Tending the Eclectic Kinder-Garden

Hello All! Just a quick note to let you know that we have indeed arrived safely back to Oz- can I tell you how much we have missed the color GREEN this year? Oh, the beautiful trees, the lush lawns, the colorful flowers… it’s so good to be surrounded by such pretty scenery again!

But there have been a few hiccups along the way, one of which will mean that I won’t be back to blogging until July 9 or so. The family and I would certainly appreciate some good vibes sent our way as we navigate the mine field of misrepresentation by rental property managers…cough cough.

Thanks for reading and for continuing to visit during my absence from the blog- I hope to be back soon!

…and because I teach kindergarten students, this one is on my “must-practice” list:

Sing along, won’t you?

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.
I dunno why she swallowed that fly,
Perhaps she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why she swallowed that fly -
Perhaps she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a bird;
How absurd, to swallow a bird!
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why she swallowed that fly -
Perhaps she’ll die

There was an old lady who swallowed a cat.
Imagine that, she swallowed a cat.
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird …
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why she swallowed that fly
Perhaps she’ll die

There was an old lady who swallowed a dog.
What a hog! To swallow a dog!
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat…
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird …
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why she swallowed that fly
Perhaps she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a goat.
Just opened her throat and swallowed a goat!
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog …
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat.
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird …
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why she swallowed that fly
Perhaps she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a cow.
I don’t know how she swallowed a cow!
She swallowed the cow to catch the goat… She swallowed the goat to catch the dog…
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat…
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird …
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why she swallowed that fly
Perhaps she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a horse -
She’s dead, of course.

*****

Don’t forget to look for these when you visit the library or bookstore:

… to very acceptable remakes as I drive with the family to Kansas!

*****
What are some of your favorite “versions?” Dear Daughter is crushed I haven’t included anything by Hilary Duff…*sigh*…I just couldn’t do it. My iPod will be shuffling through music from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s…new John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Goldfrapp, with Journey/Steve Perry as my usual reliable motivator. Of course America will keep me in the driving groove:

We’ll miss the mountains, and some of the foliage:

But we will not miss the wind, the heat, and the dirt:

If all has gone according to plan this week, today is the day we begin our drive OUT of El Paso, Texas, toward our new home in Kansas.

Gracias Marty:

As you’re reading, I’m probably wrangling the toddler out of the movers’ way, or making lunch for the crew, or trying to coax Anni the Cat out of her hidey hole so that the movers can empty the furniture from the next room. Thanks to postdating my blog entries this week, I’ve been able to supervise the wrapping of my dishes, glasses, and other breakables while *you* get to decide whether or not to indulge in some of my awesome music memories from the Bordertown. The memories aren’t from this year, they’re from my childhood, 1970-1980. If the tunes get stuck in your head for the rest of the day, blame my mother… I do!

(Enjoy the fashion!)

Diana Ross and the Supremes, Where Did Our Love Go

Tommy James, Crimson and Clover

ABBA, Dancing Queen

Seals and Crofts, Summer Breeze

Mom let me listen to the good stuff!

Tags: military life, moving, Music

If all is going well this week (I’m writing in advance, attempting to fill the queue with blog posts so you won’t forget me), I’m picking up my hopefully-completely-repaired truck today. Good thoughts, good thoughts, good thoughts, good thoughts (seems to be my mantra for every move)…

Before leaving the Bordertown, I wanted to finish up one last craft, a wedding gift.  Alex’s family rented rooms to my husband years ago when he was stationed in Germany, and we met up with her (and met Aaron) quite by accident a few months ago here in Texas.  Alex and Aaron are both soldiers, Alex in the German Army, Aaron in the U.S. Army, and both are into Harleys, like my husband.  Yes, it was the motorcycles that brought us full circle, but we have enjoyed the humor, company, friendship, and German COOKING ever since we were reunited.  Perhaps we can convince them to honeymoon in Oz!

Alex’s bike is black, Aaron’s is burgundy/red.  It was fairly simple to figure out a color scheme for their collage:

Figuring out the layers took a little time, trying this configuration, that arrangement, shaking my head, maneuvering each element into the spot that worked:

A pretty bow, a little heart charm:

Arranging the photos (black and white seemed to work best):

Black velvet ribbon for the trim:

Ta da!

Since I caught Alex and Aaron playing up and down the aisles of Hobby Lobby one weekend (seriously!), I’m thinking they just might like the gift.  If not, they’ll certainly enjoy the gift CARD TO HL!

(By the way, I used a 12X12 chipboard square for the base, decorative papers, a chipboard heart, burgundy Scrabble Tiles, ribbon, a small heart charm, brown photo corners, black brads, black velvet, and lots of hot glue for this project.  Not pictured is the metal stand I purchased to prop the collage against so Alex and Aaron can display it wherever they like.)

*****

~We’re still packing, I’m sure. By now I might be in need of Five Tips for Tranquility (thanks to WishStudio Blogzine)…

~ So it’s not yet Christmas in July, but Mom, if you need ideas for what we’d like for Christmas in DECEMBER, how about some of this guy’s knitted creatures?  Here’s his products page…

~Candice is making me wish my crafting goodies were unpacked by July 4!

*****

If all is going according to plan, we’ll watch the movers load up the semi tomorrow, and we’ll be relaxing in the hotel, getting a good night’s rest so we can start the drive to Oz on Saturday morning.  Thanks for any good thoughts you mentally send our way!

I’m not a big fan of the word “yeah,” but it seems to fit right about now:

(Tuesday, Day 1 of the packers in our house)

Wowie, BARE walls!

Nearly-bare china hutch….

Hard to believe that the house used to look like THIS at Thanksgiving…

Dear Daughter’s room hasn’t been THIS clean in quite some time (don’t tell her I told you!)…

And finally, our bed (yeah, it’s king sized!), covered with our traveling gear:

Wednesday will see the office, toddler’s room, my classroom gear, and our storage closets all being packed, Thursday MIGHT see the start of the furniture being prepped with the boxes getting loaded onto the semi…and Friday evening, this home will no longer be ours.

By the way, dear tax paying readers, THANK YOU.  It’s your tax dollars that house my husband and my family so he can do his job and we can all be together for the United States Army.  While I take great pride in keeping each house we live in feeling like a home, we all do our best to take good care of each property out of appreciation and respect for you, our friends and family.

No, it’s not the sappy country song.

Matt and his friends had me smiling and even crying as I watched this video. If it’s grainy on my blog, just go here and click on the blue link “watch in high quality” underneath the video box, turn up your volume, and be inspired.

This…is…good. So…good.

Tags: inspiring

Our cat, Anni, *knows* something is up.

Dear Daughter spending a week with grandparents has created the extra clinginess, the extra pacing, and the extra meowiness from Anni that we’ve come to expect. Yesterday’s increase in visitors (friends came over to help my husband get the garage in order and partially packed), the constant running of the washer, dryer, and dishwasher (I like our things to be packed CLEAN so they can quickly find their new locations when we open up the moving boxes on the other end) and my extended stay in Daughter’s room (wow, teens are amazing packrats!) with a garbage bag in hand pushed Anni past some kitty breaking point. Immediately after we got into bed to get some much needed sleep, Anni jumped on the bed and proceeded to do her best to… trample us. One doesn’t usually associate cats with trampling, but I assure you, trampling is exactly what Anni was doing.

No, she didn’t want to be petted.

No, she didn’t want to be brushed.

No, her litter box didn’t need to be changed.

No, she wasn’t hungry, and her food and water bowls were full.

She *knows.*

She hasn’t seen it in almost a year,  but she knows the cat carrier is around here somewhere, lurking, waiting, ready to pounce on her and bind her back into captivity for the two-day (or more) drive back to Kansas.

I caught her yesterday afternoon, preparing for battle, sharpening her no-longer-there claws:

Oh…boy…

…but welcome just the same! Rain- that wonderful stuff that helps the grass and flowers grow- is appreciated here this weekend. Not for the foliage though- for the DIRT. Steady rain keeps the sand, grit, and dust out of our eyes when the wind picks up, and friends, the wind blows hard enough here to make the desert dirt an incredibly painful exfoliant!

This weather makes for a great BAKING day!

Cookies and pecan nummies for friends and neighbors:

…with some quick crochet while each batch bakes in the oven:

The squares will be for a new afghan, while the scarf was made with left over baby yarn…I was trying out a new design, one that leaves an opening in the scarf to pull the tail through after you’ve wrapped it around your neck a few times…I like the design.  I don’t like the scarf in this baby yarn.  Winter time will probably see me making more with some softer, prettier yarn.

Cookies are done!  Now to make oatmeal raisin!