Fire Station Field Trip

Last Friday I organized a fire station field trip with my homeschooling group. We had 27 heads, including parents and little children. We went to Fire Station #2,(on Chambers's and 2nd street). Our tour guide fireman was AWESOME, they put in all lot of effort to please mostly younger elementary students and answered all our questions, including the kids very well. We got to take a more detail tour of their living spaces they live in for three day shifts or more. There are three groups of fire fighters that take different shifts of the week. I was amazed how well the children behaved. It so tells you that homeschooling children make a difference on listing compared to public school kids. When the tour was over I got in my car and was SHOCKED on what time it was. The tour was suppose to be only an half an hour and they had us for @ hour and half. WOW!! I think this is SO far my best field trip I've taken in my beginning years of homeschooling. I want thank who all came to the tour with me. I, as a mother wanted to do this for my children who I LOVE DEARLY. I fully recommend taking a tour to a fire station, well worth it.

What's New in our Lives

There has been so much going on in the McNeil house hold. I thought to share all the latest things in our life.

First Big item, we got a new car a Subaru Forrester "04" with turbo engine in it. It's John's everyday work vehicle. We needed something newer and something that had less miles on it to last. John's going to go through all lot of miles on it, as he travels more now, and we needed something really reliable too. So, Thanksgiving weekend, we traveled for an hour to go look at this vehicle, saw it on crag's list, and really liked it.




Next big Item,





We got John's office built in the garage and he's finally getting it organized. It's a little cold right now it there. No heat, just a propane heater to help take the chill out. Soon we will put heating/AC unit in it, but it's not to important since he's gone 80% of the time travel around town or out of town to clients.




Next Big Item,








I finally got the girls room changed from baby room to a bigger girls room. Butterflies, and flowers is their theme now.











Next Big Item,




John and I re-range our living room, and got rid of our entertainment center and bought two book shelves and we couple of months ago bought ourselves a flat screen T.V. We needed to make more space in our living room and this was what we decided to do. Our re-ranging living room is still in progress.



Next Big Item,



I got my hair cut a couple of weeks ago, the shortest I've ever done. I'm starting to get used to it and love it.




Next Big Item,







A week ago we went and bought me my own snowboard set-up for an AWESOME price. We have been renting every year for me at a ski shop and Finally I can own my own set-up. John has own his own set-up since before we got married. Now we just only have to rent for the girls. We plan on taking Ashley this year and teaching her to snowboard finally. She was to young last year for a snowboard and this year she wants to learn and I can get help from John more on teaching too.


Yes, we have been busy on changing things in our home lately and some of it will slow down since we are crossing things down on our to do list for house projects.

Tea Party

Group Photo's all who came




The best party you could have for a girls night is off course "Tea Party". We had a glorious, no WONDERFUL time that night Dec.6th. The girls and I planned a big lay out and theme for that night too. This was a show and tell evening, and you came dressed up in your best accessory's and we even ALL had stage names for that night too. So my sage name was Mrs. Sadie Lynn, and Ashley was Miss Lora, and Hannah was
Miss Cinderella. I got out my china dishes and went Goodwilling for dishes and tea dishes. I got out my nice table clothes, and decorated the table nice with candles, water fountain, and of course FOOD. I made all the desserts. I made homemade donuts, and my first time EVER to attempt a two layer Strawberry cake. It turned out good I put in the middle strawberry jam with butter as a sauce and covered the cake with whipping cream and strawberry's. I also made homemade fondue.I do have to say that it turned out great and I got many compliments on it. All the other food was from other people. We had so much food left that night. After eating we all took turns doing our show and tell time and enjoyed every minute.

In order of show and tell:

Mrs Lilly Pad-- (my grandmother LeBleu) read daily life recipe's
Miss Laura -- Ashley recited two poems in sign language
Miss Cinderella( Hannah) and Miss Mamzelli RellaPink(Mimi)-- Ballet dance
Mimi La Rue(Brenna)-- Showed off her crochet scarf she did
Miss De Laura (Rebecca)--- Showed off her dance video of her dance class
Madame L'Herondell (Christine)-- Showed of her coat made from several goats that she grew up with
Miss Peacock (Angie) --- Showed off her scrap book pages she did for this party and ready to slip photo's in it
Mrs. Scarlet (Kim)-- Showed of "How to cut hair"
Mrs. Sadie Lynn (Me) ---- Performed a poem in sign language
Mrs. Ruby Rella (Elizabeth)-- resigned to perform anything---

It was a glorious time and we all enjoyed our performances and nice warm tea and food with each other. This is our first but not last "Tea Party".

My lay out for Tea Party invitations web site, English Party Invitation #1

My invitation to all said this in my card:

This is a show and tell tea party, just like old time people would do. No television to entertain us, only our great minds and wonderful stories. So, come to perform a song, recite your favorite poems, show off your arts and craft works, show school projects off, do a skit, teach us how to crochet or knit something, share stories, cooking secrets, anything that you think would be great to show off. Use your imagination and have the kids do something too.
Please come in your finest pearls, fancy hats, scarf's, fancy earrings, your finest accessories, and with an accent, and have a stage name for the night. Dress casual fancy all ready to have fun and ready to have pictures taken.
Please bring finger foods, and any tea you want to share. Dessert dishes will be covered by the McNeil girls. Ask if you are unsure what to bring. Come and enjoy this great memory and wonderful friends.


The Poem I had to go with it:


EVERYBODY NEEDS SOMEBODY

People need people and friends need friends
And we all need love, for a full life depends
Not on vast riches or great acclaim
Not on success or worldly fame
But just in knowing that someone cares
And holds us close in their thoughts and prayers
For only the knowledge that we're understood
Makes everyday living, feel wonderfully good
And we rob ourselves of life's greatest need
When we "lock up our hearts" and fail to heed
The outstretched hand reaching to find
A kindred spirit whose heart and mind
Are lonely and longing to somehow share
Our joys and our sorrows and to make us aware
That life's completeness and richness depends
On the things we share with our loved ones and friends
- Helen Steiner Rice -


Here's a slide show of the rest of the pictures

Here's Ashley's two poems she recited:

The Little Turtle

I had a little turtle
Who lived in a box;
He swam in a puddle;
He climbed on a rock.

He snapped at a mosquito
He snapped at a flea;
He snapped at a minnow;
And he snapped at me.

He caught the mosquito;
He caught the flea;
He caught the minnow;
But he didn't catch me.

--Valchel Lindsay-


Mix a Pancake

Mix a pancake,
Stir a pancake,
Pop it in the pan;

Fry the pancake,
Toss the pancake--
Catch it if you can.

--Christina Rossetti--


Here's my poem I recited in sign language:

The Golden Chains of Friendship


Friendship is a Golden Chain,
The links are friends so dear,
And like a rare and precious jewel
It’s treasured more each year…
It’s clasped together firmly
With a love that’s deep and true,
And it’s rich with happy memories
And fond recollections, too….
Time can’t destroy its beauty
For, as long as memory lives,
Years can’t erase the pleasure
That the joy of friendship gives…
For friendship is a priceless gift
That can’t be bought or sold,
But to have an understanding friend
Is worth far more than gold…
And the Golden Chain of friendship
Is a strong and Blessed tie
Binding Kindred heart together
As the years go passing by.


Thank you all for coming to my wonderful tea party and thank you all you the readers to being my friend too. That night meant so much for me to bond and rekindle with close church friends. I was well satisfied on how it went well and everybody that came sure enjoyed themselves too. I want to be that Christian mommy who puts all her effort on pleasing and making smiles on people faces. SO smile because I love you all. Be happy and Always have a happy heart.

I'm Back

Yes, I'm back from our trip to Townsend, TN and actually we have been home for a couple of weeks now. We have been SOOO..... Busy that I simply didn't have time to update this blog. Everybody knows life sometimes can go like five miles a minute and you just don't have time to breath.
Well, I’m at that time in my life right now. I think I have so over whelmed myself with my schedule this year with home schooling and other activities. Ashley is enrolled with Home Source this year, which she has roller skating on Wednesday’s and on Thursday's she has tap (at Hosanna Dance Studio) and puppet making class at on site with Home Source. We even signed Hannah up with tap/ballet class on Monday's with Hosanna Dance too. So, I’m usually working with Ashley on her school work while her sister is in class and I do the same with Hannah when Ashley is in classes. Every other week I go to my dad's house and help clean his house for a couple of hours. I also have ensemble practice on Tuesday evenings and private music lessons on Thursday evenings AND......... I got myself in a play date/geography class with another home school mommy every other Friday's. Whatever time is left is for me to clean and cook and be mommy at home. Not much house cleaning lately and my house is a disaster zone.

The first project I did since we got home is cleaned out all of John's office stuff from the school room and FINALLY I can designate it as a school room/music room now. Though, John's office walls aren't built yet and in our garage are boxes and things just pilled high un-organized and staring me in my face as we come and go from our house.

Our next BIG project (this weekend) is to organize the girl’s room, bag and get rid of many toys, start turning their room more girly and fully rearrange their furniture. I will be spending some money to get Rubbermaid storage boxes to stop all this clutter in the girl's room. I also plan on getting some stencils and turn their room into a butterfly room with many frills to go around. It's time for girls to grow-up from baby room to little girl’s room.

The next big project is to go upstairs to our attic and take down all our baby stuff and get it ready to pass to a friend who is due mid December. I've got a whole year and half worth of clothes upstairs and we really want to lighten our load of clutter around this house. We've got many things upstairs that we to put on crag's listings and parting with; like an coffee table, bed frame and head and back board that we aren't using anymore. We also have our old TV and water bed mattress that's been sitting up our attic since we moved in this house six years ago (where has time gone, six years in this house). There are many more misalliance things that will go too. They will all go in a pile in the garage ready to be separated to pass to friends and Goodwill.

Next room is our living room. We are going to get rid of our entertainment center, as we just bought ourselves a flat screen TV and will mount it on the wall and buy two book shelves for our electronics to go on and many decorations to spruce up our living room. We need to give ourselves more living space in our house and fill not so cramped in this small house.

I hope my life will slow down soon and it will, once I make some changes with my schedule.

I have plenty of pictures to share with you all from our TN trip and school projects, and work on girls room ASASP.

Trying Something New

I found this site lately and I might do this more often

for sharing my photo's. These pictures were taken
a month ago by our garden area. Ashley wanted
to dress up as a wedding girl and Hannah wanted
a scarf around her head with a beautiful bouquet
of flowers . I took all these pictures including of myself.

From the Words of my Mother

September 1981... My Birth Story

From the words of my mother........

We were living in the duplex on Meriau Ln. at the time I was expecting miss Charisse. It had been a pretty good pregnancy except for a bad flu and some sinus headaches, and the motorcyclist that died on the lawn on the other side of the duplex when I was about 6 months along. But at the very end my body started to give out again. I started getting some of the same old bad symptoms and felt pretty ill. I was saying beseeching prayers asking for help to go through this, and the midwife was worried that I was carrying a verrry small baby. I was such a neat little package and less than the normal belly measurements at full term. She thought the baby was under 5 lbs and may have to be hospitalized upon birth, (they won't release you unless the baby is at least 5 lbs). I went into labor somewhere in the middle of the night. The contractions woke me out of a deep sleep. I laid there calmly timing them. At my last check up I had already been at 2 centimeters dilated and was sooo thrilled. I woke Robert up and told him I was in labor and the contractions were steady. We called the midwife and Lynn(This is my aunt to me, Charisse). An assistant midwife came to our home to check and make sure I was truly in labor. She said absolutely and that I was at a stretchy 3 centimeters. I marveled and was thrilled!!! We headed down to Cottage Grove where my clinic was. About a half hour drive south of Eugene. I was so hoping I would not have major contractions while cooped up in the car. I had exactly one! I was rather worried that maybe my labor had stopped, but we got there and my real midwife checked me immediately and said I was at 6 centimeters already! OH WOW!!!!!!!! UNREAL!!!!!!!!!! So I paced around in the living room of the clinic and joked and laughed with everyone. After an hour or so the midwife checked again and I was at about 8 centimeters and doing great! I can't tell you how ecstatic I was! But she detected that the baby was at a slight angle. about a 45 instead of backbone straight up. So, she had me get on all fours, kneeling and go through several contractions that way so the gravity and pressure would straighten the baby out. OK, then it DID get uncomfortable! Up to that point the pain was like nothing I had had with Lorrell(Charisse's sister). Not even close in the intensity. It was like day and night sooo much less painful!. Soon she let me up to walk again. For about an hour or so at the end the pain was pretty intense again but I worked through it. There was a gentle rain outside during my whole labor which was very soothing. I liked it. At 8 something a.m I brought miss Heather Charisse, all 6 lbs. 10 ozs of her(which shocked the midwife! HA!), into the world as the sun broke through the clouds and streamed through the windows in brilliant rays. Miss Charisse was wide eyed and bushy tailed. Looking all around happily. I let Lynn hold her on our trip back to Eugene as my gift to her which she yet thanks me for. Charisse still did not sleep as most newborns do, but looked all around in rapt attention the whole trip. When we arrived downtown Eugene we stopped at a crosswalk by the Hult Center and a woman walking two big dogs crossed the street in front of us, totally topless, and calm as you please! ha! I heard later she was picked up by the police. Anyhow, we made it home and I marvel yet at what a *miracle* her birth was. (In my mothers words written for a good friend of hers and mine Mr. King. I just added a few things in brackets for you, the readers.

My words....

And yes, I just turned a big whopping 27 today. Please no Happy Birthday comments, as I don't celebrate birthdays. I just thought to share you this story of my birth.

Life of Trials

My "Life of Trials " post will be changed somewhat and I'll just give you the short version of what's been happening. Next post!!