The Cycle Begins Anew

As usual, it's been a while since I posted here. Time always seems to slip away so quickly! Since I last posted, many things have happened. We started school this past week. I'm finding that schedules are a must. With a written schedule, I can see who needs my help in what subject and who can work on seat work while I'm helping the child who needs guidance. It worked pretty well for this first week and I feel a great sense of relief. So while I hate schedules in general, they are going to be a life saver this school year. Before we started school, our kids went to stay with their nanna for a week. They had a lot of fun and I know that Nanna really enjoyed her time with them. When we went to pick them up, we stayed for a week and did a little sight-seeing around the area. McDonough, GA has some really neat places to see if you're on a budget. For one thing, it's pleasant to walk the town square during the morning hours when everyone is at school or work. It harks back to the time when McDonough was a smaller town. We discovered that Grits, a local eatery on the square, is a great place to get fried apples and peach cobbler. Their sweet iced tea is good, too! When you're done with that super cool iced tea, take a stroll around the corner to the Bell, Book & Candle used book store. They have something for every taste and it's always a bargain. On the other side of town you'll find the Henry County Veteran's Museum and War Memorial. They do not have an entry fee but donations are accepted. It's a great place to go with your kids, as long as they aren't interested in touching the displays that are not behind glass. I'm very proud of my kids, who followed the directions given to them by the museum volunteers! All the memorabilia is donated to the museum and there's a good bit of memorabilia. It's wonderfully put together and a great way to teach our kids about our veterans and the things our country went through over the years. History is really important. Why? Well, we need to know where we came from. We need to know why things were done in a certain way. We need to see where we went wrong so that maybe next time we can get it right. History is so very important. The memorial itself is situated on a small hill outside the museum building. As we read some of the quotes made by famous people such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, etc., I thought about my relatives who had fought for this country. I thought about the one relative of mine who fought and died for this country. I cried thinking about all those things, thinking about the amount of casualties in each successive war, thinking about how people who fought then had a love for their country that cannot be found in the civilian of today's United States of America. I also thought about how so much more than lives was lost each time we fought in a war. In everything there is balance. Sometimes the balance is scary. "If you wish for peace, prepare for war." McDonough has quite a few interesting stores closer to the interstate, as well. We got to visit a Summit store for the first time in McDonough, GA. I'm pretty sure if you asked any of us, we'd say it was a pretty neat experience. My husband walked away with a brand new t-shirt and I got a nifty-difty suspension coil. I'm pretty sure I can do something pretty awesome with it and there might be a future blog post concerning the creation of it. The anime store was kinda neat. It's fairly new (within the last 3 or so years, maybe) and they had some interesting and varied merchandise. The comic book store was a lot of fun. I found some cool buttons to buy. I passed them out to the kids when we got in the car. TheRo got 'compassion' because it is most like her. TheShi got 'hope' because she is the most hopeful of our children. And Nojo got 'will power' because he is the most determined. :) I think it worked out well. :) In Locust Grove, GA, there is a wonderful place called Noah's Ark where they are "bringing children and animals together." In the dead of summer, it can be a pretty hot walk. Thankfully, there are also a lot of shade trees along the route! We saw different kinds of reptiles, ostriches, emus, tigers, bears, a wolf, a jaguar and lots of other animals. It's not really a zoo. It's more like an animal preserve, I guess, since their animals are all rescue animals. It's a non-profit organization, so it doesn't cost to get in but donations are happily accepted. Can you imagine what it must cost to take care of over 1,200 animals? A picnic area is provided but we didn't visit until after lunch. I highly recommend this as an educational outing, especially if you are trying to stay within budget. It's a great place to visit! We made one last stop on our way home from Georgia. We visited Middle Earth, a self-sustaining farm in Citronelle, AL. What a wonderful place! It's a peaceful place, a welcoming place, perfect for catching your breath in today's fast-paced lifestyle. While we were there, our friends, the Kalloch's, let us stay in their barn apartment where we got to experience solar power, fresh and clean (by using reverse osmosis) water from their rain barrels and a composting potty. If you've never used one of those before, let me tell you! It's fabulous! I want to transfer all my toilets over to composting toilets since there is no danger of bursting or leaking pipes. It saves water, too! No more toilets 'running through' and running up the water bill. We were able to watch Craig and Lisa remove honey from the hive, along with two helpers, Lori and Ken (I believe that was his name. I hope he'll forgive me if I got it wrong!) Then Nojo, theShi and my husband got to help run the extractor that slings the honey out of the frames. For their efforts, we got to bring home a bit of raw, natural honey! We'd love to make another trip out to Citronelle sometime in the near future since there is so much we can learn from them. This concludes today's extremely long post. I hope you find something you like, maybe even visit one of these places someday. We had a great little mini vacation and got to spend time with family and friends. What could be better? Laugh a Lot!

What To Do? What To Do?

Hello, all! I was sitting at the computer tonight and thinking how much I'd really like to be /doing/ something. Anything! I could watch a movie I stored in my Netflix queue. I could just surf the web. I could wait for someone to talk to me, or start up a conversation with someone on a social website. But I'd really rather be doing something more active with other people. Board games aren't an option right now. Our hosts are out or asleep so I wouldn't know wear to look for them and I don't dig. It's a point of honor, I guess. Two of my kids are watching an Avatar marathon (the /real/ Avatar, btw, and not the fake one with blue people). My youngest is watching an anime (Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple). My husband is surfing the web/using his tweetdeck. And I sit here, blogging. *shrugs* Ah, well. We can't always get what we want, eh?

So, what do you, my awesome readers, do for fun that doesn't cost money? What's your favorite game or hobby? What's your favorite place to go for a relaxing time or valuable conversation with your spouse/date? Try to give answers that are great for a tight budget. I can't wait to see how many folks give an answer. And please do keep it kid friendly. My kiddos are sometimes hovering under my elbows... ;)

Here are my top ten ideas for fun, inexpensive things to do with my family. The first 5 will be family activities. The last 5 will be date night activities.

1. The Zoo-Our whole family loves the zoo. The only downside is if the zoo is big or in a town that gets most of its income from tourism. We usually look for smaller zoos. Those are best for my husband (who has trouble with his knees) and much better for our budget.

2. The library-While going to the library with an active 6-year-old can be quite trying sometimes, on a good day, the library is a great way to get out of the house and enjoy some forced quiet. This can be an awesome thing when there's been nothing but noise for days on end.

3. The park-While the kids really enjoy going to the park, I'm not a big fan. We do take them from time to time but I generally like to avoid the park. We usually try to go when there are fewer children since too many children makes it very hard for me to keep an eye on mine. I'm easily distracted by conversation and sights and losing them in a crowd just isn't an option. Not to mention, crowds of children are very intimidating to me.

4. The pet store-I don't know if any of you have tried this but my kids (especially my girls) love going to the pet store. We've been avoiding it lately because our youngest wants a hamster. It's not fun when you leave the pet store with a whiney 6-year-old.

5. The Arboretum-Our 'local' arboretum is about 30 minutes away but it's free to go through it. Some Saturdays, they host a discussion about nature. The did a good little presentation on butterflies that we were able to attend. Not only is it relaxing there, it's also educational!

6. A local cafe-Our local cafe is called 'Cafe Mosaic' and it's an awesome venue for some fun conversation and a little bit of online fun. They also make a fabulous gelato! However, if you want intimate conversation and a more private venue, this isn't it. On Fridays and Saturdays, it's so packed you can hardly hear yourself think.

7. Go to a movie-It's always nice to go to dinner and a movie, even if you have to eat at McDonald's or Subway. During the dinner, you get some conversation and after the movie, you have the opportunity to discuss the finer (or awful) points of the movie. This is sometimes the jumping off point for further discussion. From a woman's viewpoint, that's always a plus!

8. Karaoke-While I've never done this as a date, some might enjoy it. I prefer to do karaoke with a larger group. It's a great adult activity and gives parents time with other adults while they take a small portion of time away from the daily grind.

9. Visit a museum-Our small town has 2 museums-a Cajun culture museum and a Cajun music museum. At least, I think the second one is a music museum. It's located in a couple of refurbished train cars, one of which is an actual caboose. :) We haven't visited it in quite some time. But both of these museums don't cost much at all to go into. One of them asks for a donation.

10. Go for a drive-There's nothing like going for a drive down country roads on a star-filled night. The music is awesome (because you choose it) and the conversation is as private as can be. It's a great way to focus on the conversation and talk about things you might not otherwise discuss. Most places have beautiful country roads that are scenic and beautiful. Talk about great ambiance!

Well, I've wracked my brain and now it's your turn. Get ready! Get set! GO!