Part II Daddy's helpers. i think they're mostly just helping eating that popcorn sitting there... This pic is from last weekend when he got the lights & ceiling insulation done.
and, now Part III... this weekend, the walls are going up!! He's hoping to finish the walls & floor today. He got that slot board for free, so it's cutting cost & looks pretty nice too :)


Maybe i'll take more pictures later when more walls are done. He wants to use finished OSB "tiles" for the floor. i think he's cute to want to use all 'forestry' products to finish his office.

So, the other day, i was looking at some blogs. There's one, it's one of my favourite blogs, 'cause the mama is so sweet (yes, i'm talking about you, lily of the valley) ~ with the long hair & pretty dresses. Anyway, she posted this "classy up-do" very old fashioned pin curls.. ."& then the next day, your hair will be in beautiful cascading curls!" So, i thought, since Neil's not home, i'll try that. i tried to hurriedly scramble it up & got bored half way through, but managed to get it all up... We had a play date later that day & my friend said to me, "wow, your hair looks... funky" ... hmmm... i was going for classic 19th century, but i'll take funky... Fast forward to the next day ~ we had accidentally slept in till 8:30... i go to take down the pin curls & they have turned into DREAD LOCKS!!

i didn't know what to do. i was in my pj's wondering what i should do with my new jamaican 'do & i hear the doorbell ring. i'm sitting there, in my pj's with half my hair up, half down wondering who is so rude as to ring my doorbell at 9am & Peyton runs upstairs, gapes at my hair & says, "mom, it's the facilitator!!" HAHA!! i pulled on some clothes, & tied the dreads back & went downstairs to what looked like a war-zone & put on my best smile. "Welcome to the loony bin". Ah, well... maybe i'll try the pin curls another time. i ended up with crazy Janis Joplin hair ~ not very homeschool mama-ish, but it was fun for one day...

This is a nice picture too. Nope, 's not toilet paper... i never used disposable diaper liners with my other littles in cloth, but i bought some on a whim with Gage & i *love* them. We call them "poop catchah's" & that's exactly what they are. i always heard that they get bunched up & don't do much good, but we're not having that experience at all... It makes the whole cloth diaper thing a lot easier & i would highly recommend them.

(stoppin' for coffee break on our hike... we can all use things that make life a little easier :)

Now, *this* is a beautiful picture....

Maybe not to you...

But this picture is of PART 1 of Neil's new (in the garage) at-home office. i cannot wait till he's working from home. He has 'till Jan. 1st to finish it (when the lease runs out on the office he's in). He just started on Saturday & he's got the new window in, the walls framed & 3 potlights all wired in. He rolls his eyes when i jump up & down squealing about him working from home. He's probably picturing all our little faces crammed up against the window pane grinning at him, (he's probably not too far off...) but i'm no dummy... i know he'll need his space, & frankly, we don't just sit around all day doing nothing... (ahem... most days...) so, we'll need our space too. These days, when he's travelling too much (did he really just tell me yesterday after 3 straight weeks of travelling that he might have to go to Vancouver again next week??!! *sigh*) i picture me sneaking out there when i can grab a moment with 2 cups of coffee, one black & one with cream & sugar... & it's getting me through the day...

Neil has been working & travelling a *ton* this month. He was in Edmonton till late last night & then tonight he heads out to Toronto *again*... i'm so excited for him & i know that this is just a very short season & bum luck that he's gone so much in one short period of time, but man, i miss that guy when he's not around & i just don't even feel like myself.

So, yesterday, after i had my bath (at 4pm!!) & *finally* got out of my pyjamas (eek) i got little G down for his second nap & decided i was going to read a bit of a book my sister Jess had lent me. It's called _Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe_ by Todd Wilson.

i think he could have actually called it 'lies most moms believe that keep them from becoming homeschooling moms' ~ but maybe that's another post... or maybe that title was too long ~ hehe. Anyway, it was an encouraging little breath of fresh air for me yesterday afternoon. There's one part where he describes being an encouragement to other homeschool moms & just reading his description of how we should be on the sidelines, cheering, encouraging, being real ~ just made me realize how much i ache for that in my own life. It's funny too, because i have 2 sisters who homeschool & Neil & i both have extremely supportive family concerning our decision to homeschool, plus i have friends in my area who homeschool & who are sweet encouragement to me ~ so if i feel that, how much more do other moms who don't have the same beautiful support system i have??

So, here's my 'shout out' to any homeschoolers that read this post. You are amazing! You are doing something that is very, very hard work. i know, we could all keep going, work harder, do more, do it better, but for those of you who are in a marathon, not a sprint, keep going! ~ God gave your children the mama He knew they needed & what you are doing is *enough*.