My Mommy Kisses The Principal

I was spending some time this morning catching up on my blog reading. When I  came on Judy's "Ten Tiny Tips".  They were all very good tips. Judy asked that we post our own tips so,  here are mine. I can not wait to read your ten tips.

1. Bread- if your bread goes stale don't toss it. You can use it in several ways. You can use it for french toast, breakfast casserole, or you can put a slice into your brown sugar container/bag, and it will prevent your sugar from getting hard.

2.Making foods ahead and freezing them can be a wonderful money/time saver. It also helps with those "I don't feel like cooking let's eat out nights".  One of the biggest complaints about freeze ahead meals is that mashed potatoes do not come out very well. Here is the trick, peel, boil, and mash the potatoes but do not  add salt,pepper,butter, milk, or cream cheese till you are ready to serve them.  One of the reasons that they taste icky when you freeze them with the milk and butter is that when they defrost the solids separate from the water in these two products making for a very yucky product.

3.Looking to cut down on your energy bill some?? Aren't we all?? Does the power go out now and again?? Out here in the boonies it happens often. Here is a very simple solution. When you are done using your oj or milk containers wash them thourally (sp??). Fill them with drinkable water. (We filter our water here)  Now just put a few of these in your freezer. I have a large upright freezer and a deep chest freezer so I have about 10 of these frozen jugs. Now, whenever the power goes out I put one in the fridge to keep that colder longer and to provide drinking water. The others stay in the freezer to help keep it colder longer.

4. This one is one of those things people do not like talking about. Whelp, that means it's talk-able to me. LOL Head lice...dun. dun. dun... You know most people either get them or know someone who has. Every year about a bajillion kids get sent home from school or camp or vacation bible school or many other places with a little note saying that they have or have been exposed to head lice. No big deal right?? Right, putting all those harsh terrible chemicals into any ones hair is a big deal however. I have a sure fire way that involves no harsh chemicals and costs less than one application of the harsh stuff. I am sure that there is someone out there that this will not work for but, I have yet to meet them. Here what you do and it could not be simpler. You will need to purchase 1 bottle of mouth wash even the cheepo one works great 1 bottle of plain white vinegar 1 package of perm caps they cost less than 5 dollars for a pack of 100, that is it!! Less than 15 dollars and you have tons to keep using for other things or for multiple children. First step get the hair very wet soaking actually wring out but do not rinse put one of the caps on the persons head and let them “chill” for 1 ½ hours. Rinse the mouthwash out of hair, this part is a little gross cus if they did have any bugs you will see them dead in the sink and in the cap. Once you rinse the hair soak the hair in vinegar. Wring it out once again and put on a cap for an 1 ½. This may seem like an inconvenience but, if they have lice you are not going anywhere anyway.
After the 1 ½ remove the cap and wash the hair with shampoo and conditioner. Please make sure you use conditioner since it will help the eggs slide off the hair shaft easier. After the hair is washed use a lice comb to comb out the hair. If you put a fresh cap on the wet hair it will be easier to work with since it will stay wet longer. Don't forget to wash all bedding and stuffed toys with detergent mixed with 1 cups each of vinegar and mouth wash. Then spray house with tee-tree oil diluted in water.

5.If your needle sticks while sewing just rub it with wax or soap. Ta-da!! Slides in perfect.

6.Are you stocking up on rice and bean?? We sure are. If you want to prolong the amount of time you can store them for, try this super simple trick. Pour ½ a cup of salt into your containers then seal the lid with tape. They will last for months. Places that close for the summers or winter all do this.

7.Speaking of salt did you know that if you put a small pinch on top of your coffee grounds before you brew them, this will prevent the coffee from having that bitter taste. This also helps if your grounds are a little old.

8.In summer time we get fleas here. When the flea season strikes here I do this very easy and inexpensive trick. In a bowl mix borax and salt. Sprinkle this mixture all over the carpets. Let sit for a few hours then vacuum. Don't forget to dump your bag or canister out a little ways from the house. If you have a lot of fleas then repeat this process every 2 or 3 days for 2 to 3 weeks. If you have just a couple of fleas then do this once or twice week for two weeks. After you have the problem under control or if you want to prevent it all together do this once per month.

9.Speaking of carpets, here is a super fantastical carpet stain remover. The supplies needed are borax, vinegar, liquid dish soap, a scrub brush, and a towel to dry the spot. I have used this on spots that were in the carpet for several years. I just really can not explain how neat this is. Trust me you will know what I mean after you try it. I would like to remind y'all that nothing gets out kool-aide. Here is the super secret way to get the stains up. First, dust the stain with borax, put some dish liquid on top of the borax, pour some vinegar on top of this mixture. It will foam and bubble. Let sit for 2-5mins. Next, scrub the stain with the scrub brush. The first 2 or 3 swipes of the scrub brush will be nothing special then like something off of a Vegas magic show you will pass the scrub brush over the stain and it will just be gone!! Blot dry with a towel. Bonus if it blood on the carpet or clothes or furniture just use hydrogen peroxide.

10.Last one whew!! This one is again very simple and easy. I don't know about you but, I love real french fries. Fresh home made french fries just melt my butter. I have lots of people say that they love real french fries too BUT, they can not get them all crispy and crunchy. Well, it is such a simple trick that when people learn it they always say “why didn't I think of that”. Once you have your potatoes cut into what ever shape you want, heat your oil. If you want to know for sure that your oil is the perfect temp you can do a few things. You can put a small amount of water into the oil while it is still cold and when the oil stops crackling you know it is hot enough. Or you can fry a bread cube or a tester fry when the oil begins to smoke. Then there is the use a kitchen thermometer for those who have one. ;) Once your oil is hot enough put your fries into it and cook 3-5 mins. Drain and cool. If you have time go ahead and put them in the freezer for about 30mins or if you are making ahead freeze them in portion sizes now. After the potatoes have gotten cold put them back into the hot oil till golden and crispy. This blanching then frying method makes for the BEST fries.

These are my ten not so tiny tips. LOL thank you so much for the great idea Judy. If any of you want to share your awesome tips please let us know to look for them on your blog. Have a great day!!

Honk!! Honk!! Came the sound from the mailman's car. Wooohoooo I thought. Oh Yeah the first wave of curriculum must be here. I do get so excited when stuff is coming in the mail. ;) My hubby (who works from home) went out to get the box since we thought it was books and there for heavy. How sweet right??
He came back into the house and put the box down so we could look at it.I must admit that I was pretty giddy with excitement. My husband looked up at me and said “stop you can't look” Errrrrrr?? What!! He said it was not curriculum it was a birthday present from Julie. (oh you sneaky, cheeky monkey you)
The heavy box was from Spice3 or spice cubed. www.spicecubed.com. Spice cubed was on my birthday wish list. Just a little interjection here. I hated having a birthday in August when I was a kid. None of my friends from school could come. I always got school clothes or supplies for presents and it was always to hot to do anything. But, as an adult I am a lot more inventive. ;)
It turns out that Julie had sent off a quick e-mail to my husband to make sure that they did not get the same gift for me. (purdy smrt huh??)
So, now we get to the fun part of the story cus you know I did not bring you on this journey without some sorta suspense. Enter the dilemma. (giggle)
When the package, now established as a birthday gift arrived it was 2 in the afternoon my time. That means it was 4 am the next day in Japan for Julie. She was asleep. Dun... dun...dun.... We were due to have our book club at 8pm my time. Gentle readers do see the excruciating set of circumstances that were happening here?? I would have to wait 6 that right 6 whole hours before I could even ask to if it was ok to open my box!!
By 3pm I had shaken the box gently. I had brought up the website and was pouring over it trying to figure out what was in the box.
4pm- I was very figgity by now. I had placed the box in several prominent places. So we could look at it. I had been offered by each of my family members to take the blame of opening it. After all they reasoned if they opened it and I had not then I could see it without getting into trouble. LOL Not much for patience are they??
5- 7am Julie's time. Now I was sitting with gmail pulled up. I was talking to my computer at this point. “Come on Julie wake up” “I know you are awake Julie since you go jogging in the mornings” “Wake Up!!” (will the hilarity ever stop??)
5:30- 7:30 am Julie's time. Her status on gmail said active. I could hear the angles choir. I sent her an IM and told her that her package had gotten here and please, please, please could I open it. She sent me back a message saying that I could if I wanted to but, she would like to see me open it on the webcam. I totally agree that it would be sooooooooooooooo much more fun to open it over the webcam. So, I had resigned to wait till 8pm. 2.5 hours to go. Julie and I talked for a little bit longer. When she finally got my vulcan mind meld thru the chat. “would you like to sign onto the webcam now??” She asked!! Does a bear poop in the woods?? I replied. Heck yes!!!! “Give me a sec she says” Let me tell you right now that Julie and I talk on the webcam at LEAST 3 times a week. So, this should have taken all of 10 seconds right?? About a minute later I sent her an IM “ummmmm what's up??” Julie- “You will not believe this, gmail will not acknowledge my webcam!!” Me- “Are you kidding me??” Julie - “I am gonna have to reboot”
5:45- Julie's green dot goes gray indicating she is offline. I on the mean time began shouting at her computer from 3,000 miles away. “BOOT YOU INFERNAL MACHINE BOOT!!”
While I waited we opened the outer box to reveal this:


I sat staring at the box. I have to say right here and now I am a sucker for an awesome box. After what seemed like an hour. Julie's gray dot turned green, and the dot changed to a little picture of a camera. Then the sound of the computer initiating a video chat. It rings sorta like a house phone. I answered and we said Hello. I showed her the super cool box. I even took the time to show her how nice the ribbon was. Really company wants people to be happy with their products.
You know when ever I buy something online I always have this feeling like it is a gamble. You know it looks so great on the website but, when you or your loved one gets it, it is well, less then what they hyped it up to be. Not so with this company. I dare say it is cooler than the site advertises.
I really enjoyed being able to show Julie exactly what everything looked like. I would say that if you are someone you know is a foodie or they enjoy good quality ingredients this would make a great gift.
I have tortured you long enough here are the pictures of what was in the box.

Here is me doing my price is right showcase pose. That's right Bob, all the foodies in the audience are swooning. giggle

Here we have one of the spices after I put the magnet on it. These magnets are good and strong.

Here we have a close up of the spices. You can see how full they are. You can also see how brightly colored they are.

Here they all are on my fridge. I just think they look so darn cool.

How cool do these look?? I love the fact that you can put the magnets on the back and hang them on your fridge,freezer, any magnetic surface or even a strip of magnets on your cabinet door.
All these spices made me think that I should leave you with a recipe so here it is...

Super easy lasagna
1pkg oven ready lasagna noodles
6-8 cups of tomato sauce (canned, jar,or home made all work just fine with this recipe)
1 pound of Italian sausage
1 16oz container of Ricotta cheese
1 egg beaten
4 cups of cheese for thrifty version and 6 cups for any other time
1 TBS each of parsley, oregano, basil, garlic,onion powder
1 tsp each of paprika and red pepper flakes (optional)
½ cup of parm cheese
1 large casserole dish long enough to fit the noodles in
1 sheet of plastic wrap large enough to cover the top of the dish
1 sheet of aluminum foil large enough to cover the top of the dish

Step one:
Remove the sausage from the casing and fry in the pan till no more pink is showing. Add a ½ cup of water. Now add your pre-made sauce. Stir till all the sausage and the sauce are well combined. Turn the burner down low. Remember the sauce will splatter if you let it boil.

Step two:
Put your egg in a bowl and whisk it. Now add all of the ricotta cheese. Put in one cup of the mozzarella cheese. All of the spices parsley, oregano,basil, garlic, onion powder, paprika, and red pepper flakes go in now. Mix all these ingredients together and set aside.

Step three:
Assembly, my kids love this part the best. ;) In your large casserole dish place a layer of sauce. Now layer your noodles no over lapping. Make sure you gently push your noodles into the sauce. On top of the noodles put ½ of the ricotta mixture and spread it around evenly. You can put a light layer or cheese on top of the ricotta, if not then a layer of sauce goes on now. Your first layer is done easy peasy lemon squeezy. Giggle.
The next layer is noodles (remember to press them down) the rest of the ricotta, cheese if you using, and sauce. For the last layer it is noodles, then sauce, then mozzarella cheese.
Now is the part that most people do not do. Tightly cover your pan with the plastic wrap. Yes plastic wrap. Lastly cover the top again this time with the aluminum foil. This will ensure that you will not get that nasty metal taste in your lasagna.
Bake in the oven at 350 for 1 hour. Then remove the plastic wrap and foil and let the cheese on top get all golden and melty.
One of the reasons people get soupy lasagna is they do not let it rest for a few mins. 20 mins should do just fine. I usually make my salad and garlic bread while I wait.


I thought y'all might like a photo. At least that is what Julie has requested. She says that she would like to see pics of the dishes when I write up the recipe.


I love all the layers. Some times I make veggie lasagna and that makes some very cool layers.
I hope you all enjoy. We are making peach cobbler tonight.

What an outstanding week I have just had!! I was able to attend the Heart of the Matter homeschool online conference. It was great. The best part is that I won the tickets to go. The Old Schoolhouse Magazine has a fanpage on facebook and, a week or so ago they had a contest where you explained why you would give a ticket to the conference to a friend. So, I told them about my friend Julie, who has not figured out the super secrete hand shake that the homeschoolers on her base are currently using. So she is feeling pretty alone an isolated. I mean she does get to talk to me all the time. Hmmm what more could she need. LOL I am hoping that she meets a nice family or three so she can have some companionship. I love getting to be her friend but, I am sure that having someone right there to be able to trade childcare with or maybe trade curriculum or just let the kids or them hang out would be so fantastic. Ok, back to the conference. The conference started each morning at 8:15 am. I am not a morning person so, this part was a little hard for me. ;)

Monday: morning session was one of my faves I have followed her blog for quite some time now, Sheila Wray Gregoire. Let me tell you, she really is a dynamic speaker. She left me rejuvenated and inspired. I can't wait to be able to download the mp3's of all of the speakers. The seminar hostesses also said that they would be making all the public chats available as well. I am very glad about that because I saw lots of links in the chat but it moved so fast I was not able to write them all down.
Mid morning was:Dana Hanley and she talked about Developing an Educational Philosophy. I enjoyed her session as well. I am now hard at work in fine tuning my educational philosophy.
There were two afternoon sessions but, I choose to download them at a later date.

Tuesday: the morning session was Trusted With Trouble, Belinda Bullard. I was still pretty tired and groggy but, it was great. I am glad that I woke up to listen to it. Next on tuesday came, The Natural Approach to Teaching Thinking Debbie Strayer. Mrs. Strayer had a really great message but she spoke so fast that we were all left dazed and confused. I will happy that when I download the mp3 I will be able to slow it down. I am orginaly from new England so I know how to talk fast and to listen to people talk fast but, this was just speed reading. I will probably be able to give you a much more favorable view after I listen to her seminar on mp3. There were again more but, I chose to listen to them at a later date.

Wednesday: WOW, WOW, WOW. What a jam packed day wednesday was. I enjoyed all 4 speakers. I took a little nap at lunch time. Here was the awesometastic quartet.
How To Teach Kids About Money (When You’re Not Doing So Great Yourself) Carol Topp – very strait forward and super informative.
The Dateless Lesson Planner (A Workshop on Preventing Anarchy) Linda Hobar I really enjoyed this. I love the concept of planning your school days / life but, instead of scheduling the plans with out actual dates. So no stress. As long as you get to it you are good to go. ;)
Workbox System: An Easy Approach to Optimize and Organize your Homeschool from Preschool to High School Sue Patrick – I can not say enough about this wonderful lady. I am going to glean every thing I can from her. I highly recommend you learn more about her fantastic system.
Seeing and Being – Your role in shaping the lens through which your child sees the world Graham Scharf – my hubby had to use the computer. I do look forward to listening to the mp3 of this one too. I did not get to hear much but, what I did here was terrific.

Thursday: I listened to the morning sessions and they were wonderful!! first was, Read Hebrew Today by Evonne Mandella – I was simply amazed by the how easy and accomplish-able she made Hebrew seem. I definitely recommend you look into her method if you are considering Hebrew, Greek, or Russian. I also love that she is very punny. ;)

The Best Online Tools Karin Katherine – Karin had a lot of resources for any one. Even seasoned internet junkies could find some new tools.

Katherine's online tools session has inspired me to organize my online links and tools. I'll let you know how that goes. It will take a few weeks it is definitely not an afternoon or even a weekend thing.


That brings us to Friday. Friday's speakers were all just wonderful. Here was the line up:
Nurturing Excellent Writers and Speakers – The Power of Linguistic Patterns Andrew Pudewa – I totally overslept and missed this one. Gotta love those mp3's.
Nature Study: Connecting Children With Creation Lisa Lewis-- This one was near and dear to my heart. I really enjoyed this one. I just know I will be listening to it again and again.
Science: It Can Be the “Fun” Subject Leah Nieman-- How interesting it was to hear the story of how Currclick had formed. Leah really has an affinity for science. Her ideas on how to organize your science area were wonderful. I hope you utilize currclick's weekly newsletter which has at least one free resource each week. Oh and did you know that currclick is now offering live online classes. Great prices too.
Developing Leadership in Your Teens Cara Putnam-- I think this was more geared towards preping your children for missions but, the message that came across for me was to be open to what ever God has planned for your children and for your children to be open.

After the last session the organizers gave out a list of all the winners of the door prizes. The list will be posted on the Heart of The Matter website on Monday. I won a year subscription to Home Education Magazine!! I am really excited.

In preparation of our new school year, I have made a new chore spreadsheet (Julie taught me the fun of spread sheets). I am really liking it. If a chore does not get done I just look on the fridge and know exactly who was responsible. Just a quick funny, on Tuesday my husband (who likes to sound all mean and gruff but, is really not) was griping about how the filtered water container in the fridge had not been filled and oh man no tea either. He was working up to giving a lecture when some one said well, whose day was it?? About 5 mins latter after we heard no more from Dad, we asked who it is that was “in trouble”. No one my hubby said. We all got up and went to check the chart I mean who had escaped the lecture?? It was DAD!! He had not done his chores. So now every one really likes checking the chart. Now that the chore spreadsheet is up and running a proving to be a success I do believe that one for the classroom and school work is in order.

This week I also purchased a large portion of our school books. Just a little bit more to go. I am leaning very heavily towards the Charlotte Mason. Ok leaning is an understatement. I am there I love the concept I love the ideals. I am just having a little bit of trouble jumping in on my own. So this year I am buying all my supplies with the Charlotte Mason method in mind. I will be posting my curriculum choices and schedule here this week.
How about you, how is your new school year going to be organized?? Will you do every subject every day?? What subjects will you cover?? How much time do you allocate for each subject?? (I am particularly curious about this one) I hope that you will make a post about this this week or in the coming weeks and link to it here in the comments.

Just a quick update on what we have been up to.
We school year round so, we have been keeping on our schedule. So, no change there.
My brother in-law and my niece and nephew are living with us for a while. So, now there are three adults, one teen (with green hair), one preteen, and three rambunctious wild little ones. It is an adjustment but, it is very nice to spend the time with them. They are very sweet and loving.

My peach trees were so heavy with peaches we had to use a crutch to hold the branch up. I froze at least 20 pounds of peaches. My fig tree has started producing figs. So far I have prepped and frozen about 5 or so pounds of figs. I have also been eating figs topped with caramelized onions and goat cheese wrapped in ham and then baked in the oven for a few mins. SOOOOOOOOOO yummy!! I am going to try to make my own fig newtons. I love fig newtons but I find them dry and the seeds in them kinda yucky. ;) (yes yucky is the technical term)
We finished our Sherlock Holmes and are now reading Mossflower by Brian Jacques, for bookclub. So far I am really enjoying it. Since the reading comprehension on this book is at about 5th grade level my oldest Daughter has joined this session of bookclub.
I have been on an organization binge. I just can not get enough of organizing. I even got a super cool Label Maker. The Dymo Letratag. I love it!! I really want the Managers of Their Homes, Chores, Homeschools book series. If you have any organization tips or tricks feel free in fact pretty please leave me a comment or a link to a post about them. ;)
All the pets are doing just fine. September starts the first round of kitties getting fixed. Sir Didamis and Bubba-hotep are first. Star has made sure all the pets as well as us all know that she rules the roost.

I am having a cookie making party here at the end of the month. I am really excited this will be my fist time meeting with the members of the homeschool group I have chosen to join. We are making the cookies to bring to the fire station on our field trip in September. If all works out I would like to open my house up for a cooking co-op this school year.
I have been offered by the Tyler gourmet store to teach cooking classes!! I am pretty excited. The only problem is it is like 40 miles away. Uggg long drive to teach a class. We shall see what happens with that. At least I know were to get awesome stuff like truffle oil and premium olive oil and chocolate truffles.
That is all that I can remember for now.
Till next time,
Haley and the chain gang!! ;)

We had such a great day today!! The new class/craft room has everyone all a twitter. The kids were so enthusiastic I did not have crack the whip to get them going. It was a great day. We had BLT's for lunch one of their favorites. We set up our reward charts. I got to do my organization stuffs like, set up my daily log book, and my attendance sheets stuff like that. While we were out at the store the other day I got some Jolly ranchers and lolly pops for my desk. I know sugar is not good but, one lolly or hard candy now and then is just fine. ;)

So, with out further ado WELCOME to our room!! Let us know what you think. Have a great day!!


Bubba Ho-tep and Star, lounging together how cute is that!!



Oh, so soft... I cannot resist the hypnotic pull of the blankie...


Hands off teh blankie, pal. The look he is giving is soooooo funny.



Hoss, the school mascot. He is around 28 years old, he is my husbands childhood buddy.



The Reading Couch I really like having a cuddly place to all sit and read. ;)



Whiteboard above, chalkboard below. They are well loved and used often. ;)



The Franklin stove sits in the corner. It makes the room very toasty in the winter.

The desk and the worktable. Above the table, our stance on the 2nd Amendment. Mostly my husband just like plinking golf balls across the yard, but we do believe in the Right to Bear Arms. Just so everyone knows it is never loaded while hanging there only when in use.

So, that is our little school room in the piney woods way our yonder in the boonies.❤❤

To those of you who follow my blog and blog yourselves you know how important it is to your readers that you address their thoughts and comments. With that in mind I am doing just that.

Before I do I want to congratulate Judy's daughter on her wonderful and momentous occasion she is receiving her confirmation!!!!!!! We here at our house are sooooo excited for her. What a wonderful and blessed event for them. HUGS from our family to yours Judy!!

Next, I want to let everyone know that pictures of the new classroom are close at hand. We will be completely done this weekend!! We are having so much fun constructing our classroom. There was a lot of work to do.

We went to the library in our new town this week and everyone got library cards. For the girls this was their first time as they have always checked out books on our family card.
We went to the wonderful thrift store in town this week too. I got some really cute stuff. I was even blessed with finding a few homeschool books that I did not own and an earth science curriculum!! I got these two really cute jars one with lemons painted on it and the other with grapes.

As, we are preparing for guests to come visit us,(I am so excited to be having company) we are tossing lots of items that we really no longer need so I am very excited that we are gonna be blessing the thrift store with items we no longer need.

We adopted out four of the kittens so, we have 4 more that need to go. We have happily choosen 4 kittens to stay and become part of our family. Please help me welcome: Chloe, lazer kitty, Sir Didimouse, and bubba-ho-tep.

We got a very special treat today!! Julie and her family sent us goodies form Japan. We have had a blast all day with the goodies we got. Thank you Julie.

My son and I are looking forward to meeting with our online book club to discuss the new chapters of our Sherlock Holmes book.
I will also be posting pictures of our DNA experiment. I encourage you to do the experiment as it is very fun. I love when learning can be fun. ;)

I am really into casseroles this month. I will be posting recipes of our favorite casseroles all this month. I ask you to please post your favorite casseroles either here on the comments or on your blog with a link to it in your comment.

Ok, if you are still with me. Thank you!! ;) Now, it is time to address a comment an anonymous poster made. As you all know I am very open to others. (ok some of you say I am liberal ;)) With that in mind I saw this comment and I wanted to address her concerns. A blog without it's readers is just a diary. But, a blog with readers is an outlet and a place to share. With sharing comes views that may not always agree with each other. Hence the argle bargle article. I was going to post the comment in the comment section where it belongs instead of wasting time on a post but, I am incredibly long winded and I over shot the maximum of characters you can have in a comment by 400. So, I decided that was a blog post and not a comment. ;)
I honestly hope that the poster comes back so, I am responding. If she does not that is ok. I still responded and that is what is important. With out further ado here goes:

Dear Anonymous,

First and foremost, let me welcome you to my blog, which showcases my feelings and life and topics of interest to me and any one else who might enjoy them as well. ;) I encourage you to read more than just the two posts you read. There are lots of fun posts here even if I do say so myself. (giggle, giggle). Also, if you want to put comments on my blog, I encourage it! But, I would also like to make it very clear here and now that this is MY personal blog so, my opinion counts here. (I hope this fact gives you a little better understanding on how a personal blog works.) One thing I want to make clear is, to have a discussion, as webster defines it, is 1) a consideration of a question in open and usually informal debate 2) a formal treatment of a topic in speech or writing. I love good discussions and appreciate differences of opinion. A key to having a good discussion is being respectful of others' feelings and views. I was respectful and did not use names and slander or name calling with regard to the person who argle bargled me, nor the site this all took place. I also made the classy decision NOT to copy and paste anything from the site I referred to in my blog post. I made my original post to that discussion on that site in a format that was discussable. I have also made my post to my blog site discussable and you have made your comment in a form that can not be discussed.

Now to address the comment you left here. ( I am however, wondering if you are going to come back and read my reply or if you are a post and run kind of gal). 1. "I don't know if you are a Christian, but it is important to be honest." I sincerly hope that you are not implying that only Christians are honest or that if someone is a Christian they are automatically honest (this logic will bite you in the butt one day if it has not already). I know people of all- faiths, baha'i, muslim, catholic, non-denominational, etc. and some who are just not sure what they believe yet, agnostic, etc., who are very honest and upstanding and wonderful people. I do not feel that I have to convince any one of my belief system. I don't believe that I should shove my beliefs on ANYONE. I believe in letting GOD shine through me and that he can do ANY/EVERY thing. I purposely do not shout out my beliefs on my blog or anywhere else. I like to be open to all people I cherish them for who they are not because they know the secret handshake. I also know in MY heart that God wants me to simply shine. 2. "several things in your post were not true." Please back up your accusation with facts. I simply cannot reply to your opinion if I don't know what it is. As hard as it is to believe I am not a mind reader. If you wish to email me your accusations in concrete proofs, a classy choice to protect the identity of the person as well as the site, I will address them. This would, most likely, reveal your identity to me, however, when you want to accuse someone of being DIShonest, you really should have the courtesy of giving your name. It is a shame that the tone in which the person responded to me on that discussion was not clear to you. You don't have to use CAPS to be yelling at someone online, the tone says a lot. She really was NOT "fairly respectful" in her reply as you stated in your comment. But, since I didn't mention the website address or specific online group name, it makes sense that you are probably also a member of the group and most likely a friend of the person, so your perception of what she posted or what I posted may be skewed.

Finally, I would like to mention these last few things, according to the TOS notice posted within the discussion we refer to, it was in fact posted incorrectly. There was to be a specific tag in the subject line. For the topic to be considered for discussion, it most likely should have been more open ended, versus opinionated. If opinionated, then tagged per the TOS notice. As for the controversial issues unrelated to homeschooling? There absolutely should be controversial issues and unrelated to homeschooling isn't a bad thing either, however, they should be labeled appropriately.

In closing: as for how I felt? It is my feeling and blog site. There is nothing "untruthful" about my post, I am, however, open to listen to specifics you may wish to address and if needed, will make corrections.

Have a great day ALL!! ❤❤

Today I thought you might like to do a fun experiment. Some of you are wrapping up your school year while others are slowing down and still others like me are still going strong. I hear from a lot of homeschoolers that they do not want learning to end in the summer. So, summer seems like a great time to do all those fun projects that everyone was interested in doing there just was not time to fit them into our busy days. Now is the time for those projects.

I have started an online book club of sorts. We are reading, A Study In Scarlet by Sir Arther Conan Doyle which you can get for free here: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/d/doyle/arthur_conan/ - this website has all of his works avail for you for free. If you look around the site you can also see all of the works available in MP3 format and also a link to other children's e-books and a really fun site that has other works in MP3 format of old children's radio theater programs. I hope you all enjoy this site. For the book club we read a few chapters a week and then we meet up in a gmail group chat (gmail is free for anyone interested) and we discuss the chapters we read. The goal is for each reader to come up with at least 3 questions to ask as well as several vocabulary words. Each participant will get a turn at choosing the book. Right now the book is for older kids but, we would like to add a younger children's discussion group as well.

Ok, back to the experiment I mentioned above. (I get side tracked so easily) LOL ;) Since we are reading Holmes I thought it would be tons of fun to study DNA. Here are two links for you:

1. http://dnamazing.com/how-do-i-extract-dna-at-home/ - This site is a small book that explains how to extract your own DNA. The directions are very simple.

2. http://geneticsevolution.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_extract_dna_from_fruit_and_vegetables – This website show you how to extract the DNA from fruits and vegetables. How fun right?? ;) I figure that those of you with smaller children would find this a little more fun and easier to understand.

I hope you will do the experiments and tell us about them. I will be posting pictures of our DNA experiments later this week. Over the next couple of weeks we will also be exploring fingerprinting, observation, witness testimonies, and many more. I hope there will be an experiment or topic of interest to you.

We are also embarking a rather large project this week. We are reorganizing the bookcases, all 8 of them. If you have any suggestions on organizing them I would love to hear them. I am trying to decide if I want a school room or a craft room. It seems to me that with our relaxed style of learning might not fit into a school room . I have however always wanted a craft room and we can use it for school crafts and products. Everyone has a desk in their rooms for individual work, we have a couch for reading and watching DVD's, and a kitchen table for group learning. I love that others have school rooms they always look so nice and inviting. (Judy from benmakesten has a lovely school room) When we first moved here I was so excited to have a school room now, I am not so sure. A craft room is looking REAL good. ;)

That's all for today from the boonies. LOL Have a great day!! ❤❤

Argle Bargle... What in the world is that?? A game?? A new book??

(Noun1.argle-bargle - a verbal dispute; a wrangling argument
argy-bargy
contestation, controversy, disceptation, arguing, argument, contention, disputation, tilt - a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement; "they were involved in a violent argument"
To hear argle bargle spoken click here; http://mw1.m-w.com/dictionary/argle-bargle)

No, Argle Bargle is a wonderful word and very real word that was brought to my attention because Julie and I wanted to create a code word for off limit topics. After Julie and I reconnected (there was a 10 year absence) we wanted to make sure that we did not have to go thru that awkward “I am being really careful what I say around you till I feel out how open you are or how different our views are” stage. Well, we are not really the type of gals that want to wade thru that stage so, one night during a 9 hour phone conversation (several good, brave, loyal and courageous cordless phone's gave up their charge for us that night LOL) we were thinking of a word that would be funny and quirky (just like us) and light hearted way to day “I am not able to change my view or this topic is out of bounds for discussion right now. We have not had to use it but, just knowing that we can pull it out any time we want to really makes our friendship very, very open. It is so liberating to know that you can talk about anything at all cus if the other person is not able to discuss this topic or during the conversation if each of the opposing friends are getting upset or do not think that they can discuss this at this time then we just whip out the magical Argle Bargle!!

I am sure that some of you are wondering why I might be bringing this up other than the sheer cute and genius of it. Well... this past week brought a topic to a website that I belong to that really raised some tempers. The author of the post was upset about the subject matter. I mistakingly thought that the author wanted to discuss it. I thought about my comment and I had my husband read it and when we were both satisfied that my input on the topic was polite and well thought out. I was ready for the discussion to begin. I must interject here for those of you who do not know I love a good debate. I love to be challenged intellectually. Ok , back on topic. ;) I was encouraged when I saw that others felt the same way as me. This was looking good. Till... I got a response from the author of the topic. She yelled at me (online) and told me that I had lambasted her and that I should not read her posts anymore if I don't like what she has to say. I was really sad. There were several things that made me upset. 1. I really really made sure that I was polite. 2. I was sad that she was so close minded. 3. That the topic was I thought brought up for discussion but, in reality she just wanted others to agree with her and validate how she felt about it. 4. After she yelled at me and few more people disagreed with her she left a very scathing comment then closed the topic so that no one could respond to her childish/pouting ending statement. I felt like I had been yelled at and challenged then as I prepared my defense she ran away. Like when you are a little kid and you have an argument over who's turn it is and you concede that it is their ball so they should go first but, when it comes time for your turn they snatch the ball and run away and you can't even say anything to them. The last reason why this upset me so much is the website that this happened on is a homeschool site and I just really think that the topics on there should be homeschooling. Everyday I see inflammatory topics. I usually ignore them but, I really am sick of it. I really think that we should be talking about homeschooling topics like: how the daytime curfews that are being passed all over the nation. That affects homeschoolers. Or how about these scouts that are being taught to fight like soldiers http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/us/14explorers.html?_r=3. These are topics about children these are the kinds of topics I want to see so, I am going to start posting a topic each week. I would love for y'all to talk about them with me or each other. There will be topics that I am sure will be Argle Bargle for some. If that is the case please, please feel free to argle bargle and then propose a topic you would like to hear about or bring up. There will also be several more changes in the upcoming weeks. :) I hope you enjoy.


I wrote the other day I wrote about how my husband was stranded on the side of the rode at 2 am and sweet Judy asked me what was he doing driving at that time of night. Well, my husband had to go to the city (4 hours away) for work. While he was there he was invited to a prayer circle at he the spiritual assembly that he belonged to there. The prayer circle went late as these things often do. ;) His original intention was to stay the night again but, after being invigorated he was wide awake and wanted to go ahead and drive home. He made it about ½ way when the car revved and the temperature gage spiked and the car died. I am happy to report that my husband is safe and sound and that we do have a vehicle that was given to us that is in fair working condition.

Last but not least here is a picture of my new red hair. ;) Y'all know I am a crazy fluffy gal so the color should not shock you. ;) I do want to say however that my husband actually told me I looked “great” in that dress. I have seen the pictures and I know for a fact that dress is not flattering at all. That is why it is my house cleaning dress. And only cus I loves ya guys am I gonna let you see me in it.

Have a great day!!

Judy from benmakesten has tagged me in this game called: "My Top 8 Things"

So...here goes:

The Rules Are As Follows
1. Mention the person that tagged you.
2. Complete the list of 8's
3. Tag 8 other bloggers – ummmm I will instead tag any/every one that wants to play.
4. Tell them they have been tagged. -- Yoooowhoooo You have been tagged. LOL

8 Things I Look Forward To
1. All the funny stuff my family comes up with
2. Waking up and spending the day with my family
3. My visit to RI this December to see my Parents and friends I have not been back in 9 years
4. The next time I get to see Julie and her family
5. the next 100 years of marriage
6. Finishing my book
7. Talking on the computer with my friends
8. the quiet times I spend with each of my kids

8 Things I Did Yesterday
1. unpacked 3 boxes
2. laundry lots and lots of laundry
3. worked on being more organized
4. I made bean burritos with rice for dinner
5. hung out on the pickin' porch with my in-laws
6. cleaned my house
7. had to set up another book case since we had run out of space
8. Kissed and hugged my kids and husband

8 Things I Wish I Could Do
1. TBA
2. Learn every language
3. Travel the world
4. Make a difference in the world
5. Have a larger garden
6. Sew my own clothes from the 30's & 40's era
7. have my own cooking show
8. Be a better person

8 Shows I Watch
1. Bones
2. documentaries on Netflix
3. the Original Iron Chef
4. Chuck
5. Secretes of Magic Revealed
6. Sometimes Dog the Bounty Hunter
7. Sometimes Legeand of the Seeker
8. King of the Hill

It has been quite a while since I have posted. A lot has happened.
We had to have the electrical wiring in the meter box repaired cus it was a major fire hazzard. We are were very blessed since my husbands Uncle is an electrician and he and my hubby fixed it.

We went to a crawfish boil. We got to meet the neighbors.

We went for a drive on the dirt roads behind my house. We saw a deer and we saw 8 pigs. We also found a blackberry patch.

I made some chocolate covered candied grapefruit peels. Yummy!!

Killed two scorpians ewwwwwww, grossssssssss, iiickkkkkkkkk, gulp, and gasp!!

Got Lukas' room set up.

Had a 2 am scare of my hubby broke down on the side of the road. Again we were blessed and family came to our rescue and we got the car towed back here and my hubby home safe and sound.

We now have 11 kittens. Time to start adopting the kittens to some good families. We have two bob tails, two calicos (one of them has a 5th claw on her paw), 5 pure white (three of which are albino), one orange and white one with a 5th claw on his paw, and one black and white one.

We had our chickens here for two days. On the second night three of them were killed. We had to put them back across the street till we build a better coup. We had to get rid of the raccoon who had attacked them.

I dyed my hair. Red. I love it!!

I shot my first gun. I don't think I will ever become a gun toten' mamma but, out here in the woods it is a very useful skill. ;)

I think that is all for tonight I will back very very soon!! Have a great day!!

This is Clara, she is a wonderful story teller and cook. There are several different recipes featured on youtube. For me the best part is the stories she tells while she is cooking. She also has a blog and a fan club on facebook. She has inspired me to try to find more recipes from the depression era. As I watched these I saw a lot of the recipes I had grown up on were featured or a spin off of one of these. Share your family recipe an old one or a new one it just has to be economical.

I love to see that people are so interested in cooking at home again. It really warms my skillet/heart. ;) Today I made my family very happy with my simple breakfast. I made homemade donuts and sausage. It could not have been easier. I just took biscuit dough from the can (I swear to you that they do not taste like biscuits) and I cut out the center then did a little stretch to widen the whole. I used a cutter but, you could use a cap to your syrup bottle to cut out the center and I fried them up till golden on each side. In my house a donut is a vessel in witch to carry frosting to the mouth. So, I had some cream cheese frosting and I added some cocoa powder and some milk to thin it out for dipping. I heated the frosting and dipped the donuts and then I dipped in non-perels. Ta-da!! I was super MOM for the morning. Then I got every one hopping on their chores. Alas I was back to being just plain old mom. It was glorious to be super MOM for a morning though. LOL

The camera is MIA so till it is found I have no pics for you. Sorry.

Hello Friends!! I finally have high speed Internet. We did have satellite Internet but, it was just not able to handle the connection to my hubbies job. When you work from home the connection to work is the most important connection there is. As I write this I have been without internet for FOUR whole days!! I was not sure if I was make it another day. LOL It was really hard on me, for as you all know I am a self professed internet junkie. The internet man installed a 45 foot tower on top of our house. Safety girl ran out side with a Jolly Roger and the internet man hoisted it up for all the world to see. He did remark that our house was the first time he ever did anything like this. Don't worry there is a picture for you all to enjoy.


"Hoist them colours, Swabbie!"

I wanted to let you all know that Julie and family are safe and sound in Japan. I was so excited to hear from her. She called me on her Magic Jack. I am so excited that I will be able to call her on her American number while she is in Japan. It will be great to be able to call her any time I would like too, as long as I mind the time difference.


"I'll keelhaul th' lot 'o ye, if ye don' git done wi' yer lessons!"

I am not sure how many of you have heard of the Angel Foods Ministries so I thought I would take a few mins to tell you all about it. This past Saturday was the pick up day for the monthly deliveries. I had looked up some discussion groups and saw that there was a mix of opinions about the products that people have received. I was starting to get worried. I was very relieved when I got the boxes and found some fantastic and beautiful meats and produce. I am very happy with our decision to give it a try. I made an awesome beef stew out of a couple of steaks. The fruit that we got was outstanding. I have heard of people being unsatisfied with the products that they received. Though it seems that when there are unsatisfied people they seem to be from the same area. I guess the best advise I can give is to order the smallest amount of product that you can and test out the quality in your area or better yet ask others if they are satisfied.



We are growing creeping crystals. We also painted with the creeping crystal mixture. The pictures the kids made were wonderful. It was really neat to see the “paint” from feather like crystals in seconds.
Here is the recipe:
1 T epsom salt

1 T water

1/4 t food color (any but yellow)

2 2" jar lids

spoon

Pour epsom salt & water into saucepan. Stir & cook over medium heat until salt dissolves.

Remove from heat and stir in food coloring. Pour into first jar lid until almost full. Pour

any extra into second lid. As liquid evaporates, crystals will start to form. Over several

days, they will grow up and over the lid. They will last for months.

CREEPING CRYSTAL PAINT

Make the Creeping Crystal formula given above. Add an extra 1/4 t of food color to the

mix. Brush onto paper, cardboard or glass -- as it dries, frost-like, feathery crystals will

appear on the painted surface.


Kitten x 2 = irresistable! (Math lessons for pirates)

We have a family of bandits who comes and visits us every nite. They come up to the front door and eat the cat food that is left over in the evenings. We have had to chase them off each night. There are at least three of them. One of them is fat and rolley polley. The other two are always together. They come up to the cat food and one eats while one stands guard. They are not afraid of me or the kids but, should a cat come near they run away like mad. It is comical to see the raccoons run away from a small cat but, sit there looking at us and eating our cats food. I think we are gonna have to trap them and relocate them far, far away.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. With love from our pirate ship to yours. ❤❤

Today I thought I would post some recipes. I hope you all enjoy these. I also wanted to apologize for yesterday's dead link. If you type 599sherlockholmes into google search it will be the first result option. Please let me know if you all have any problems. OK now onto the recipes.

SOS over mashed potatoes.
This recipe was taught to me by my mother. It was my favorite meal when I was a kid. My mother learned it when she was a girl scout in the 60's.
2 lbs of ground beef or ground turkey
2 cups grated carrots
2 TBS of gravy master or kitchen bouquet or a packet or two of gravy mix
1 cup of flour water slurry
4 cups of broth or bouillon dissolved in water
To Taste salt and pepper
you can add what ever your favorite spices you like. My favorites are garlic, paprika, parsley,and a splash of soy sauce.
In a large pan cook the ground meat till there is no more pink. Drain the meat. I keep about 1 or 2 tbs of this yummy stuff naughty huh??. Add your grated carrots to the cooked meat. This is where I add all the spices I am gonna add. Add the gravy master or equivalent. Stir all of this together to incorporate. Next pour in the broth. Let this all boil for 15 mins or till the carrots are tender. If you are using gravy mix add it now and stir till it is completely dissolved. It should thicken up nicely. If you are adding a slurry add once the carrots are tender. Stir till a nice gravy forms. Turn off the burner and let the SOS sit on the stove for a few mins too cool. We want to serve dinner not lava. LOL I serve this several different ways. 1. over mashed potatoes 2. over rice 3. over toast 4. over baked potatoes. I bet you can come up with other ways to serve this. I really hope you enjoy this as much as my family and I do. Ok except for Lukas.

I also love this recipe so I thought I would share it.

Crock pot chicken
1 whole chicken
1-2 cups of water
2 TBS of soy sauce
2 TBS of bouillon
and your favorite spices.
My combo is: garlic powder, paprika, pepper, parsley, chili powder, Italian herb mix.

This is soooooooo simple. You put the water, the bouillon, and soy sauce in the crock pot. Stir all of this to combine. Place the chicken into the liquid and then cover with your spices. Put the lid on and turn the crock pot on low, and cook 8-12 hours. I personally like to let it cook all night. In the morning I take the chicken out of the crock pot and let it cool. When the chicken is cooled remove the meat from the bones. Viola you have plenty of cooked chicken on hand for any number of recipes. I usually make soup the first day and Tetrazini the next day and some sorta casserole on the third day. If I find chickens on sale I will cook all of them over a few days and portion and freeze the meat.

Today Julie and her family boarded the plane bound for Japan. I am so excited for her. I am also very sad that it will be a while till I get to talk to her and even longer before I will get to see her. I would like for you all to pray for safe travels and for getting set up with an apartment and a car.

Our garden is sprouting!! With all the rain we have had our garden is blooming and so are my plum and fig trees. I am so happy to see all of this beautiful foliage. I guess you could say my yard is bursting with life. What a wonderful time of year. There is new life all around us, kittens, flowers, trees, and our garden. WOW!!

Wow!! Monday already?? How is that the weekend goes by so fast??

We had a lovely weekend out here in the boonies.;) This Friday the man for who will be installing our new internet came out to hook it up. Well, it turn out we live in the internet Bermuda Triangle LOL. I found it comical that he was able to get a signal just down the street from us but not on our roof. So, on Monday he will return with a 50ft pole, a 50foot pole can you imagine. My hubby wants to hang a Jolly Rodger Flag from it. I am still shaking my head about that one. LOL With the new internet my husband will be able to work from home again and not have to go to the coffee shop every day. Hey!! Wait just a minute, that means that my days of getting an ice coffee and a muffin are over. Hurumph. Guess I will go back to making my own. ;) It was nice to be pampered coffee wise for a while.

I have been an infrequent poster lately. That is gonna change. I am bound and determined to get back on my normal schedule. With that in mind, Mondays are menu for the week and my goals. So here goes.

Monday:
Cereal (we always have cereal on Mondays)
BLT's and chips (I have been craving this for several weeks now)
Chili Baked potatoes with sour cream and salad

Tuesday:
SOS over mashed potatoes (one of my favs)
Tuna sandwiches and carrot sticks
French toast

Wednesday:
Chicken Parmesan over spaghetti
Ramen with add ins
Cereal

Thursday:
Fried Chicken legs, mashed potatoes, corn, and salad
Grilled cheese and tomato soup
pancakes

Friday:
Refried bean burritos with rice and vegetable
Beef stew
Biscuits and gravy (I gotta spoil um sometimes)

A pretty simple and unfussy menu this week. So, I am curious what do you all make for dinner?? I love new ideas.

This weeks goals are pretty simple. Since we have been on vacation for a little while, I thought we would ease back into our school schedule. I am happy to say that I found a Sherlock Holmes unit study. It looks fantastic. You can check it out here coreknowledge.org/CK/resrcs/lessons/599Sherlock.pdf when you click on this it will bring up a google search just click on the first option listed. I hope you have a lot of fun with it. If you decide to do the study tell us what changes you made. Did you add to it?? Did you come up with fun and challenging projects that were not included?? I also want to know if you made it more challenging for an older student or easier for a younger student.

My goals for this week are really simple. I want to make sure the dishes are done every night before bed (I am starting flylady), I want to type up chore charts, type up daily schedules, type up April's menus, write in my blog every day, get my son's room all set up, and I want to get my class room all done. I think those are very reasonable goals.

On the 3rd we will be getting our 8 chickens. Yippeee!! We have been eating and cooking with fresh eggs since we moved here. I love it.

I have to tell you that it is fantastic living across the street from my in-laws. Take today for instance, we got invited to come over and hang out. Then we were treated to dinner. (have you ever noticed that food tastes better when someone else cooks it ;0) We played in the garden for a while then watched food network challenge. We had a really fun time.

The kittens are opening their eyes now and their mother is leaving them for short periods of time. Wow, I can't believe they are big enough for that already. We went out and bought some kitten food so that when they are ready for it we have it. Speaking of the cat and her kittens, Ginger will not pick up her kittens. She will put her mouth on them and then run to where she wants them. She will do this till one of us catches on and moves her kittens to the spot and then she will lick us as if to say “hey, thanks” and then she lays downs and purrs while nursing them.

Well, it's time for me to do the dishes so I can go lay down and read my Charlotte Mason study guide. I am really wanting to switch the girls to Miss Mason's curriculum. Have you all had any exposure to it?? If you have please tell me what you think. I am very curios to hear from you all about it. Talk to you all tomorrow. ❤❤

Bathroom:





Kitchen:





Rissa's Room: