy is another homeschool friend, Jamin Cummings.  His two sisters are on the left.

Hip Hop Mix

 This number is all the Performance Team members - mini, junior, and senior.  Amber is in the back on the left.

 Amber is just center left here.

And that was our day at the Fair.

Soon to be published

I can not officially announce that I will have one of my little sock patterns published in association with Debbie Macomber's next book, Angels at the Table.  It's a simple red and white Christmas sock with beads.  The book will have a code in the back associated with the pattern.  Readers will be able to plug in the code on her website and be able to download the pattern.  I'm not exactly sure on how it will all work, but as I understand it to date, the pattern will be up for about a year (maybe?) and then it will go to her free patterns page.  She has purchased the pattern from me, so from here on out I do not have the rights to it and I cannot sell or benefit from it in any way.  However, my name will be out there as the designer :)  That is such an amazing thing to me!  Will keep everyone posted when I know more about it.

On a related note, I have also been asked be Debbie Macomber's A Good Yarn Shop to design enough to do 12 monthly knit-alongs for mini socks.  The shop will purchase the patterns and I can teach classes for the knit-alongs and they also want to pre-package the socks with the yarns and patterns, etc., to be sold possibly on their website!

What does this mean?  I have to get a business license!

It appears I have nearly become a designer of miniature socks!

So, what's on my list?  I have about 14 sock ideas ... now I just need to get them written up and decide which ones go with which month!  Here is what I have so far:

January - Owl
February - Snowflake
March - Dragon
April - Rain
May - Trees
June - Sea Shore
July - Whale (to go with Silverdale's Whaling Days)
August - Briar Rose
September - Coffee
October - Apples
November - Moose
December - Angel

Other items on my list that may replace or rearrange the above:
Dog
Whale (I have 2 - short-finned pilot whale and a humpback)
Mt. Rainier
Salmon
Totem
Ferry
Halloween
July 4
Ballet
Harry Potter (couldn't forget something for these!)
Pirate
Magic (Ian wants me to do one for his favorite card game)

A good many of these I have NO idea how I'm going to do them.  They were just ideas we came up with when brainstorming.  Most of them are on the "other" list at this point.

Well, that's my news!

Someone posted this on Facebook today and I HAD to share it because it SO reminded me of Ian when he was little and sitting in his high chair in Iceland.  He knew how to open up the CD drive on the computer, put in his game, and play before he could even walk!  I hope you get a good chuckle out of this like we did!