My Mommy Kisses The Principal

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

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


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



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


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



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



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



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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dear Anonymous,

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

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

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

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

Have a great day ALL!! ❤❤

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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. ❤❤