My Mommy Kisses The Principal

2011-12-11T10:49:00.000-08:00

Here is an advent calendar I made. I hope you like it.
I will post VERY soon to update ya'll on what we are up to.

LIGHTS!! CAMERA!! ACTION!!

2010-10-05T12:35:00.000-07:00

Ok so no camera, but lights and action have been happening a lot around here. My family and I decided to get involved in the local community theater this season. We were invited by my super sweet spanish Tutor Serena. We have been at the theater A LOT over the past two weeks and fairly regular the month and a half before that. The production that we are in is (drum roll please) Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka!! I can't even begin to tell you just how much fun I/we are having!!

As I said above everyone in my family are involved in the play in some way. My husband helps with ushering as needed, he is also in charge of making sure our oompas don't run wild back stage and is really a lot of work just imagine this poor man trying to keep 5, 10year old girls quiet back stage while all kinds of awesome stuff is happening on stage. ;) I am in the chorus and a crowd member ,I help out where ever I see a need or where ever I think I might be able to help ease someone elses stress. I am also the official “fatunstuffer” for Ze Mrs. Gloop. I also help out with makeup (for those who want help). My son L who gulp is getting far to close to 18 for my liking LOL is a set guy, it is his job (along with the other set people) to make sure scene changes happen with out any sound the amazing set people we have make it all look seamless and they are practically silent. My oldest daughter R is a fellow chorus member and she is the crowd scene also. (We participate in 6 songs). And safety girl aka coupon girl is an oompa lumpa. The oompa's are amazing and so are their outfits. The costumes were made by the director she also made the tails for the squirrels WOW let me tell you they are WOW!!

Last night were auditions for the upcoming Christmas play. We tried out for A Christmas Carol. We hope we get parts, but if we don't then we will just jump in where needed. I will keep you all posted on that. We are supposed to receive the cast list on or about Tuesday. WOOOHOOOO!! I wish everyone who tries/ed out all the best!! Break a leg everyone.

We recently joined a homeschool co-op. What a wonderful group they are. They have been very welcoming. The prices of the classes are AMAZING!! My children are taking art classes for 12 weeks for a buck a week each!! I know awesome right?? LOL The kids are also taking drive thru history wich is offered for get this, FREE!! It is awesome.

Our co-op will be subbitting a scarecrow for a contest. So, on monday we all got to gether to decide what kind of scarecrow we wanted to submit. We are making a mother reading to her child in her lap. They will be having them reading an encyclopedia and the child will be working on a slate. I think it will we awesome. I will not be able to stay on the day that they build it, so my contribution will be to make the heads for them to use on Monday. I can't wait to get to go tour the scarecrows and see them all.

I had a Mom's night out last month. It was a ton of fun. I am really excited to be getting out and meeting new people. I REALLY needed it.

Land R have joined the 4-h archery team!! They love it. L will also be joining the rife/shooting team. Safety girl is just not sure what club she would like to join. I will keep you posted on that as well. We are thinking that we will be raising rabbits for our livestock project.

That's about it for today!! Have a great day.

Sunny with a chance of spring.

2010-03-11T14:10:00.001-08:00

The weather here is Texas has been amazing this week. Well two weeks actually. I love that the days are filled with sunshine and brightly colored flowers in bloom or still budding. It just seems like the whole yard is alive. ;) Then there are the wonderful nights and occasionally days filled with deep rumbling of thunder. Oh and loud. I have live a great many places but, I have to say that I like the thunderstorms in Texas the best.
Now that the weather is becoming so wonderful we have begun doing some much needed yard work. I have great plans for my yard this year. We are also making plans for this years garden. I need to get a start on it since planting starts very soon here. We are thinking Tomatoes of course, lettuce, garlic, scallions ( I am a total addict), some herbs, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkin, watermelon, eggplant, carrots, that is what is on the diagram for now we have a few more slots so not sure what we are gonna fill it there. Oooooh, oooooh, squash yummy. Then on the other side of the yard we have two peach trees which are wonderful producers, we have a fig tree oh soooooo yummy,we also have a small patch of black berries that we want to expand, and we want to add blueberry bushes and strawberries.

This week for Sunday dinner we had the most amazing pork roast I have ever made. Oh man I let it cook for 4 wonderful smelling hours and boy was it worth it. It was so soft and juicy :::drooling::: just remembering it. Oh and the best part I got it on sale!! .88 cents a pound. I cooked the whole thing, but I saved ½ for another week.
Sunday menu:
Roast pork
Parsley buttered new potatoes
fresh green beans
Rolls

I used some of the left overs from Sunday to make pork fried rice yesterday for a quick dinner along with some homemade miso soup.

School has been going a little differently this week. Next week is our spring break so the kids are a bit excited and preoccupied with plans of what they are going to be doing next week. We also had our Spanish tutor come twice this week and that added to the mix. Then Safety girl who is now wanted to be called coupon girl (I'll explain in a min) asked me if she could make me a deal. So the deal was that she wanted to completely finish unpacking her room and clean it and get it all done so that she would not have to work on it during her spring break. So she did and WOW!! I am just so proud of the job she did. She had no help at all and she made that room look amazing. Now she wants to paint it so that it looks like a research lab. LOL. Today (Thursday) Art girl (my oldest daughter) asked if she could do the same and she is working on her room as we speak. On the other days this week the kids have each picked a subject and did the entire weeks work in one day. It was a nice change up for them. So this week has been strange but wonderful.

Ok I did tell you I would explain coupon girls new nick name oh and we have coupon lad. Art girl says that she is just not interested in helping. ;) That is ok she about to turn 12 and loose her mind for the next couple of years so, it is all good. I started playing the Coupon Game three weeks ago and I am having a blast. I LOVE going into the store and having the register ring up 135.00 and then I scan my card and my coupon and the bell begins you know that sound right?? when you at the register and a transaction is made it makes that little sound. Well, last week (only my second time ever of using coupons) I was at Kroger and the register said 135.00 then I handed my coupons and savings card over to the cashier and watched it go down, down,down. My final out of pocket cost was... ready?? 72.00 Yes folks that is 63.00 dollars in savings!! Woohhhooooo. Oh man I was just beaming when I left the store. I felt like I had really spent my money wisely. I also so the coupons for CVS and then I get what ever else I can not find any where else or what is the cheapest at Walmart last. My cabinets are just filling up. If any of you gentle readers are coupon guru's please let me know I would love to pick your brain. BBBWWWWAAAHHHHHAAAAA!!
I hope all of you are having wonderful weeks too.
Look for a new recipe VERY soon.

A great kid friendly recipe. Home made stuffed soft pretzels!!

2010-03-03T15:27:00.000-08:00

A great kid friendly recipe. Home made stuffed soft pretzels!!

This recipe is great. It is easy and kids love it and they love to help make this. The best part is you can use what ever you like to stuff them with. The first time I made this I used pizza fixings. I have also made taco flavor and ham and cheese. The possibilities are endless.
For this recipe we will make the pizza flavor since kids like pizza.
You will need:
one or more helpers. ;0
2 Tubes of pizza dough (I have also used homemade)
½ cup of pasta sauce (left over from the last time you made pizza)
1 small package of pepperoni (most of this will be consumed by your helper/s or your self)
1 small package of mozzarella cheese.
That is all you need for food.
Equipment
two baking sheets or one that you will use twice.
A pizza cutter (don't have one use a knife or a pair of scissors dipped in flour)
a cutting board
a knife (if your helpers will be doing the cutting then have a pair of scissors for them)

See this is already shaping up to be super easy. ;) The first thing you do is let your helps “POP” the tubes of pizza dough open, while you turn the oven to 375 degrees. Roll the dough out into a rectangle. Cut lengthwise in half with the pizza cutter then cut each half in half again make a total of 4 long strips. You will do this with each tube.

Now, you will have your helpers cut the pepperoni into small pieces. Now you are ready for assembly.
Onto each strip of dough spread some of the pizza sauce. I try to spread this pretty much down the middle leaving the sides clear so that they can be folded together later.

Once the sauce is on sprinkle with cheese. You will be surprised at just how much little it takes to make these. That is why using you left overs is awesome. Once you cheese is on sprinkle with pepperoni.

Now, come the only tricky part of the whole operation. Fold each strip over lengthwise to make long tubes. Now the fun part take the two ends and fold in towards the center and cross over to form a pretzel shape.

Don't worry about any tears or minor imperfections. If you don't have any great. If you do just blame your helpers!! ;) GIGGLE Do these steps for all 8 of your strips. Bake in the oven for about 15 mins.
You know I never really follow how long a recipe tells me to cook something. Every oven is different. Take mine for instance (please badump bump) I have to spin what 0ever I cook about halfway thru if it is a short cooking time and several times if it is a long cooking time. I have a hot spot the right back corner of my oven. My old oven cooked with efficiency. If a recipe said 12 mins mine was done in 8-10 and almost burning by 12. So use your nose and your knowledge of your oven. What you are looking for is a nice golden brown. I also lift the over lapping where the pretzel ends meet to make sure it is cooked.
When I serve this I add a salad or maybe some raw veggies with dip. It has been a hit each time I make it. I hope you all enjoy making it and eating it as much as we do.

Conferences, book reviews, Sunday dinner and snow oh my!! ;)

2010-02-24T18:04:00.000-08:00

What a wonderfilled week I have been having. How about you??
I have been attending the Heart of the Matter webinar. Nothing beats the mid year dull drums like other inspiring homeschoolers telling you that everything is ok!! ;) Speaking of other homeschoolers assuring you that everything is not only ok, but fabulous to boot I read a super encouraging e-book over the last few weeks. I got the book from The Old School House Magazine. This hefty e-book took me a little bit to read. Only because there where so many heartfelt wonderful stories that I just wanted to take my time with each and everyone. I often found my self saying oh if she (the author of a particular section) lived near by she would be a great mentor and/or friend to have. I truly enjoyed every page of this book. I am sure that you all are just dying to hear the name of it aren't you??
Well the name is: Help, Lord I am getting ready to start homeschooling my High Schooler. As many of you know I am already homeschooling a high schooler, but I have to tell you I certainly feel a lot more encouraged after reading this. ;) Have you ever noticed that when you has small children every homeschooler you knew had older children and now that you have older children every homeschooler has younger children. No?? It's just me then?? You know what I mean. LOL We have all has this feeling. I love that the internet does not make that seem so bad anymore. Here we have Friends at our finger tips 24/7. I really, really appreciate the internet. I have to tell you that I was happy that in the book not every child got a perfect score on their SAT's and graduated at 16 some did, but most are just like us. I know we all are raising genious' they are just genious' of there own particular subjects or intersts. By saying they are like us I mean that the book does leave you with the dreaded compare yourself to anouther family syndrom. Just about every homeschooler at some point has done this. This book never makes you feel that way it makes you feel encouraged and great and it gives you a sence of I CAN SO DO THIS!! Some go to college some don't some had struggle after struggle and they still made it and have smiles on their faces. I hope if you are looking for some highschool encouragement or a highschool homeschool pick me up you will consider this book.

I know it is already Wednesday and I have not told you about our Sunday dinner menu. Oh what a slacker I am. LOL and giggle to boot.
Our menu this week was:
Honey Brown sugar Ham (cooked in the crock pot)
Mashed potatoes with country gravy (have you ever noticed that the potatoes taste better when the kids peel them??)
Biscuits and hot buttered Corn.
It was all so delicious.
The ham was big enough to provide us with ham and scalloped potatoes on Monday and tonight I made Ham fritatta I will even have some left to freeze for homemade hot pockets.

You know this has been a pretty action packed week we also had our first lessons with our new Spanish tutor. Senorita Serena is very sweet. We stared with our alphabet and our numbers to 20, and colors. We also learned how to introduce ourselves and ask others their names. Then as payment we provide lunch and she and her first baby hang out for a while. This really is a heaven sent deal. I will keep you posted on our Spanish progress. I also have a cool recipe for stuffed soft pretzels to share in the next couple of days. Before I go I wanted to share our pictures of our snowy Texas yard. You can see our snowman Bob the janitor. My kids come up with some really great ones. I am posting the first snow we had at the top of the page and the snow we has yesterday below. Enjoy!!

Watch our June Cleaver Sunday dinner is back and better than ever!!

2010-02-19T13:45:00.000-08:00

Sunday dinner it seems is being lost. I for one will not stand for this. Maddy and I have been watching Leave it to Beaver in the evenings along with the Munsters on our Netflix Roku. The Roku for those of you who do not know, the Roku is a wonderful device. We were blessed with it as a family gift from my parents. The Roku enables you to access your Netflix instant watch list on your T.V. I love getting to sit on the couch and pick something to watch with the kids or as a family. Best of all no cable bill or satellite bill. We also get to watch without commercials and the selection (for us) is great. Now there are shows and channels that we do miss on TV but, in those cases we just go to the website or Hulu.com and tada!! there they are. My daughter and I watched the She-Ra series, My hubby and I watched the Eureka series, I watch Psych you get the picture. OK that was a brain wandering. ;) Back to Sunday dinner, watching the beav made me think about Sunday dinner we used to have a Sunday dinner every Sunday but, it just was not feasible for a while. Well, now we are back at it. I love Sunday dinner not the food part of it don't get me wrong I like that part, but what I really like is the idelic old fashioned wash up, get dressed up, use your best manners, have wonder filled conversations, using the good glasses, setting a proper table you know the types of things that it seems people don't know about these days.
I can remember trying to be a June Cleaverish clone when I was younger. oh boy did that backfire. I was trying to be someone/thing that I am not and I was miserable. Which made my hubby miserable not to mention me but, now I am older (goodness I am getting older) and wiser I have figured out a sorta formula if you will of how much essence of June to add and it makes me a happy person. Goodness my mind is a wondering today isn't it??
We decided to begin our Sunday dinners on Valentines day. I sorta made that theme of our dinner. Our menu was not particularly special or gourmet, but we really enjoyed it.

Our Menu:
Roasted Chicken with a middle eastern dry rub
Oven roasted New Potatoes and baby carrots
Piping hot homemade sesame rolls
Blushing applesauce
Cranberry juice
Chocolate dipped strawberries (some with sprinkles)

We had a great time. No elbows on the table was wonderful and we had polite conversations.
We all really enjoyed getting dressed up. The girls asked me to put a bun in their hair. They picked out nice dresses and I gave them a spritz of perfume. Marisa also was able to change her earrings (which got just got pierced for Christmas) to these gorgeous blue teardrop earrings that my Mother got her. I got to wear a nice dress and put on some lipstick and of course perfume and I put my hair up. Lukas got dressed up in a very nice pearl button shirt he looked very smart and my hubby appeared in a nice dress shirt and pants. I have to say we clean up purdy nice. ;)
I have been trying to use Sundays to do some preparations for the week this week I made cookies. I love having something for company to nibble on when they drop in for a visit.
This week I made peanut butter cookies (pb cookies are my weakness oh boy do I like them I would go so far as to say they are my Scooby snacks you know like when they get Scooby to do stuff he is to scared to do lol). I also made chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. So yummy.
So what is your Sunday dinner tradition?? Do you have one?? What do you make or have??
Oh I almost forgot to mention that I got just about everything on sale!! The above meal came out to $3.00 a person including dessert and juice. I feel pretty darn good about that.
Safety girls new found hobby is taking pictures so,she is the photographer who took the pictures of our Sunday dinner above.

Have you ever wanted your own theme music??

2010-02-17T19:52:00.000-08:00

Haven't we all wanted our own theme music?? No?? It's just me them huh?? Well I have thought about this and I would want mine to be funny and quirky. I want one that would make people smile kinda like the song The Candy Man Can from Charlie and Chocolate factory the original one with Gene Wilder. Not that song in particular, but one that makes you feel happy or smile or give you fond memories. If you had a theme song what would it be?? Would you want something more super heroish?? Or maybe you would be more like a peaceful Enya song anyway you get the picture. I for one thing it would be great. I will let you know as soon as I remember the song that my family said that need to have as mine. I love that I can't remember what it was. See, I need a funny and quirky song. ;)

I know it has been quite a while since I have posted to my blog. With all the stress of the past 8 months and many, many times not having anything nice to say about what was going on I decided that the old saying “if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all” was the better path to travel. That is mind I know that most of you are not used to checking my blog for posts so I am looking forward to hearing from you all again. I really love your comments and feedback on my posts. ;)

Now that you have rediscovered me and I know that you have if you are reading this LOL, let me give you a little catch up on whats been happening with the family and I.

Some of you will remember that my brother in-law and my niece and nephew came to stay with us for a “few weeks” till they got settled into their own place back in June of 2009. Well on February 2010 they moved into their new home!! It was a rough 8 months to say the least. All buried hatchets aside, I am so VERY happy to announce that we have our home back and that our family unit is functioning like the well oiled machine that we are!! You know I really never appreciated just how wonderful it is to be able to pee with the door unlocked or open a crack or to be able to go from the bathroom to the bedroom in a towel cus you forgot some article of clothing when you took a shower. I cherish it I really, really do.

OK so what have we been up to?? At the end of August we began the new school year full of excitement and wonder. I also added two rather difficult students to my classroom with hopes of change and dreams of them getting into the groove and falling into line.

In September we were off and running. One of the coolest fun activities I got for the kids (OK it was really for me, but don't tell any one) was an eraser making kit!! It was so much fun. There was plenty of clay for everyone our kit came with 8 colors and there were 6 of us making erasers so we cut each color into equal parts so everyone would have some of each color. There was lot of trading as the boys did not want any of the pink color and gladly traded for other colors. With my pieces of color I was able to make a turtle, a starfish, a flower, a yin yang, and a couple that were just fun creations. Then we just baked them in the oven for about 5-7 mins for small ones and 10-12 for larger ones. It could not have been simpler. The kit was about 10 dollars at Walmart. I am still using my erasers. I also loved that no one has argued about who's eraser is who's at all this year. Gotta love that.

I also started implementing Charlotte Mason into my curriculum this year. I can not tell you how much I love it. We are also using the workbox method loosely, but we use the schedules and a lot of the methods. We could not be happier and holy moly does work get done quick around here.

October was almost unbearable in it's stress level so in all honesty October was a big blur. So nothing to report on October. ;) We did begin to have a reprieve from the stress as two of my students began public school and I was free to run my school as I always had. It is wonderful.

November was our Anniversary this make year 15. Wow!! I am so happy with the man God found me and put in my path then hit me with a steam truck till I figured out he was the one God had intended for me. LOL For our anniversary Julie “took” us out to dinner. We went to this very charming little place in Tyler called The Basil Tia Cafe. Oh it was so yummy.

In December we began planning for our trip to RI. This was the first time my girls had ever been to RI and it was also the first time they could remember flying. We did find ourselves with mixed emotions about going on vacation and leaving our pets and home in the care of others. I am happy to report that almost everything went off without a hitch. The house was trashed when we got back it took us a week to get it all cleaned and back to normal. We were also heartbroken to find out the our foster bird Stormy had passed away. We had a lovely funeral for him. Back to the vacation. While in RI we did tons of stuff we went to the Boston museum of Science!! It was amazing. One of the best things that came of that trip was for only 5 that is right 5 dollars more we were able to obtain a family pass to a ton of museums all across the U.S (many right here in driving distance from our house). Or so we thought it was going to be 5 dollars more it turns out that the extra exhibits that we choose to attend had made the bill more, but with the family pass there were a bunch of discounts and it actually saved money. Yes folks we got a ton more stuff and paid a fair chunk less!! Yippee for frugality. ;) The museum was so big that were not able to see the whole thing. Honestly we just did not have time to see the whole thing and oh man almost every exhibit had interactive stuff to do. You could make a vacation just going to that museum. We went to the New England aquarium. What a wonderful afternoon that was. It is really a wonderful place. The center of the aquarium is a giant circular tank. Each floor wraps around the tank and on the outer walls are tank after tank of awesomeness. Of course the sushi jokes were running rampant. The kids played in the snow every chance they got!! We had a lot of fun slinging snow. There was a wonderful huge family Christmas dinner. Lot's a family I had not seen in a long time. I loved it. Lukas got to go to the Naval War Museum in Newport RI. He is still talking about how much fun he had there. One of the highlights of our trip was to go to my Aunt Claudette's art studio!! She is amazing she teaches art to her students or so she says what she actually does is inspire you to express your self in art. She is so much more than a teacher of art she gives you an understanding of a technique then she pulls out your imagination to make it your own and to make something truly from your heart. We loved every min we were in her studio.

January we returned home like I said it above. We had a lot going on in January. We got our house ready for us again. That meant switching rooms so everyone had their own rooms again and writing up new chore charts and getting new schedules in working order. Then there was the sad afternoon of my sister in-law's day of passing anniversary. Then was my father in laws birthday cake number 1. Then was my nieces birthday cake number 2. Then of course my Lukas turned 17 and we had cake number 3 and a Chinese food buffet.

If you want to know what has been going on if February keep check my blog cus I will be posting again VERY soon.

Have you ever heard of Molly's Money saving digest ??

2010-02-15T10:18:00.000-08:00

I am excited to tell you about Molly's money saving Digest at www.econobusters.com!!

First of all, the digest is in PDF form. I love that you can simply download it and read it at your leisure, and these monthly digests are big (55 pages this month!) and there is so much information packed into them that you will as happy as am that you get to download them and read them again and again. The digest is so packed with information that I read it several times, and I kept finding new information each time I read it. In the digest I read, January 2010, there was a lovely and informative article all about making pie crusts. I don't know about you, but I really like pie; meat filled pies such as pot pie, and fruit filled pies from my peach trees. There are wonderful chocolate cream pies... oh I could on and on, but I should stop here I don't want to get everyone drooling and shorting out their keyboards LOL. ;) There were lots of great pictures!! There were also recipes and ideas for you you to build on you know the old saying teach someone to cook and they will cook that recipe into the ground teach them the fundamentals and give them a bunch of ideas and they will be off and running. Don't we all say that?? LOL
In the organization section in the January issue there were lots of great printables. My son who recently turned the 17 (oh my how did that happen??) and I read the section about opening a checking account and how to use it. It was very informative. There were also printables to use right away, so we could you put into practice what we have learned.
The article on house hold organization was fantastic. The printables were the very thorough. There was even one that organized the everyone's clothes so you could use the list for yard sales, thrift stores, and trading. How great it will be to have who has what and who needs what and what I have available for trade/giveaway or donate!

Molly's Digest was organized into sections, which I found very convenient. I loved that all of the links mentioned in the article were categorized and hyper-linked at the end of the digest they were conveniently repeated again.

Molly's web site,www.econobusters.com has tons to offer. Just one of the many great things offered is her weekly Friday freebie list. The list is very easy to use. I have been checking it every Friday for quite a while now, and I have gotten tons of free stuff. There are also great articles posted all the time. The digest also included an interview of a new writer that will helping Molly in her endeavor to get us on the frugal path. In the interview, she gave us a wonderful heartfelt introduction of herself. I love that the digest hat is written like a conversation with a friend who is excited to share some information she has found.
Here is a link to Molly's page please go check it out!
www.econobusters.com

My not so tiny ten tips. As inspired by Judy. ;)

2009-08-18T13:19:00.000-07:00

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!!

W00t!! I got an early birthday present and I have a recipe for you.

2009-08-13T15:51:00.000-07:00

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.

I won Heart Of The Matter Homeschool conference tickets!! Oh yeah and an update.

2009-08-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

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!! ;)

WELCOME to our new classroom!!

2009-06-08T09:08:00.001-07:00

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.❤❤

An update and a response to an anonymous commentor.

2009-06-04T23:47:00.000-07:00

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!! ❤❤

A little fun to shake up your week. ;)

2009-05-27T14:19:00.000-07:00

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:

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.
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 any one??

2009-05-19T14:36:00.000-07:00

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!!

Oh my goodness I am turning into a crazy cat lady!!

2009-05-13T17:37:00.000-07:00

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!!

Even the worst of times provide the best/memorable stories.

2009-04-14T22:11:00.000-07:00

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.

Garrrr matie!! This be how we surf the internet in the boonies!!

2009-04-01T21:53:00.000-07:00

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. ❤❤

Some recipes for you all.

2009-03-27T13:57:00.000-07:00

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!!

Pics

2009-03-25T21:31:00.000-07:00

This week at a glance at the week to come and some questions for you all. ;)

2009-03-22T22:23:00.000-07:00

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. ❤❤

More Pics

2009-03-14T22:37:00.000-07:00

Bathroom:

Kitchen:

Rissa's Room:

Finally a new blog post. ;) Thank you all for being so understanding.

2009-03-13T21:17:00.000-07:00

Helloooooooooooooooo every one!! What a chill we have had here in East Texas this week. I hope that all my friends/readers (you are all my friends) are not having to battle to much with the sickness that has plagued families this winter. I have been hearing talk of just terrible “bugs” that people are getting this year. I have been very blessed to that we have had two runny noses and two with sore throats each occasion only lasting a few days and that is it!! PTL. Speaking of not feeling well, please lift of Judy from benmakesten her father is ill and she and her siblings are at his bedside praying over him. Another prayer request if you don't mind. Julie and her family are moving to Japan as you all know. Well, her husband is due to report so VERY soon and they have no tickets issued to them yet. While I know for a FACT that Julie secretly wants to stay with me for a bit longer, I would like for you all the pray that they get their tickets all taken care of and that their trip is safe and uneventful. (ok, I have to confess that I would not mind at all if they have to come here and stay while they wait for tickets to meet up with her hubby)
Oh yeah please pray for housing to open up there for them. Living in a hotel for months at a time is not very fun at all. I was a military wife once and I remember all to well what it is like. All righty then that is all of the requests I can think of right now. OHH nope please pray for a job for Bobbi's husband. Truly that is all for right now. If you think of any please feel free to let me know and I will add them to my list.

On Wednesday Lukas and David went back to the city so Lukas could attend his permaculture class. He had a great time. They are home safe and sound. Speaking of permaculture Lukas started his first compost pile!! If any of you have successful compost piles and want to offer any advice/helpful hints we would love to hear them. He has also picked the spot that he wants to till for our garden. This weekend if it is dry enough he will be tilling it with the help of my brother in-law. (you know I will be taking pictures of my son's first time using the tiller)

I am happy to announce that in just a few short weeks we will be getting our chickens!! Yippee. We are getting about 8 of them. We have been enjoying fresh eggs from my in-laws chickens, so yummy. MMMMMMMM chicken. LOL Now I have visions of chickens in the pot cooking. Enchalada's, roasted chicken dinner, chicken pot pie, fried chicken, I better stop now. Ha ha ha... I guess I am gonna have to start getting on track and posting recipes more often. ;)

Our foster pets are settling in very well. You all saw a picture of Star isn't she a cutie?? Now it is time for you to meet Stormy our foster parakeet. He is such a talker. He loves to chat to us while we are watching tv. He also loves to dance. It is so cute to see him jammin' out and
getting all jiggy with it when ever music is played. Though I have to admit he only dances to music he likes. I like the music he has chosen though. Stormy does some really neat tricks. Not only does he talk, he allows you to touch him under his wing, and he will also come out and play on his play gym. While we have not gotten him to come out and fly around he has come all the way out of the door and he has eaten millet out of our hands and he lets us touch him. I am sure that flying around and dive bombing us is soon to follow. LOL “pilot to bombardier this is Stormy speaking am I clear for take off” Ha ha ha ( am such a joker) Star does all kinds a tricks as well. She plays dead, rolls over, lays down, sits, sits pretty, and we are currently teaching her “disco”. Introducing new pets into a home with old pets is really a challenge. We have had some funny situations come up.

I have to tell you all that on Wednesday night at about 10:00 pm my cat Ginger went into labor!! She had her first ever kittens. She only had two but, they are just so cute and precious. We named one Milkyway (who was snowball at first) and the other Hide 'N' Seek. There are some pictures in todays post for you. The guys had left about an hour and half before she went into labor. My poor hubby misses all kinds of stuff poor guy. It was my first time to see kittens born. The girls and I were enthralled. Our cat Ginger was so loving (a rarity for her she is soooo mean) and wanted to be petted during most of it. We really enjoyed petting her. Normally she barely tolerates us but, she LOVES Lukas. It was so neat to see her contractions and to see her kittens emerge. It was wonderful I will never forget it.

I also wanted to include some pictures of the house but, my cat Ginger went into labor again today, sadly this kitten did not make it. :( We named him Tiger and my husband and the girls said a prayer and laid him to rest. That took up most of the afternoon and evening. I will post house pictures and inside pictures of the wigwam tomorrow. I wish you all the best. Hugs and blessings to you all. ❤❤

Some pics, finally!

2009-03-09T21:48:00.000-07:00

So my husband finally got around to uploading some pics. Star Barnett is the newest member of the house. We are foster parenting for a few years ;)

This is me and Safety Girl in the back yard.

The house, and the wigwham.

Our coop.

The wigwham up close.

This is my view every morning when I wake up. Isn't it beautiful??

Pictures inside the wigwam and in the house will follow tomorrow. Hugs and blessings!!

We are Country Folks now. ;)

2009-03-04T09:32:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!! I sure missed you all. I hope you all had a great weekend. We and our stuff are all here in at the new house. What a move we had. ;)

Let me back up a few days for you so I can fill you in. Thursday my husbands cousin and his fiance' came to our house and helped us finish packing and load the truck. Honestly we could not have done it without them. We are so very thankful to them. After my husbands cousin got there they went to the Budget truck rental place to pick up the truck. We got a 24' truck for two days unlimited mileage and no deposit fee (the guy waived it cus he said my husband looked like a nice guy) all this for under ninety dollars!! We stayed up till two on Thursday packing and loading. On Friday we woke up at eight made some french toast and went to packing and loading the truck full force. We finally locked the doors and windows to the old house on Friday at six o'clock pm. You know riding in that truck is both scary and exhilarating. It is scary because you are so high up and every bump in the road feels like you are riding on the bumpiest road in existence. LOL The great part is that you are in this monster truck and you could just run over anything like those trucks at monster truck rallies. Bwwwaaaahaaaahaaaa!!

At six o'clock we hopped in our vehicles and we left the big city behind. The ride to the new house was pretty uneventful till we hit the dirt road that leads to our house. We were about a ½ mile or less out from the house when a deer ran out in front of the truck we put on the breaks and managed to miss the little bugger by only two feet. (I can tell you that I was freaking out remember the breathing you do when you give birth picture that and my little girl holding my hand saying “it's ok mommy just hold my hand”) LOL When we got here we saw flash lights bobbing in the dark. My father in-law and my brother in-law both came over to help unload the truck. My husband was convinced that it was going to take us a really long time to unload but, it only took two or three hours. We were so happy to go to sleep that night. ;)

I finished my kitchen last night!! It looks great. It is so much bigger than the old one. I have lots of counter space. I gotta tell you all something silly but, cool to me. My new stove works so great. The old stove took 45mins to and hour to boil a pot of water not here 15 mins tops. Yipeee!! Speaking of cooking last night was the first night that I cooked for just us 5. I have enjoyed feeding everyone. I have made Swedish Meatballs over spaghetti, Cupboard casserole, and last night we had a lovely vegetable soup with alphabet pasta as requested by safety girl.

Today my hubby is going into town to run errands and what not. While he is there he will be buying batteries for the digital camera so, there will be pictures VERY soon. I can't wait to show you all the view from my windows and to take you all on a tour of the property. Most of all I can't wait to show the rooms as they get finished.

One last thing I have to share because I think it is sooooo cute. My mother in-law mowed a “Grandmothers trail” (as she calls it) between our houses. ;)

Hugs from our country cottage. ❤❤ Country gal. (he he he)

What do you eat when you are thigh deep in boxes?? Fried Rice of course!!

2009-02-20T11:20:00.000-08:00

Last night at about 7 o'clock everyone came to me like a pack of starving mongrels. LOL
We are hungry and we want to eat NOW!! So, I looked in my kitchen and what did I see, not much. LOL You know how it is when you are moving you try to eat up what you have so, you only buy what you NEED. Well, with my husband and son having gone off to the new house this past weekend, we did not go grocery shopping this week. Pickin's was bare. ;) Then it popped into my head... Fried Rice!! Quick, easy, and uses left overs. I took a couple of pictures of my fried rice (cus everyone said it looked so good) and thought I would share the recipe and pictures with you all.

Fried Rice:
serves 4-6
3-4 cups of cold rice from the fridge (break up any clumps of rice before you put it in the pan)
¼ cup of soy sauce
3 tbs of oil + 1 tbs of sesame oil (if you don't have any just use reg oil)
2 cloves of garlic crushed and chopped or ½ tbs of garlic powder (we like a lot of garlic)
1 tsp of paprika
1 tsp of pepper
1 tsp of chicken bullion
2 cups of frozen mixed vegetables
¼ cup of water
4 eggs cracked and beaten to make scrambled eggs
**optional** 1 cup of cooked meat cut into bite size pieces – Chicken , semi-soft bacon, beef, hamburger, chicken nuggets, pork, garbanzo beans, you get the point you add what you like.

If you are blessed to have a wok awesome. If however you do not have one no problem. Just heat a large pan with the 4 tbs of oil. When the oil begins to ripple add in your rice. Stir the rice in a “fluffing” motion. Make sure to coat all of the rice with the oil. Let fry for about 3-5 mins.
Add the soy sauce and using the fluffing method make sure all of the rice is coated with the soy sauce. Let the liquid boil off this will take about 3-5 mins.
Next add all of your spices and bullion. Stir to incorporate. Once all the spices and bullion are wrapped snugly around your rice add the water. Stir this mixture and cook for 5-7 mins. I made this step up but, I find it essential to making great rice. The extra liquid allows you to replump the rice so to speak.
Once the water is absorbed add your frozen vegetables. (you can add leftover vegetables here I won't look I promise) If you are adding meat add it here as well.
Now, you just cook till the vegetables and meat are warmed through. About 7 mins or so.
Here is the part that gives people trouble. (so, I been told anyway) Time to do the eggs.
There are two ways to do this. 1. cook the eggs in a separate pan and add to finished rice. Or 2. You push the rice to the sides of the pan and cook the eggs in the middle then stir it all together. What do not want to do is pour the eggs onto the rice and cook that way. ICK!! You want lovely pieces of fluffy yellow egg in your rice. There you are you have just made fried rice. Ta-da!! So easy right?? This dish should take you 30 mins or less. After you have cooked it several times you can get the time down to as little as 18 mins. Take out, who needs it you can make fried rice. ;)

Have fun making this recipe. Have a blessed weekend with your families. From our home to yours. (((((((((HUGS)))))))))
You didn't think I forgot about freebie Fridays did you?? Here are this weeks freebies:

1.http://www.k-12freehomeschool.org/ - this site is a christian based curriculum that is tuition free. There is a 5.00 fee for each class that you take. (still a great deal) There is a deposit of 10.00 that you put down in order to receive the video's that go with the lessons. There are also optional courses that cost a very reasonable fee that you can choose to purchase. They keep track of grades.

2.http://www.exploringnature.org/ - This site has tons of information about natural habitats, animals, and nature in general. Really worth a glance or two or three.

3.http://www.homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/ - This is a relatively new site. Each day you pop on over there and take a look at what is being offered that day. If you like it follow the link and or directions and ta-da it's yours. There is even a newsletter you can sign up for that will tell you what will be coming in the new week. There is a catch though the links are only available for the one day. All past links become dead the next day. (bummer right) So, getting the newsletter is a really big help. That way you know which days stuff you want will be available.

Boxes boxes every where are boxes!! AHHHHHHH

2009-02-18T18:45:00.000-08:00

Wow!! The countdown is upon us. Ten days left till the move. It is really exciting to be moving into a new house.

The kids will all have their own rooms!! My new kitchen is really lovely. The kitchen I am in now is well, crappy. Honestly, the fridge clicks when ever it goes into a cycle as it is about to die and our lease says that they do not have to replace it. It is really old and very energy wasteful. Our utility bills are horrendous. In the hot months of the summer we pay just over 400.00 for a monthly electric bill!! In the new house the highest electric bill in the hottest months of the year has been 200.00!! The rent is a lot less than what we are paying now. I can not tell you how blessed we feel about this.

I have not even told you the best part yet..... ready...... We will be living very close to lots of relatives. Having been a military family for most of our marriage, we have never really lived near family. So, this is going to be a truly wonderful experience. I am also excited to be able to have some animals like goats and rabbits oh yeah and chickens. We have a plot of land big enough for a nice size garden. Oh my goodness I am going to turn into farmer Jane. *LOL*

We are even going to be able to get high speed internet (my husband needs it for his job). I was so dreading the thought of having dial up aaaakkkkkk. While high speed internet does not come cheep in rural Texas it is a job expense and we will be able to claim it on our taxes next year.
My in-laws who live across the street from us are truly wonderful people. Grandpa is so excited that he will be able to take the kids fishing and other fun grandpa stuffs. Grandma is excited to be able to pass on her love of crafting not only to my girls who love any and every craft they can get their hands on but, I am also happy that I will be learning some wonderful crafts too.

The quality of my photo's will be improving as well. I know you are all excited by this. he he he.... this is because my in-laws have a digital camera that we will be able to borrow/use when ever we want. My goal is: as I get each room all set up and situated the way we want it, I will then take pictures for you all. Kinda like taking "the 50cent tour" only virtually.

We will even have room for a classroom. WOW!! I love typing that. We do school at the table and on the couch and on beds and well, where ever we feel comfy. ;) I am sure that will not change. We will have a classroom with a full size chalk board, to go with our dry erase board, and plenty of room to start projects and leave them out while they dry or if they need to be worked on for more than one day.

I am so thankful for the internet. When my husband and I went to our first base as a married couple we did not have internet. AOL was the only internet then and they still charged by the hour!! So we had the phone (which can get pretty darn expensive) and snail mail. OH man snail mail was such a treat as a young Navy wife. When in military housing we all knew if some one's spouse was deployed so when some one got a letter we would all be so happy for them. Wives are also known to call all their friends when they got a letter or a package. ;) I am so thankful that the military is able to offer it's members e-mail and web cams so that the distance is not so bad and that children can see their parent. How amazing that truly is. (sorry, I was on a tangent there for a few mins)

Please keep our move in your prayers. God had truly blessed this move so far and we are very tankful to him. You know some times I think it is really important to thank God publicly for the blessing that he is giving you. It is also a good thing to share when God has helped you through some thing tough or challenging. This move is tough and challenging for me. Last time we lived in rural Texas I hated it. I was miserable. I just have so much peace about it this time. I know that we are doing the right thing. I am also thankful that God has blessed me with the friends I have made on the homeschool lounge and for returning a friend to me Julie. So, thank you God for your blessings and the challenge of following you.

Have a great day every one I will try to keep you all updated during the move.

Late nights, Navy Life,Morse Code, fond memories, and who the heck is Julie!!

2009-02-13T13:49:00.000-08:00

Well, the time came for Julie and her children to return home yesterday. ;( Don't cry we all knew it would have to happen. I am happy to report that we packed our few precious days with as much laughter, conversation, and fellowship as they could possibly hold. We stayed up till the wee hours of the morning each night. We had the best slumber party ever!!

While I was sad to see Julie and the kids pull away from the curb and drive down the road, I am so filled with joy that we are in each others lives again and I am ecstatic for her that she will be moving in March to their duty station in Japan!! I have such fond memories of Japan and I know Julie will too. I also have an open invitation to go visit her there. (yippee!!!!!) I am also looking forward to exchanging "care packages" with her.

Now that you are all caught up on whats been going on I can fill you in on the missing details like who in the world is Julie. ;)

Julie is a friend that I met while stationed in Florida. Florida was my first duty station as a Navy wife. I met Julie at another wife's house as she was baby sitting both our children. One afternoon we both showed up to pick up our children and we struck up a conversation. We were very compatible. (it kinda sounds like I am comparing us to computer software or machine parts *LOL*) We discovered that our husbands were both on the same ship. Too cool!! So that is how we met not one of my usual funny stories but... stay tuned you know I would not let you down. ;)

Ok fast forward several months... the ship deploys for 6 months. Sad I know but, that is Navy life. We have many coping skills as military spouses. Wives that are friends/compatible get together to share meals, go out for lunch or dinner, go shopping together, have game nights, get together and let the kids play, and we like to get together in groups and have potlucks. If your husband has ever been on a business trip or gone off for a few days and left you alone with THE CHILDREN (dun dun duuuuun) you will understand the following information. It is sooooooooooo lovely to have dinner with someone who will eat something other than mac & cheese and chicken nuggets *LOL* so we make dishes that are our favorites but ones that the kids will not eat. The quality of dinner conversation also improves. (my son was very young at this time and the girls were not born yet) So you can see how important it is to try to find a small group of wonderful ladies. Julie was part of my group.

The night before the ship pulls into port is like a combination of anticipation of Christmas morning and the way a child feels the night before their first trip to Disney World. We were on pins and needles we had scrubbed our houses from ceiling to floor and rearranged furniture and made welcome signs planned special meals and anything else that would let our sailors know how special they are to us and how much we missed them. Some how one of the ladies found out that our ship was supposed to be first in line to pull into port in the morning. We came up with the brilliant idea to go out unto the base beach/jetties and send morse code messages to the ship with Julies mega watt flash light. ( do you see the potential for funny here well, buckle up and enjoy the ride)
So, we get the kids all bundled up and bring some toys for them to play with in the sand. Now it is important to mention here that Julie used to be in the Navy and part of what she did was translate morse code ( I am gonna use MC for morse code for now on). We begin by asking the ship in MC if they are ship ***** at this point we are not sure if they will even be able to see our flashes of light. We are hoping that they will be able to see us in the "big eyes" this is a large set of binoculars with a lens magnification of a bijillion and 2. We wait giggling at what we are doing and as a result of our excitement and the stories and conversations we are having. "Shhhh Shhhhh Shhhh I think I see something Julie says" ..... Yes it was in fact a reply back from the ship!! How cool is that right?? We begin sending messages back and forth to the ship us sending then them responding. We start out with sweet "we miss you messages" and "I love yous" we decide that we are gonna kick it up a notch... "I can't wait to get you alone" and other slightly riske' messages were sent. The ship kept right up with us and sent us some pretty sailorish stuff. (I am sure that you have heard the saying He/She swears like a sailor) After a little while of this we decide to pack up and go back home and TRY to sleep so we can meet the ship in the morning.

The next morning we rush out to get a good place on the pier to watch the ship come in. If you have never seen a Navy ship pull into port with all of the sailors in their uniforms standing up on the deck. It is awesometastic and worth the view. All the wives and children are waving in the hopes that their sailor will see them or the large sign that they are holding up.
We spot each other and speak in whispers about what we did the night before and how much fun it was when a group of sailors (from another ship) walk by and are talking about how they want to find those awesome ladies who they spoke to in MC last night!!!! OH MY GOODNESS can you feel the heat of embarrassment that rose up our faces?? We lean in a little to make sure that this is really happening when one of them says something only a person who was translating our MC could know. We were mortified!! We laugh about it now!! It truly is funny. It is also one of my fondest memories of being a Navy wife. Stay tuned for other stories in the future.

I have neglected to post any Friday Freebies for a couple of weeks so here they are:

1. http://www.americanheritage.org/index.html --The American Heritage Education Foundation, Inc., is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the understanding and teaching of America's factual and philosophical heritage to promote freedom, unity, progress, and responsibility among students and citizens. Provides free K-12 curriculum for all educators in social studies, U. S. history, U. S. government, philosophy, political science, or economics.

2. http://www.whitman.edu/biology/vpd/ -- This a virtual pig dissection for those of you who's children do not want to dissect a live animal this is a great alternative. It is also great for those who want to have a practice run before doing the real thing.

3.http://www.bookyards.com/ --The goal is to be "The Library To The World", a web portal in which books, education materials, information, and content will be freely to anyone who has an internet connection. The Bookyards has a total of 16,078 books,41,782 external web links,4,197 news & blog links, 384 videos, 32,963 E-book links and access to hundreds of online libraries all for your reading pleasure.

Have a great weekend!!

Julie's here!! Julie's here!! Julie's here!!

2009-02-10T21:38:00.000-08:00

Hello my lovely friends!!

Oh my goodness I am so excited to see Julie and her children. It has been so hard these past few weeks waiting for the day that she would arrive. So, on monday when she called and said that she was on the road and the three hour timer was set.

We flew through the house with brooms, cleaning cloths, and scrub brushes. Each person had a list of what they had to clean or straiten up. It was really wonderful to see everyone come together in an effort to make sure that our home was tidy and welcoming for our guests.

Then we go the call that Julie was in Austin city limits!! We were all atwitter. Yipee!! Wohooo!! Rang loud and clear through out our house.

The minutes ticked by, agonizing minute by excruciating minute. (Can you feel it??)

We jumped up at the sound of every car that passed by. Have you ever wondered why so many cars come down your road when you are expecting someone. I am not kidding you when I tell you that a billjilion cars came down our road in that thirty mins. ;)

Finally, they pulled up in front of the house we all ran out side to greet them. Julie and I hugged for a biljilion mins. (like my new measurement) ;) It was nice to hug her after ten years.
For a few mins I just could not bear to let go.

We have had hours of conversation shared meals and of course lot's of hugs.;) Of course we stayed up much to late. He he he Adult slumber parties are the BEST!!

I wish you all a wonderful homeschooling week. I apologize in advance for my sparce posting this week. I will catch up with you all later this week. I am sure I will have plenty to talk about. Till then have a blessed and happy week.

A Poem to celebrate reconnecting with Julie and her family.

Friends so quickly come
And friends sometimes go
But if a friendship is true
It will always continue to grow.

For the qualities of a friend
Are too many to describe,
But one thing is certain
They're never hard to find.

Always remember that
Friends have feelings too,
Don't forget little things that matter
Like saying please, and thank you.

They often do so much
To help us out everyday,
Which is definitely why
Friends are needed in every way.

So take not for granted
The qualities of your friends,
For you never know
When you may see them again.

Today we celebrate one of lifes most precious occations.

2009-02-05T19:13:00.000-08:00

A Wish For You, Child
By Author Unknown

May all your wishes come true
May you always do for others,
and let others do for you.

May you build a ladder to the stars
and climb on every rung
and may you stay forever young

May you grow to be righteous

May you grow up to be true

May you always know the truth,
and see the light that's surrounding you

May you always be courageous,
stand upright and be strong
And may you stay forever young

May your hands always be busy,
and may your feet always be swift

May you have a strong foundation
when he winds of change shift

May your heart always be joyful,
and my your song always be sung

We here at our house would like to welcome the arrival of Judy's precious newest granddaughter Jozy Elizabeth. We are very grateful for God's protecting hand during the c-section delivery. Jozy has a wonderful big sister who is eager to show her the ropes and a gaggle of auties and uncles to love her to pieces.

Safety Girl and the Great Safari Adventure

2009-02-03T17:14:00.000-08:00

Our field trip to the Natural Bridge Caverns Wildlife Ranch and Safari was AWESOMETASTIC!!

We had so much fun. The fun started right at the front gate. As we pulled up to the ticket booth, we were greeted by a very pleasant woman. She told all about what to expect while in the park and she gave us our complimentary (yes folks free) bag of animal feed. As we were about to pull away safety girl pops up from the back seat and says "I want to buy a bag of animal food" so, she pulls out her little change purse and begins counting her nickels and dimes, this touches the very nice ticket seller and she gives safety girl two bags of feed cus she thought it was so cute (and it was) that she paid with her own money. So off we drove.

First, we had a quick pee break after all it was a hour and a half drive there. Finally we approached the gate to the wild life area. We slowly drive into the gate (it's a 5 mile per hour speed limit) and right away we see some Watusi, bison, deer, and several other wonderful creatures.

Safety girl tosses some food out of the car window just like the information booklet says to do, and the watusi comes up to car to eat it!! Well this watusi was pretty smart cus he figured out that we had the food so he stuck his head right in the window of the car (let me just tell you he needed a tic-tack and bad) and ate food right out of her hand!! The 6 foot span of his horns were the only thing preventing him from telling one of kids to shove over and make some room for him. LOL

We drove on some more and all you could hear form the kids in the back was gasps and "look over here" and "wow, Look at that" My son was the official guide for our tour. He had the information booklet and would look up the animals that we would point out and he would read the information provided in the book.

We made our way around the twists and turns of the path each bend having us on the edge of our seat in anticipation of what we might see. All the while safety girl, who was in charge of rationing out the animal food, kept asking are we almost to the zebras?? Not yet safety girl was told about 90 times. ;)

We finally pull into the section that shows pictures of zebra on the sign. We were all pretty excited at this point. Lukas begins to read us the fact sheet about the zebra's while we twist and turn down the path we are straining and craining our necks to try to find some animals (at this point we had not gone this long with out seeing an animal). Finally we round the bend and we see stripes!! We pull up closer to where they are and stop the car. We all roll down our windows and toss out some food in the hopes that they would come over and see us. They did!! They came right up to the car and stuck their heads in and let us touch them and my mom leaned in and kissed the one right at her window. You would think that this would have shocked him right?? No way he kept popping his head in the window for her to kiss him again!! I kid you not. I think they are engaged now, wonder how she will break it to my step-dad poor guy. LOL

Just a little tip for you... If you ever decide to do something like this large birds such as rhea's and emu and ostriches are aggressive (I mean aggressive kinda like me with the last piece of cake;)). They were tapping the windows with their beaks it was funny but a little disturbing (all I could see was a scene from Jurassic park.... the rapters are gonna get us ahhhhhhhh) LOL

After we exited the drive thru area which takes about an hour or so we went to the gift shop and the petting area. Maddy and Riss each got a stuffed animal Lukas got a really pretty fleece blanket and I got a really cool zebra mask (Thank you very much Mom).

The best part is that you can do the drive thru part as many times as you want to. (well, until they close)

We did the drive thru twice and it was like a whole new adventure we had different animals come up to car this time and the animals had moved around and we were able so see ones that we had not seen the first time around. Like I said we had an awesometastic time.

Monday...Monday....Monday...(that should be said in your best wrestler announcer voice)

2009-02-01T16:24:00.000-08:00

I am feeling the need to return to some sorta normalcy. So, I am posting my purposed menu of the week. Though with having a guest and doing activities who knows what will happen. ;)

Monday:

Orange chicken and vegetable fried rice
tomato soup and grilled cheese
omeletes du fromage (cheese omelets)

Tuesday:

Pinto beans, collard greens
mac & cheese with ranch taco's
cereal

Wednesday:

Crockpot meat loaf mashed potatoes gravy peas
Tuna melts with chips
French toast

Thursday:

Bean burritos & rice with mixed vegetables
Nachos
cereal

Friday:

Chili cornbread and rice
Ramen
Oatmeal with apples and raisins

Saturday:

My favorite night--LeftOvers!!
Hot dogs w/buns and fries
Bagels with cream cheese

As someone who has been to culinary school I have to tell you, I secretly long to cook foods that my children just will not eat. I am happy with the vast array of foods that my kids will eat. I am so very blessed that they are so willing to try new foods.

Field trip!!
Guess where we are going tomorrow?? We are going to Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. The kids and I are so excited. The greatest part is that all the animals are free roaming. There are over 500 animals from 40 species. Many of the animals are endangered or threatened species. Part of what the ranch is famous for their very successful breading programs. How cool right?? Since the animals are all free roaming you fill up your car with eager animal watchers and drive through the ranch on the designated trails and when you see some animals you want to look at you stop and stay there as long as you like oh yeah I almost forgot to tell you they give you a bag of food that you can feed the little critters when they wander on over to your car!! How cool is that. We are going to be snapping pictures left and right. I hope to have some pretty good ones for you tomorrow. Here is a link for you to look at till we have pictures for you to see. www.wildliferanchtexas.com

I am happy to report that Safety Girl has managed to keep her eye safe and sound today thank's to her swim goggles that she will not leave the house wearing. The folks at church were tickled pink at the sight of her wearing them.
Have a great day tomorrow.

That's no bird, that's no plane, why it's Safety Girl!!

2009-01-31T20:42:00.000-08:00

Apparently my 8 year old has decided that she would rather have a glass eye than the one she was given by God. I make this conclusion based on the facts of the past two days. On Friday my youngest daughter was looking for her DS and she decided to look under her sister's bed for it and while she was burrowing under the bed she got poked in the eye with a stick. Poor thing she was crying like crazy. Oh yeah let me insert here for those of you who do not know my mother is here for her once a year visit. Just what you want your mother to experience. LOL Ok so I know you are saying one stick in the eye does not warrant one to conclude that she is trying to get herself a new eye and I totally agree.Well, today Maddy was outside playing the her friend when she comes running in the house screaming and holding her eye!! The SAME eye as last night!! No way, I think to myself. Yes way!! Oh yeah and my mother had just walked through the door. I am not kidding. It turn out that my daughter stepped on a board and it made another board pop up and hit her right in the eye. I have to tell you here that I can totally picture the hilarity in this. Not only did she mess up her eye twice but, the ways that she messed it up. I told her that she is gonna have to wear safety goggles from now on. Here is a picture of her eye and one with her wearing her safety goggles.

I finally have a picture of my new kitty for you all to see. Her name is Marmalade.

I am happy to announce that we have some new games. We now have Taboo, Apples to Apples, Apples to Apples jr, and Bingo a really nice Bingo game. We had a really fun game night this week. I have wanted Taboo for a long time. What games do you all play?? Does your family have a favorite??

I know that a lot of my friends will be watching the super bowl tomorrow and I am wondering what will you be snaking on?? Or if you read this on Monday what did you make for your snacks?? I love new recipes so I am really interested in learning what you made for snacks. When ever I have an occasion to make snacks I really try to make something that my guests may not have had before. I love to try new foods and I really like to expose others to new foods as well.

I got new plates and cups and glasses and silverware this week compliments of Mom!! am so thankful. What a treat to eat on something not plastic. LOL We had company this week so I was able to use my new place settings as soon as I got them. Here is a picture of my new set and a picture of my Mom.

I would like to say how excited for Judy at benmakesten that her newest grandchild will be here this week!! We at our house wish the new mommy a safe delivery and quick healing.

Have a great super bowl Sunday. And never fear good citizens Safety Girl is on duty!!

How in the world did 16 years fly by so fast??

2009-01-28T08:40:00.000-08:00

Today I thought I would do some cookin' with the kids. In addition having my mother visiting, some friends of my husband are bringing Persian food to our house for dinner. I am so excited I love to try new foods. I will be making a large ginger peach cobbler for dessert and a nice salad with veggies.

All this talk of food made me think about recipes for kids. My kids love to get in the kitchen and help me cook. They also like to cook stuff on there own. So, I was thinking what would my kids like to learn to make so I asked. Pineapple upside down cake was the unanimous answer. Well, I wanted to make sure everyone got to make there own with out making three whole cakes hmmmmmm..... I thought and thought and I then it hit me, individual mini upside down cakes!! (recipe below)

I love our new winter P.E. routine. The two oldest are learning Tai'Chi (it is rather comical to watch my children try to do the moves without falling into a heaping pile of laughter). Or an even better event to watch is me doing Taebo.... Ok here is the story while living in base housing in Misawa I had heard several people talking about how much weight they lost doing Taebo so, I thought since I had a some baby weight from my last child to loose I would try it out. Well, one afternoon I was sweatin' it out and really putting my all into this work out when during a move my sneaker snagged in the carpet and I tripped and thudded rather loudly into the huge sliding glass door. The sound was defining and my body position was a full body plant much to the surprise and amusement of the Japanese nationals that were working in the area behind our house. They were laughing and bowing all at the same time.LOL I swear to you my cheeks were still blushing when my husband come home from work and my son who was waiting on the door step to be able to tell him was still giggling so much it was hard for my husband to understand what he had said.

I hope you will all join me in wishing my son a happy 16th birthday today!! I am so very proud of him. I am also secretly happy that he has no interest in driving yet. I have truly enjoyed each stage of our ever growing relationship. Each stage has been a joy to experience when he was a baby I truly enjoyed witnessing all of his firsts, when he was 5 I loved that he was a snuggler and loved to talk about dinosaurs,bugs, and sharks. Now we have great conversations about what he wants out of life and how he can accomplish those goals, we can watch documentaries and talk about them afterwards, he also watches boring adult movies with me. You also gotta love a kid who only wants speakers for his computer and to dye his hair green. He has always wanted to dye his hair green. I think he was 6 when he first asked and I told him then that when he was 16 he would be old enough to make choices like that. So here we are today at 16 and I will be true to my word and I will help my son dye his hair green. I guess he gets it from me I have had several crazy colors and several normal colors. Oh my stars one time I tried blonde lets just say that some people should not dye there hair certain colors. Tonight I will make some of his favorites: tator tot casserole and a homemade chocolate pudding cake with scratch chocolate frosting. The girls have made up songs to sing to him on the karaoke machine and little shows to entertain him/us. Do you ever sit around and think about all the incredible things that your children do,say or think I do especially around their birthdays.(remind me to tell you some time when my son age 7 blew up the car yes you read that right BOOM blew up the car not had a small fire base officials were so happy with us let me tell you. Please join me in singing:
Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Lukas. Happy birthday youuuuuuuuuu!!

Here is the recipe I talked about earlier. Individual Pineapple upside down cakes.

Ingredients:
1 muffin pan or 12 well cleaned tuna cans
2 cans of pineapple rings (keep the juice)
1 jar of cherries (I don't like the cherry personally)
brown sugar
butter
1 box of yellow cake mix

Prepare the cake mix according to directions except to use the reserved liquid from the pineapple can instead of water. Melt 1 stick of butter in a bowl in the microwave. While butter is being melted place one pineapple ring in the bottom of the muffin pan or tuna can then place a cherry in the center of each one. Pour about 1tbs or so on top of the fruit. Pack down 1-2 tbs of brown sugar into each muffin cup or tuna can. Now just add cake batter to fill 2/3 of your chosen vessels. If you used muffin pans just pop in your oven 400 degrees and bake till a tooth pick comes out clean about 20-25 mins if you used the tuna cans you can put them on a tray and bake in the oven OR you can cook them on the coals of a campfire or grill. (how cool is that) I have also used a solar cooker as well. So much fun!! I hope you all enjoy. Have a great day!!

Just another manic Monday.

2009-01-26T20:52:00.000-08:00

Wow!! What a long day today has been. With a visit from Nana looming on the horizon our house was all a twitter with anticipation and frantic cleaning. LOL There was no use in trying to do school work today after all who can be expected to sit and concentrate on school work when their Nana will be available for hugging in just one day.

I hope you all like the new look of my blog. It was my first attempt at changing the look to something other than a canned template. Well folks, let me tell you in my attempt there were gasps of "oh my goodness I lost my profile" and "where in the heck did my followers go" and of course there was "Baby?? Are you busy I think I just ruined my blog". LOL I am happy to say that I learned a lot from the experience.

I got a new laptop!! Well, new to me at least. A family member gave it to us. It is a little slow compared to the one my husband has and I am used to but, it's mine all mine. Bwwaaahaaaahaaaaa Ok so I guess it's pretty evident that I am not a very good sharer. ;)

I just have to say how much I love the Netflix subscription that mother was kind enough to give us as a family Christmas present. We love the instant watch section. We have lots of fun watching the MANY documentaries they have a very pleasant addition to our Friday school schedule. My kids really like the cartoons (they even have ones that my husband and I watched as kids) and there is even a faith/religion section. I have had a wonderful time watching "keeping Up Appearances" and the "Munsters" this past week.

I just have to tell you a little more about our new kitty Marmalade. She climbed into bed with us last night!! She loves to be pet. She learned how to use the litter box in 2 days. She is funny as all get out when she plays with her toy mouse. I am really happy that we decided to take her in.

As you all know we will be moving soon. Well, my husband was pretty worried about what we were gonna do for an income. Today he called his boss and explained that we would be moving soon and that he would really like to keep his job and was there anyway that he could work from our new house (a 4 hour drive from where we are now). His boss said "funny you should ask that, I just got the word that the company wants our division to work from home". My husband was so happy. When my husband got off the phone with his boss and told me what was going on he said "Isn't it awesome how when you are doing what God wants you to do he takes care of all the details for you." I am so happy that the Lord is really giving us peace about this and that he is really putting all the pieces in place.

Well, thats all I have to say tonight but, I'll be back in tomorrow. ;)

Back in action!!

2009-01-23T10:46:00.000-08:00

I am so happy that my family are all safe and sound and home where they belong. We also have a new family member named Marmalade, she is a really sweet playful orange and white tabby cat. It is quite strange to us to have such a loving and playful cat since we are used to Ginger our anti-social non playful cat, who barely even lets us pet her. The meeting between the two cats did not go well. Let's just say that there was fur flying and band aides involved. Oh what fun we are gonna have with these two.

My son had his first permaculture class this past Thursday. He really enjoyed it. We had a lengthy conversation all about what he had learned in his first class. I have to say permaculture is really fascinating. If you would like to learn a little about this subject here is a website for you here. There are 7 homeschool kids in the class including him. I am hoping he will make a few friends. All the friends he had where we live have all moved away in the past few years so, he does not get to hang out with his friends to often. I am also happy that the completion of this course will give him a certification and science credit for the year. He thinks that I will let him skate on science since this is a year credit he is sadly mistaken bbbwwwwwwaaaaaahaaaahaaaa. (that is my evil laugh);)

It is official we will be moving closer to my in-laws as soon as our lease is up. I am happy that I will be able to be mentally supportive to my in-laws and that the children will be knee deep in relatives. They will learn how to fish, hunt, grow food, and just about any other cool country thing you can learn. We will have a little house with 2.5 acres. We are gonna have a garden and some animals. I was reluctant at first to be willing to move there. My husband has been trying to get me agree to move there for about a year or so but, with the passing of my sister in-law, I can see that we are needed there for a while at least.

My mother will be here for a visit starting Tuesday till the 7th of February. You know what that means don't you? Tomorrow we will scrubbing the house in lue of our school work. Hey, who can do school work when your Nana will be there the next day! We will be attending a lecture about the past, present, and future of the moon and moon travel. My youngest daughter is so excited that she will have the opportunity to meet several real astronauts at the reception after the lecture. Will be going to a wild game ranch. We will be celebrating my son's 16th birthday the main reason for her visit. In short the next two weeks are gonna be a whirl wind of action filled blogs.

I got my very first issue of the Old School House magazine today! I can not wait to read it from cover to cover.

I would like to take a few mins to say a HUGE THANK YOU to BENMAKESTEN for her wonderful blog post and thoughtful comments and her beautiful prayers that she and her family and friends all took the time to dedicate in honor of my sister in-law. You are a great friend and your heart is so filled with love and compassion. I know God will bless you all of your days for your willingness to show his love to others.

I would also like to say thank you to all of you who read my blog. Your kind words where a great comfort to me during this time. I love getting up in the afternoon errrrr ummmmmm I mean the morning and checking so see what you all may have written to me. ;) I also enjoy reading all of your blogs while, I might now leave a comment I am there rain or shine. Hey, I am even better than the post office I read them on Sundays too. LOL

Well, I am off to read "Cookie Monster and the Cookie Tree" with my sweet little one. Hmmmmm does any one know what nursery he got that tree from I really want a cookie tree. Ha ha ha.
Have a great night one and all. Love from our family to yours.

One day you will answer the question....

2009-01-20T22:48:00.000-08:00

One day someone will ask you... Where were you or what were you doing when Barack Obama took the oath and made history as the first President of African/American decent.
So, where were you? What were you doing?
I will tell my questioner that I was at home in my living room and I watched it live on the internet. This will not be an answer that impresses them. It should though. You see they will have always known about the internet and it's enormous store house of knowledge.
There eyes will widen as I tell them that I had never seen a computer (except on tv, "what is tv?" they will ask for they will probably use the internet to watch tv, I do) till I was married. Wow! They will say. I will tell them that my husband sold his beloved computer for enough money to rent us an apartment. He really loved that computer but, he loved me more. I will tell them that we did not have enough money to buy a computer again for another 3 years. I will tell them about the thrill we used to receive when we heard the screeching noise of the computers talking to each other and the "You've got mail" voice of AOL. I will tell them that the internet was paid by the hour charges. I will tell them how excited we were when we switched to a company that offered unlimited internet access, oh the thrill. I will tell them about when Dsl was the latest and the greatest. I will tell them about cable internet. I hope that they will understand how incredible the day was for me.
Regardless of who voted for or why you voted for them, I respect your freedom and choice. That is incredible in it's own right. There was a time not long ago or even far away that this moment could have never happened. But, if you voted based on race then shame on you. If you voted because people told you about all about the candidates then again shame on you, if you voted with out spending hours in research and deliberation then shame on you. People, you have computers and the internet all the knowledge the world has to offer right at your finger tips.
If however you did do your research and deliberate about your choice then I tip my hat to you. In my house we call the computer "the Mystical box of infinite knowledge". When my children have a question and we do not have a book that has a satisfactory answer we look it up.
My hope which is my responsibility to make sure it happens is challenge people and make them accountable for their knowledge or laziness in obtaining knowledge that is freely open to them. We live in a country where our internet is not restricted to only things the government says it's ok for us to see or know. Wow! Go back and read that again please. How incredible is that. So America please stop playing games and flittering away your time every day that you awake alive make sure that take control make it your goal to learn one new thing per day. That will take you 15 mins or less per day.
My second hope is that Americans will stop blaming everyone else for their problems. If you loose your house because you can't afford the mortgage (not loosing a job) because you make 30,000 a year and you bought a 300,000 dollar home it's your fault you know you could not afford that. When the slick banker or real estate agent tried to talk you into it you could have gotten online and looked up your information. I am assuming you have basic math knowledge here but, it is very plain to see. You wanted to impress others with your possessions and now you are paying the price would it have been so bad to live in that 100,000 dollar house. You did not get duped you neglected to inform yourself. You are not fat because Mc Donalds or other evil entities (sorry I am a chef and we all thing food like this is evil) tricked you into thinking that the food sizes were correct or that some how their fried products that sorta resemble food were good for you. You knew that fried food was bad, you knew that eating 1/2 pound of meat was not good for you.
It seems today that people don't think. It's like the warning labels on products or foods, do I really need to tell you not to blow dry your hair while you are in the tub? Take some time and look up warning labels you will be amazed at just how dumb the government has come to believe we are.
So, my fellow Americans please let's not just have hope let's do something about the things we hope to change. Let's empower ourselves with knowledge. It's free, readily available, and easy to obtain. So, when my questioner asks me... I sure hope that I have lot's of wonders to share with him/her about how the world has changed in my life time. It will be a tragedy for America if I have no such changes to talk about.
Thank you for reading my soap box tirade. I appreciate all my dear readers you are all very special to me and I hope that you will have wondrous tales to tell your questioner. Also, it's 2 am as I finish this.

Old movies, camping out and smiles.

2009-01-19T14:57:00.000-08:00

Today I feel the need for humor! So, today you are gonna get a dose of funny and weird stuff that makes my crazy little hamster go giddy up and keep my squeaky wheel spinning.

After getting all his luggage loaded in the limo, and His Holiness doesn't travel light, the driver notices that the Pope is still standing on the curb.
"Hey, Mr. Pope," says the driver in accented English. "Why have you not seated yourself in this excellent limo?"
"Well, to tell you the truth," says the Pope, "they never let me drive at the Vatican and I'd really like to drive."
"That is very much against the rules!" protests the driver, wishing he'd never left Calcutta.
"There might be something extra in it for you," says the Pope.
Reluctantly, the driver gets in the back as the Pope gets in behind the wheel. He quickly regrets his decision when, after clearing the airport, the Pope accelerates the limo to 105 mph.
"Please be driving not so rapidly, Mr. Pope," pleads the worried driver, but the Pope keeps the pedal to the metal. Then they hear the siren.
"Oh, my gosh, now I am surely losing my license," moans the driver.
The Pope pulls over and rolls down the window as the patrolman approaches, but the cop takes one look at him, goes back to his motorcycle, and gets on the radio.
"I need to talk to the Chief," he says to the dispatch.
The Chief gets on the radio and the cop tells him that he's stopped a limo going a hundred and five.
"So bust him," said the Chief.
"I think the guy's a big shot," said the cop.
"All the more reason."
"No, I mean really a big shot," said the cop.
"What'd ya got there, the Mayor?"
"Bigger."
"Governor."
"Bigger."
"Well," said the Chief, "who is it?"
"I don't know," said the cop, "but he's got the Pope driving for him."

Please check out this website, the artist is phenomenal artist, who get this “draws” on dirty car windows using the dust as his medium. Check out the gallery page.

http://www.dirtycarart.com/

O.K. So now you have had a cute joke and a pretty cool art to look at I just want to brag for a second about my soon to be 16 year old son. In this crazy world where the norm is for teens to reject the teachings of their parents and gasp for freedoms fresh air. My son has wrapped his arms around me and shown me what a man of moral fiber he is going to grow up to be. My husband and daughters went to East Texas, my son and I stayed behind. He has a class that he will be attending (that he got a scholarship). I was still pretty freaked out by what had happened and he knew it so he offered to camp out in my room. (insert awwww here) He has also watched countless old movies with me on Netflix. Movies I think most teens would have rolled their eyes at the prospect of having to watch such movies with their mom. Not my son he has willing done this. He has frequently come out of his room and asked me “whatcha doin' mom” or “want me to spend some time with you”. My bottle of water that I am constantly drinking out of keeps finding it's way to become full while I am in the bathroom. I am very grateful that he is showing what moral fiber he has. I have to say that he does these kinds of things all the time. But, it's time like these that it really makes me appreciate that he does them.
I wish all my dear sweet readers to have an awesometastic week.

Wow! I am just so..... Wow!

2009-01-17T14:38:00.000-08:00

In October my sister in-law came to visit us. We had a lovely time and shared many homeschooling and all kinds of other websites we thought each other would enjoy. To help us to be able to pass said websites to each other she signed up for an account. So today I decided that I wanted to share a site with her on stumble when I realized she would never get it. So I looked up her profile and was reading websites she had saved when I came across this site. I can not help but think did she leave this to comfort us......

Do not stand at my grave and weep

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die!

Mary Frye (1932)

The passing of my dear dear Sister in-law.

2009-01-16T10:02:00.000-08:00

I know that it's Friday and it is supposed to be freebie Friday but,My sweet sweet sister in-law has passed away yesterday afternoon under tragic circumstances.
She leaves behind two young children ages 7 & 9 her husband, mother, step-father,father,2 brothers, 5 aunts,countless cousins, nieces and nephews, and me.
I really love my sister in-law. When my in-laws did not like me when I first married their son my sister in-law did. She was the one in the family who calls everyone when ever an event happened and she always new all the details.
She was the kind of person who people could say I have no food or I have no place to live, I need a sitter, I need..... Her response was always to find, fix, or resolve your problem. She was this way with everyone she new not just family!
When mother in-law called and told us the news she left out all the details. Our immediate reaction was to call my sister in-law after all she will now what happened......
My sister in-law loved to play games weird cool games like pirates dice. She loved to tell me stories about my husband, like the time when she was four and he had to play with her and did not want to so he told her that he was gonna tie her to the tree and for her to wait there for him to rescue her................ needless to say he went off and played with his friends and came and got her when it was time to go in but, in her version you hear all about what happened to her while tied to the tree and she can spin a tale. She really had the story tale gift. She could weave a tale that would have you rolling with laughter, crying, or on the edge of your seat in intrigue.
I really feel for my in-laws you should never have to bury your child. I pray no one who ever reads this post will ever experience this tragedy.
I don't want to leave you with a heavy feeling so let me tell you a few things to cheer you up.
My sister in-law had a personal relationship with God, she was secure in her faith of God, so while here on earth we saw a tragedy happen, she entered into the presence of God! What a joyous occasion and how wonderful for her that she now knows all there is to know, and let me tell you she loves that she knows all! LOL
I am praying and ask for all of you pray as well that the children will be able to adjust and thrive and grow through all of this. Also, we are trying to convince their active duty military father that our home is the best place for them right now. My in-laws are trying to convince him of this also. The entire family feels this is the best option. He could continue to serve and provide medical and financial essentials for them while we help them deal with the mental effects of this and continue their homeschooling and provide for them a loving family environment. Please pray that God will show him and his heart what he has shown us.
Have a great weekend to you all!

Beating the Wednesday mid week doldrums.

2009-01-14T11:35:00.000-08:00

I picked this up from my friend, Bobbi who got it from her friend Marky. Here's what you do: Copy and paste to your blog, facebook page, nook note, or any other social site that you use. Next indicate the things you've done by making the text bold, highlighting it, or even changing the color. I hope you enjoy sharing your experiences as much I will enjoy reading them.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art...cooking&baking, cross stitch, quilting
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29 Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33 Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language.... several
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41 Sung karaoke...
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45 Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie...does a home movie count? LOL
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60 Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64 Donated blood, platelets, or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66 Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67 Bounced a check...yes, embarrassing
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy...my cabbage patch kid
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades....seen some of them but never took a tour
75. Been fired from a job... I am sure that I have I probably blocked out the trauma
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79 Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book.... I hope to be able to bold this by late spring early summer
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the paper...when I was young in a local paper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox...in the blizzard of 78'
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous.... The Monkeys, Elton Brown, Bobby Flay
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Been to a foreign country

My fellow blogger over at Benmakesten wrote some questions to ponder on her blog for today and frankly, I loved the idea so I am going to do it too. Thank's for the inspiration. ;)

If knees were backward, what would chairs look like?
If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked and dry cleaners depressed?
If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?
If Mike Brady was supposed to be this groovy architect, why did he force SIX kids into TWO bedrooms?
If one synchronized swimmer drowns, do the rest have to drown too?
If quitters never win, and winners never cheat, who's the idiot that said: Quit while you're ahead?
If superman can block bullets with his chest then why did he duck when a gun was thrown at him?
If Superman is so smart why does he wear his underpants over his trousers?
If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still #2?
If the only thing to survive a plane crash is the black box, why don't they make the whole plane out of the black box?
If they're psychic and I need them so much, why don't they just phone me?
If we're not supposed to eat late-night snacks, why is there a light in the refrigerator?
If you ate pasta and anti pasta, would you still be hungry?

Armed with an apron and glue gun there is nothing I can't fix.

2009-01-13T20:53:00.000-08:00

It's Tuesday gentle folk time to get out the aprons and get those kids cooking. I first had these cookies when I was about 10 my cousin used to make them for holiday gatherings. You have probably had these in your life time as well. These cookies are great for all skill levels. They are quick to make and require very little ingredients. So, without further ado:

No Bake Cookies

1 ¾ cups white sugar
½ cup milk (soy, rice, almond and reconstituted powdered milk all work)
½ cup of butter (I have used less when I had to and I have used margarine you use what you have)
4 tbs cocoa powder (confession time I once used cocoa mix)
3 cups of Quick – cooking oats
½ cup of peanut butter (to crunch or not to crunch that is your choice)
1 tsp vanilla

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, butter and cocoa stir till well combined. Bring this mixture to a rolling boil for 1 ½ – 2 mins. Please follow this part carefully if you boil for less then 1 ½ they will not set up and if you boil them for more than 2 mins it will be dry and crumbly. Remove from the heat and stir in peanut butter and dry oats. Lay out a sheet of wax paper and drop the mixture unto the wax paper. Let cool for about 20 mins. The last step is the most important.... you send the kids outside to play and eat to your hearts content. Ha ha ha ha Seriously though this recipe will make about 32 cookies. Enjoy cooking with your children.

Tuesdays are also craft days. This week I thought will all the snow and winter weather you would enjoy making this pen garden. They make great gifts. Today we are making pen gardens. No green thumbs needed. ;)

Materials you will need:

1 pkg cheapo pens
1 fake flower without stem for each pen
florists tape
1 small clay or terracotta pot painted or left plain or even decoupaged you are only limited by your imagination
Spanish moss
4 cups of pebbles or marbles or even pellets (I prefer the pellets)
glue you can use a good sturdy glue or a hot glue gun

To prepare the pot plug the whole in the bottom by cutting a small piece of cardboard or thick paper into a circle and cover the bottom. Fill pot with the filling you choose. Cover the filling with some Spanish moss.

Now you are ready for the pens. Remove the caps and the little “stopper” on the bottom. Next cover the pen with the florists tape be mindful that it stretches so pull tightly as you wrap. The tape is also very forgiving so you can peel it and “back up” to cover any pen you might see as you go. Once the pen is completely hidden by the tape, glue the flower into the hole left by the “stopper” that we removed earlier.

Now you just stand the pen up in the filling and viola you have a beautiful pen garden.

Good Morning homeschoolers!!!! (read that just like Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam)

2009-01-12T11:06:00.000-08:00

It's Monday!

Welcome to the trenches. LOL The best war you will ever fight. In my humble opinion any way.

So, on Mondays I write up my goals for the week so here goes.

Get the house straitened out. (we have all been slacking on our chores)
Watch our Spanish DVD 3 times or more this week
Sign up for the new foreign word of the day newsletter from “Transparent Language”
Practice with our T'ai Chi DVD three times this week
Introduce a few new recipes in home economics
Work on our RI reports
Have all kids finish their private reading books and start new ones
Have the kids turn in outline for book reports on Friday
Have Lukas hand in 1^st draft of paper on the human eye
Work on Lukas' transcripts
Do some de-cluttering
Make a life size outlines of their bodies (we are gonna fill in the parts as we learn about them)
And of course keep our “school” on schedule
Do a family activity
Have fun!

Since this is Monday I also want to post our menu:

Monday- Cereal, Ramen, SOS,

Tuesday- French Toast, Grilled cheese and Tomato soup, Egg and potato tacos ( a friend taught me this 10 years ago it was love at first taste)

Wednesday- Cereal, Mac & cheese, Beans, greens, rice, cornbread

Thursday- Apple & raisin oatmeal, Humus and pita bread, Chicken N' dumplings

Friday-Cereal, Hot dogs & buns, Pulled pork sand, french fries and corn on the cob (Maddy's request)

Saturday- Eggs toast hash browns, Fried rice w/ veggies and chicken, Potato watercress soup and crusty bread.

Snacks – pretzels (the big soft ones), celery and carrot sticks, apple sticks, home made cookies, kiri tempo, home made soda, cheese and crackers.

If you want recipes for any of this drop me a note. I hope you enjoy new menu ideas as much as I do.

As you can see we don't eat a lot of meat, and our meals are fairly inexpensive and pretty healthy to boot. If you have any idea's or family favorites let me know I would love to try them. Also if you have a great but frugal meal I would really love to have it.

I hope you all have a great week in your school and in your family and in your free time.

Well, it's time to wipe the chalkboard, clap the erasers the bell is about to ring......................

Yipee!! It is freebie Friday!!

2009-01-09T13:03:00.000-08:00

The first site I am gonna tell you about is Squidoo.

You can join Squidoo and develop/post entries called a “lens”.

The link I have here is to their internal search engine. I have even searched for two subjects for you.

There are tons of subjects. Seeing how this is January you could look up “Chinese New Year” and tada there will be a very thorough lens all about it ready to teach you children. Want to learn more about making money online yup there is one for that too.

http://www.squidoo.com/search/results/homeschooling%20homeschooling all topics in this search will involve homeschooling

http://www.squidoo.com/search/results/lapbooking%20lapbook this search covers lapbooking

You can search for what ever topics you want to search.

Topics on this website are called “lenses”

If you like these lenses then you might consider joining and making your own. Here is the link:

http://www.squidoo.com/build/magic

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/ This is a truly a wonderful and valuable resource for everyone especially homeschoolers and avid readers who unfortunately can not afford nor do they have room for all the thousands of books they love and cherish. Well now you can own thousands of books ready for you to read when ever you like. I was in nerdvana when I found this site.

One of great things about this site is that they also offer a large selection of books in other languages great for those of you or your children who study another language. They also ask for volunteers to translate books (great on a college resume) what great practice for you teen who is advanced in a language and you will be helping to contribute to this website.

OK, so this one is not educational but, hey we all have other interests right??

http://www.watchtvforfreeonline.com/index.html this site has a huge collection of old and new tv shows that you can watch for free. This is the link to the home page all you have to do is click on “how to” and it will bring you to a new page when you get there just click on “full episode player” and it will direct you to a large alphabetical list mind boggling large. Just click on the title of the show you want to watch. My kids have enjoyed watching the A-Team (I pity the fool who don't remember the A-Team).

Wow this week went fast. My husband will be going back to the office next week. I am kinda sad. I have really enjoyed him working from home for the past month and a half. While I am sad that he will be gone all day, I totally need my desktop back and we need to get back on schedule. Also, I know this sounds corny but I really love the little adrenaline of straitening up and cooking dinner so it is ready when he gets home. So long story short I am sad and happy at the same time.

This was our first week back after the holiday break. We had a pretty sludgy start the kids grumbled when we woke them up on Monday till they heard the call for French Toast! Then they shot into the kitchen wide eyed and ready for action. LOL.

We started a new P.E. Class this week. The kids are taking T'ai – Chi. I must admit that it is rather funny to watch three semi-uncoordinated children bump into each other and fall into a pile giggling. Oh sure there are “Get out of my way” “Oh yeah? Well, you're stepping on my foot,” but hey, these are real children not some kind of children of the corn.

We watch our Spanish DVD at least three times a week. The kids are starting to pick up the phrases and vocabulary already.

My Mother will be visiting our home at the end of the month! She will be here for the celebration of our son's 16^th birthday!! WOW! I can't believe it. Time has just flown by. I have enjoyed it all though and having homeschooled him for all these years I can honestly say that I did not miss out on anything.

So with my mom coming at the end of the month we decided that our Geography this month would be to learn about RI (where my mom lives). The kids are really excited to be presenting their reports to her when she arrives.

For science right now we are reading a book called “The Kid Who Named Pluto” it is really interesting. We read one chapter three times per week and we talk about what ever science subject is brought up that day. For instance yesterday we learned about cryptography.

My son is in addition to the book writing a research paper about the human eye.

We of course did our daily math and language arts (the only two subjects that I actually have textbooks for) Maddy and Lukas are both excelling in this subject while Riss is getting all the answers correct it takes her a really long time to complete each lesson. On the flip side Riss is an amazing speller and language arts just easy as taking a breath for her. While Lukas and Maddy struggle through. It all evens out I guess.

That's mostly what we did this week for school. I hope you find time to check out the freebies. Talk to you all on Monday.

It is time to wipe the chalkboard and clap the erasers the bells about to ring......

You never get a second chance at a first impression.

2009-01-08T19:50:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my homeschool blog! What you will find here is a glimpse into our "classroom" and our lives and in this post you will find what you can expect from this blog. I really hope you will visit often.

I get up with my sweet hubby and get him off to work. (though he tries to work from home a couple of days per week--I love it when he does.) After he is off and running I get on-line and have me time. At about 9:30 I knock on the kids doors and let them know that it is time to get up and have breakfast. (if it is Tues or Thurs then they have a hot breakfast waiting for them). After breakfast they clean off the table and at 10:00 reading time begins. During the 1/2 hour silent reading time I get my lessons ready and print off any worksheets and any quick cleaning. At 10:30 we begin our instructional subjects we do math followed by language arts, then based on our weekly schedule ( Mon - history & unit studies & spelling, Tues - handwriting & sewing & computer science, Wed - world history & foreign language & art, Thurs - country of the month study & health & music, Fri - science & testing of weekly knowledge & home economics and of course the kids favorite the "Random Subject Jar".)

The children cook and clean up after lunch on Wed, Thurs, and Fri. This means that we eat hot-dogs, mac&cheese, ramen, tuna, etc.--you know: meals kids can make. We have a selection of about 15-20 meals that they can make. My youngest is 8 and she can choose to make any meal on the pink list my next one is 10 and she can make from the pink list and the orange list and my oldest is 15 and can make a meal from the pink, orange, or blue list.

All three of them alternate in dish duty. The chores around our house are rotated on a regular basis so no one gets stuck. The house may not be as pristine as others houses but my children are proud of the job they do on their chores and to be honest I feel that I can live in a moderately clean house knowing that my children are learning how to contribute and make their home a place to be proud of.

I would also like to say that while our official time frame for school work is about 4-5 hours per day. When the kids are going strong I just let them keep going till interest is lost.

We school year round. I love this because we school for 3 weeks on 1 week off. It is so nice to "get my act together" every 3 weeks. LOL The kids also use the down time to finish up any projects and pursue their own activities/interests.

We spend about 2 hours on Sat. doing a thorough house cleaning. We make it fun all pick a room walk in it armed and dangerous and clean it top to bottom. (with 5 people even the messiest of rooms takes our team only 20-30 mins to clean) Then during the week if every one kept up with their chores we blow through the house in no time.

Just like my school days this blog will have some order to it but remember unpredictable is the world of the homeschooler so you never know what you will find here.

Monday- Our goals of the week and our menu for the week
Tuesday- Craft of the week, kids in the kitchen, and any homeschooling news
Wednesday- website of the week and a little humor to get you through the end of week
Thursday- recipe of the week, a book review (no telling what book or genre I will choose)
Friday- Sum up of the week and Free educational site of the week! Hey we all love freebies. Right??

Well, I really hope you will find something you like here and come here often.

Time to wipe the chalk board and clap the erasers the bells about to ring..........