Clothesline Musings

What to do with those Flower Bags from Valentine's Day?

2012-02-16T10:27:00.000-06:00

Did any of you get flowers for Valentine's Day?

Did they come in one of those clear triangular bags?

If so, I hope you didn't toss away the bag because back in July of 2010 I blogged about a super fun craft the kids can do with those bags.

READ ON TO DISCOVER SOME SIMPLE FUN!

JULY 31, 2010

Wednesday was the last session of summer Story Time at our library.

Make a Splash at the Library! was the theme.

I love our library. Our librarians are so lenient. The summer program is for school aged children who are going into Kindergarten or older. YET..... they gladly let younger sibs sit in on the story reading and on occasion let them participate in the craft activities.

Now, I personally LOVE crafts. BUT... I REALLY HATE doing crafts with my kids. I am meticulous, organized, neat and purposeful. If ANYONE has done art or crafts with a barely 6 year old and 3.5 year you KNOW that doing crafts and art is NOT any of the adjectives above!

So one reason why I REALLY LOVE story time is that I can count their programing as school in both the language arts AND art categories! LOVE THAT!

This past Wednesday they finished up 5 weeks of learning about all things water by reading Swimmy and The Rainbow Fish. THEN.... there was a special librarian visitor from a nearby metro who brought A TON of crafting supplies. I saw the table when we got there and drooled. Sparkly crinkle shreds, tons of tissue paper in every color under the sun, paint brushes, staplers, modge podge and more!

WHAT WAS THE CRAFT GOING TO BE?? AND how was I going manage an overly tired 20 month old girl with a 3 year old in a 4 year old's body as he would surely throw a fit when I told him that the craft was ONLY for the big kids.

They made fish!

AND...... they let the kids make 2 and 3 fish

and younger sibs were welcome to craft as well. :)

Hooray!!!

It is so hard to see these pictures, I'm sorry.

But they were SO easy and fun to make I wanted to talk you through it.

I unfortunately do not have pictures of the assembly process, nor do I have the supplies at home in order to take new pictures but the supplies are easy to come by (I would think a grocery store with a florist would GLADLY donate a few bags and sticks). They are SO CUTE. I hope you will be able to figure out my directions.

The body of the fish was made out of a small triangular florist bag like the one shown here.

You then take 3 or 4 single sheets of tissue paper and wad them up loosely.

You decide which one you want at the tail and you put that in the bag first.

Then you put the rest in loosely.

Now the creative part happens. You grab ribbons and streamers and crinkle shreds and anything else that will make the inside of the fish pretty and you stick your hand inside the fish, along the sides and place the pretties so that they can be seen in front of the tissue paper along the sides of the fish.

Now it is time to close the head of the fish. Grab a stapler and tuck the ends into the center and staple. Keep tucking and stapling (like a seam) until the entire wide end is closed.

On the top picture above you can actually see my seam. It almost looks white in this picture. In reality it is still kind of see through.

Next, you grab ribbons and tie the tail. So you push the tissue paper INTO the fish a bit. Grab the pointed end so you have a little tail, then tie the ribbons around the area you have grabbed.

Sorry for the blur!

Now your fish is securely closed. It is now time to put the outside fins on.

So you grab a small wad of tissue paper or foil paper or whatever you find and you staple it onto the top and bottom edges.

The fish on the left has YELLOW eyes and a pink fin on the bottom with one lonely green foil fin on top. It is Otto's and I am no longer able to micromanage his work to make it more exciting. LOL

The other fish has blue eyes (both fish are looking left). It has pink and blue fins on top and a fin on the bottom that I can't see here and I can't remember what color it is (green maybe?).

Then this really cool librarian had taken some of this streamer stuff and had cut it into 1 inch pieces! These are what the fish have for side fins!

At Story Time she had the kids use Modge Podge to do the side fins and eyes.

I found that clear packing tape worked quite nicely.

So, if you have closed the fish, tied a tail, attached eyes, fins on top and bottom, side fins then you are ready for the last step.

Turning it into a puppet (or tying it to a carrying stick).

She had plastic balloon sticks like what you see in this link.

She took a LONG ribbon. Stapled it to the fish then tied it to the bouncy plastic stick. This allowed the kids to make the fish swim. (I found a little piece of clear tape over the ribbon secured it to the stick, other wise the knot falls down toward the hand holding it.)

Please note: the girlie INSISTED upon wearing big brother's muscle shirt.

The Girl shirt below it is SUPER CUTE.

I took Girlie's off the stick, wrapped a paper clip around the ribbon a couple of times and wedged the paper clip in between some wood above her closet.

She points it out to me every time I go to get her from her crib!

Pink eye...and obviously I did not staple the top ribbon in the center as this fish will always swim down. :)

The boys have not yet destroyed theirs yet....but I am expecting it to happen soon.

That's just what they do.

Big yellow eye.

I hope my instructions make some sort of sense. It is so hard to take pictures of these since they reflect so much light from the flash. They are SO CUTE and super easy with just a little bit of supplies.

I bet you could use a large clear plastic bag (the corner) to do the same.

You also could use ANY supplies to stuff and decorate with. Any stick would do as well. I am very tempted to dig into my supply box and put google eyes on the fish..... but as quickly as I think they will be destroyed, I think this time I will pass on this one.

Happy crafting.

Chance to Win $100 from All About Learning Press

2012-02-15T16:12:00.000-06:00

We love All About Spelling.

They just launched a new website and are offering a chance to win $100 in their store. Click HERE to go to their website.

If you don't use or like AAS you can still sign up and if you win let me know (clotheslinemusings@gmail.com) I'd gladly spend it for you!! :)

Mind Over Matter

2012-02-13T10:49:00.000-06:00

My father always talked to me about "the power of the mind." "Mind over Matter" he would say. I often forget this and can allow my self-talk to push me through some crazy emotional spirals.

2 Corinthians 10:5 says:

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

So although sometimes it feels new-agey, we are actually called to take our thoughts captive if they are leading us away from the ways of our Lord.

My friend showed me this great article by Michael Hyatt that points out three actions we can take to shift emotional gears:

Shift your mental focus.
Change your posture and
Watch your language.

I don't want to steal Mr. Hyatt's thunder but I wanted to give you a link so that you can go read what he has to say. I have heard that some people have never considered these things and I know that some of us that have heard them over and over and over sometimes dismissed them because our dad was the one who said them! :)

Click here to be whisked away to Michael Hyatt's blog post

3 Actions You Can Take Now To Shift Your Emotional State

5 Things Friday - Feb 10, 2012

2012-02-10T21:52:00.003-06:00

There is a meme out there called 5 Things Friday where the blogger blogs about 5 interesting things from the past week.

I have no idea where that blogging meme is and perhaps if I find out I might link to it for you. ****UPDATE: I found one called Friday's Fave Five hosted by Living to Tell the Story.***

Here is my very first 5 Days Friday Post.

Last weekend, I attended an annual Introduction to Bee Keeping Course that my husband's bee club hosts. He is the Bee Farmer (snicker) I am just the bee keeper's wife, BUT when he pulls doubles sometimes I am asked to do things for him and I figured this year I would "officially" take the course to make sure my knowledge had no gaps. I realized I knew more than I thought I did and that was exciting. Next year I'll hang out with the older Bee Wives. :)

My first 3 things come from that all day workshop.

1. There is a product called BONE WAX. It is a specially manipulated beeswax that is used in orthopedic surgery to plug the holes of the porous bones. Bones will weep blood just like a wet sponge will seep water. The BONE WAX is smoothed over the bone, it seals the pores and stops bleeding. Cool!

2. Honey bee swarms happen after the worker bees put the Queen on a diet to make her lose lots of weight. They do this so that she is light enough to fly and so that she is unhappy enough to leave home! Sound familiar to any of you dieters out there?? I just cut sugar out (okay, almost out) of my diet and there are moments where I WANT TO FLY AWAY.

3. Honeybees, although they are Wisconsin's official state insect, are not native to North America. The native Americans called them "WHITE MAN'S FLY."

Now onto life outside of the bee training. . .

4. This week I learned that it is standard to put ONLY ONE SPACE after a period prior to the start of a new sentence. Do you know how hard that is to do when you have not been doing it this way for over 20 years? Apparently the two space rule came about with typewriters when all the letters took up the same amount of space. The two spaces were needed in order for the words to flow well. According to "those who know," fonts now squish all the letters together. The letter "i" takes up much less space than the "m" and therefore it has been deemed unnecessary to add the two spaces. I honestly don't really get it nor can I easily adapt from two spaces to one on command. I can say I AM beginning to better understand the old people of my youth who complained about how modern technology (you know the microwave, electric typewriters, motorized vehicles) was ruining all that was good in life. I'm not sure I think the spacing change is going to ruin what is good but it IS certainly weird. I told my husband about it and he responded much more emotionally than I expected. Here is the "rant" he wrote in response to this news:

Everything is spinning out of control. A pale horse with its faceless rider charges from the East. Libraries fall to the Mongol hoards of Hulagu and the accomplishments of civilized man are exposed to wind, weather and decay. Beauty sacrificed to feed the Beast.

Hannibal marches down from the Alps led by the bloodthirsty gods: Efficiency and Need. Our sisters flee into the wasteland with their infants latched to their breasts. Our brothers faint for fear as their sons plead for direction.

Friends, Carthage must die and with it, her abuse of our sacred traditions and the desecrations of the tombs of our forebears. This aggression will not stand, man.

5. Homeschool Curriculum: I will now officially admit that I am in the middle of a mid-year curriculum crisis. I see things that we are not doing because what I have just is not working. I see areas that we have missed because, well, they just slipped away from us. I see some great things too but mostly I have spent the last few days pounding my homeschool friends about curriculum options and asking for their opinions of the good, the bad and the ugly. I hope to have it narrowed down soon and am praying that what I want to purchase will be found for a discounted rate used. Hey, a girl can never stop hoping, you know.

BTW: Did you notice that all of my sentences have two spaces behind them? Yep, I learned to do that on an electric typewriter and I am just not sure if, when or how I will be able to alter that two space reality!

What did you learn this week?
Would you like to read more Friday's Fav Five?

Click on the link and then scroll down to the linky where you will find many other blogs participating.

Uh oh! She's in super math-gadget planning mode....again!

2012-02-07T23:08:00.001-06:00

We got a bit of a slow start with our routine after the holidays. The holiday season was a hard one with influenza for me and bad things happening to loved ones (death, stage 4 cancer, felony theft).

Now, we are back into the swing of things and have been for over a month now! Whooo Hooo! When we started back up my 7.5 year old second grader started with his new Saxon 3 book. I feel like when we entered this book we went from child's math to REAL MATH. Not that we were not doing math before but we now have multiplication and addition of fractions and big money to learn. By the end of this book he'll even be writing checks! I don't remember ever writing a check out until our 8th grade Life Skills class!!!

So, with these new skills I knew I needed to find some tools to help Otto quickly commit the really hard, crazy skip counting to memory along with some odd ball facts that are just simply going to need to be memorized because they don't fit into any other patterns.

I feel strongly about not letting him slack at this moment because I cheated my way through my own multiplication-table tests in third grade and continuously felt like math was a struggle because of it. I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want Otto to know all of his facts so well that if feels like he was born with the knowledge.

Once upon a time my boy would CRY when he saw anything that had to do with doubles facts. But then I made these cool space ship matching cards.

He still didn't LIKE it but these cards helped him forget that it was AS torturous and just yesterday he exclaimed "how easy" these facts are for him.

I needed to find SOMETHING fun to help him get through these rote memory tasks.

So, here are some of the tools some awesome homeschooling friends that I met last year on The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew helped me find to ease our memorization process.

First: A gorgeous skip counting tool which looks like it has been plucked right out of Fairy Land.

It is called a Brownie Skip Counter and I do believe I will now be looking for our first Fantasy read-a-loud book to accompany the spirit of this gem! :) (Anyone know of any good beginning readers for boys with Brownies, fairies and elves??)

I think this fun tool will take a little bit of the pain away from Otto's current task memorizing skip counting by 7's! OY.

Here is a link to this beautiful creation by The Toy Maker. You'll find it in 2 pdf's positioned under the jump roping fairy!

Second: Otto is also trying to learn those last pesky addition problems that do not follow the additions patterns. They are not doubles or doubles plus one. They are not skip counting problems of 2 or 5 or 10. You can not double them and take one away or add 10 and take one away. They are just pesky (like my muffin top)!!! You know the ones: 3+5, 3+7, 4+7, 5+8....

Otto is sick to tears of the stupid rectangular flash cards that we use and I wanted to mix it up a bit. I remembered the awesome triangular flashcards that I used when I taught third graders in Illinois. The cards hold both addition and subtraction depending upon which corner you cover up. So, the card below reads 5+6 with the answer hidden if you hold the bottom corner. It reads 11-6 if you hold the left corner (covering the answer) and if you hold the right corner it reads 11-5.

I did a search and saw that these can be purchased but I don't want to wait, nor do I want to spend my money on flash cards.

Low and behold a friend help me find some that you can print yourself and cut out for free at Donna Young's website. Here's the link to the addition cards that I printed.

I did not print Donna Young's multiplication fact triangles because the numbers are not oriented to the bottom. Otto is still having trouble remembering to write some of his numbers the right direction and he will flip numbers around from time to time as well. The last thing I need to do to him while bombarding him with multiplication is to give him a number like 6 or 9 that is not only confusing to start with but is now SIDEWAYS! Nope. So I left her multiplication cards alone.........but guess what GORGEOUS item I found right next to that beautiful slider???

Yep! Multiplication triangle cards that are to die for beautiful and that are oriented properly (after cutting or folding)! Here is the link to the beautiful multiplication Multi-pie!

Let the math games begin!

What cool math tools do YOU use to help your young ones memorize those horrid, detested facts?

Mommy vs. Daddy: The Challenge of Grown-up Reading

2012-01-22T13:30:00.000-06:00

A little bit ago the whole family was home just hanging. I looked around, saw the somewhat still environment and thought "I wonder if I could sit in the rocking chair and finish the last twenty pages of Mitch Stokes Galileo book that I have been working on since August?"

I moved to the living room, sat in the rocking chair, found my page (mysteriously the bookmark had disappeared AGAIN) and managed to read 5 sentences before the first child started narrating their Star Wars show to me. I explained that Mommy was reading and that he needed to play by himself. One sentence later the girl approached wanting on my lap. I denied this and explained Mommy was reading and she needed to go play. She disappeared. I read 2 sentences, but had comprehended nil, and she reappeared with a stool so she could stand right beside me and nudge her way into my view so she too could see my book. I explained Mommy was reading she needed to give me space and be quiet. She got down, moved the stool to the center of the room, stood on it and then called for me to notice how high she was.   Mommy is reading, please play quietly by yourself. Mommy can't look right now.

This continued for a good 5-10 minutes when I picked up the book, found a book mark, tossed it onto the counter and stated "I guess I am not going to read."

Hubby walked in from the other room and said "I can watch the kids while you go into the bedroom with the door closed so that you can read for awhile."   (Guilty confession: Sometimes I forget that I can ask for help when he is home on his days off.) DREAMY!!

So, I went into the bedroom and cozied down into the down comforter.

After reading for awhile I noticed that it was very quiet on the other side of the door.    Hmmmm??? I wonder if someone was sent to an early nap? Yet, I had not heard any of protest screaming that ALWAYS happens when naps come early. Hmmm???   I kept reading.

I finally finished the 20 pages. For a person who reads one grown-up book every 6 months or so this one really challenged my memory and my brain. It mentioned and referenced many names and many ancient scientific theories that were new'ish to me.

I opened the door and found the house totally silent. Gracie was sitting quietly, still on the couch at Daddy's feet while Daddy lay on the couch READING.   *hmmpphhh* The boys were in their room playing quietly and listening to Old Time Radio Drama (X-Minus One, Gun Smoke and The Great Gildersleeve are the current favorites).

*Sigh*

It is very nice to be needed. To be loved. To have children continuously want me to interact with them but sometimes I am jealous of Hubby's concentration of steel and his ability to convince the kiddos that they need to let him think and read for more than a couple of minutes at a time.

Perhaps, I will keep trying and keep providing training sessions for my children to know that Mommy can sit and read with few interruptions IN the warm living room just like Daddy.

When, How and What do YOU read?

Cold Weather & Vikings & Excitement, OH MY!

2012-01-18T16:52:00.000-06:00

Life has kicked back into gear this week around here.

Here are a few things that we have been up to:

1- WINTER BREAK is OVER.

We (umm, by that I mean mostly me) have been a bit sluggish transitioning out of the winter holiday season and back into school. The school room was moved upstairs last fall, which was great when our temps were hovering abnormally in the 50's and 60's with lots of sun. After spending the holidays downstairs where it is toasty warm we (errr, I) have not been so thrilled to either move upstairs where it is colder nor have I wanted to carry in the amount of wood necessary to heat the upstairs AND the downstairs.... so I was dragging my feet.

The last few weeks we have been reading through books about Vikings in a very relaxed manner while I would pull out an informal math or reading lesson now and then.

This week I tossed up my hands, brought a vertical storage drawer unit (aka: Workboxes) downstairs. I filled each drawer with the materials that we need for our school and it is (kind of) hiding in my laundry room.

We have hit the books strong and fast this week and I have been THRILLED to find Otto doing so well. He is reading like a champ needing only a few prompts from me. We are cruising in math (see below). We are still working on Vikings (tomorrow we begin our lapbook) and have managed spelling, grammar and have stumbled upon some science too. Abram has done great at a few reading lessons and over all the young kids have been happy playing near by.

2- Attitudes Have Been A Ton Better

Otto has been amazing this week so far. He has not sassed for his siblings to shush much. He has not looked at our reading lesson and rolled his eyes. He announced that the timed math tests we did today were "his favorite."

The youngers have been content NOT doing their morning group time which this fall had been SO TIME CONSUMING and which I was not convinced about how *educational* it had been. They have been "doing art" while I have been teaching Otto. This means they pull out their Art Boxes from Christmas and scribble on paper and then pull out the play dough for a bit until they get bored and run off to play in the other room. This is working SO WELL (for the moment).

My hormones-emotions have been somewhat decent this week as well. I must be in the 10 day stretch of the month where I am not hormonally forced into deep sadness, great irritation or intense rage.

3- I Have Decided to Go Ahead (slowly) With

Vintage Remedies 8 Weeks to Real Foods.

I will be transitioning into this plan MUCH slower than 8 weeks, but every time I think it is worth a shot. Lately, every time I read about my hormonal issues, my emotional swings or hear about nutrition it seems that all the sources I am exposed to lately are saying the SAME THING. So, goodbye processed foods (not that we eat many anyway), goodbye white sugar, goodbye bad fats, etc.

You can click HERE to learn more about these weekly emails from Vintage Remedies.

4- OTTO IS NOW IN 3RD GRADE MATH.

We finished up Saxon 2 on Tuesday.

Wednesday and Thursday we will be doing a bit of review.

Friday we will dig into the new Saxon 3 books..... I think we will start with lesson 10 (which is new material) and then skip again to lesson 20!

5- Our Weather Has Decided To Actually FEEL like Winter.

It is currently a super warm 19 with a wind chill that makes it feel like 5 above. Tonight our low with wind chill is NEGATIVE 25. Tomorrow our HIGH is 1 degree above zero (not counting wind chill which knocks it down to NEGATIVE 20-30).

6- Excalibur!

I have purchased tickets for the boys and I to go watch a production of Excalibur! Hubby is home and will be keeping Gracie at home with him. I look forward to taking the boys to such a fun play WITHOUT the little girl wiggling all over!

What is going on in your world?

What are you studying?

How are you managing Winter?

Left Brain vs. Right Brain

2012-01-05T16:52:00.000-06:00

I was just emailed this graphic and think it is a great visual of the differences between those who tend to be left-brainers and those who tend to be right-brainers.

I also was struck with some insight as to how Hubby and I can both be only children and yet still be SO VERY DIFFERENT. :) Guess that is how we can balance each other out, huh?

Via: Online College Advice

If you can not read the fine font above, you can click THIS LINK.

A Content New Year in 2012

2012-01-01T17:38:00.000-06:00

Happy New Years!

Today finds me completely exhausted.

Christmas Eve morning a cousin of mine (64) in Illinois passed away. Because it was a holiday weekend the planning of her Memorial service was not decided until Monday.

The kids and I drove down to Illinois (450 miles with a 7, 5 and 3 year old) on Tuesday. We stopped to see their great grandmother, grandmother and Great Aunt along the way. (Oh, and I was pulled over by one of Illinois' finest lawmen because my license plate was dirty........ he wrote me a warning, lol.)

While we were in my hometown I met up with a couple girlfriends from high school for some 1:1 times. We then had a cousin that I was super close to as a young child and her family come out to mom and dad's house. We realized that we had not seen each other since my wedding, nearly 16 years ago. It was likely elementary school when we had last spent *quality* time together.

That evening her mom came out (again it has been 16 years) as well as another Aunt and Uncle and 2 of their adult children.

We had the memorial service and meal with the family on Friday.

Saturday, we left in a whirlwind so that we could meet up with a super good E-friend that I had not yet met.We've been friends for at least 5 years and talk on email DAILY, but have never met!! After our jaunt out of the way, the kids and I were back on the road trying to travel as fast but as legally and safely as we possibly could. There was ice and snow forecasted for Saturday evening and we wanted to get home before it hit.

I drove at least 250 miles in fog but otherwise the weather was okay. Twenty minutes after we arrived at home it began to snow. Hubby left for work 1 hour after the snow started and for the first time in 8 years he actually turned around and came back home....... apparently the county snow plows were Missing In Action on the interstate. :(

Today we managed to rise early and get to church and this afternoon we are merely **MAINTAINING** until it is time to go to bed. I am exhausted. The kids are too but they still have enough energy to play.

--------------

So.... as far as New Year's Resolutions and starting the year fresh, I am NOT doing so great. I am keeping everyone alive and about once an hour I have been able to muster the energy to put stuff away from our trip for all of 5 minutes or so!

Yet, I am okay with that.

I am okay that my house is a mess.

That my Christmas is still up.

That most of my food intake today has been handmade candy from my mother.

I am okay with everything today.

I am super content and maybe even super happy. :)

If you have read my blog you know that Contentment is HUGE to me.

Seeing what life has given you and being okay with it is so freeing. Looking at life and realizing that you are not broken because you don't feel "flying on a cloud" happy all the time. Happy is good but contentment and feeling satisfied at what one has or does not have is so much better.

Recently I heard someone use *contentment* and *complacent* interchangeable and I strongly objected. Contentment is not being defeated. It is not settling for second best and no longer fighting for something better. Contentment is looking at what you have, counting the amazing amount of blessings God has bestowed upon it, even in the hardest of times, and calling it good. It is embracing what one has or embracing what one doesn't have and it is choosing to NOT look for "the better" because you see all of the greatness that surrounds you and you get choked up at how amazingly wonderful God is.

Contentment does not mean you LIKE all that you have and do. It does not mean you are happy, but it is incredibly probable that in those moments when you are not happy you are still satisfied and content. Contentment is choosing to "like what you do even when you are not able to do what you like."

Today I ran across an amazing blog article, on the Femina blog site, that helps you see how you can reach contentment. Now, let me tell you........ IT'S HARD! It takes a lot of hard soul searching work to reach contentment and it is about as hard to stay content. Some of her steps are amazingly hard, but OH SO WORTH IT!

I challenge you this year to work at contentment. I challenge you to pick one of the steps in this blog post (it can even be an easier one) and start working at it. Life is so amazingly different when you no longer get frazzled by the rotten apples you find when your cart is upset. Contentment sure does help you cope during those times.

Have a Happy New Year!!

-------------------------

And if I could drop in a couple of prayer request for my praying followers.

The following are heavy on my heart currently and I know that some of you out there are amazing prayer warriors who will help me lift these concerns up:

1) A college friend, Eric, was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung cancer that has spread from head to toe. He has a wife of 10 years, a 7 year old daughter, Ellie, and a 5 year old boy, Timmy. The kids have recently been told that sometimes God chooses not to heal and it is an incredibly hard time right now for them all. (Eric is 37!)

2) Herman Richardson is the husband of my cousin who died on Christmas eve mentioned above. Now that the family is heading back home he will find himself VERY alone. Please pray for him as he transitions into a life of a widower. He and my cousin Bobbie would have celebrated 45 years of marriage THIS Week! :(

3) A high school friend, Kim, is currently traveling to our home town for the funeral of her dad who very unexpectedly passed away. He was VERY young. Please pray for the family as they mourn his loss and prepare to say goodbye.

Thank you my praying friends. :)

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T15:27:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas from the Homestead here to wherever you find yourselves.

May your days be full of joy, full of the HOPE of the manger and full of Christmas love.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. Isaiah 9:6-7

Homeschool Mother's Journal

2011-12-16T18:03:00.001-06:00

This post is linked to

In my life this week...
I have been battling with not much to show for it. Sunday and Monday I prepped for my December Botany Class to homeschoolers. It was a great class. We collected our donations to purchase Breadfruit Trees for the hungry in the tropics/subtropics, we voted for the area we wanted to send our treelings, the kids read their "What I learned this semester" paragraphs before their classmates and then we played some review games. It was action packed and fun. ***Skip to the bottom to see the links where you can learn a lot more about this amazing fruit for the hungry: Breadfruit***

5-10 minutes before the end of class a serious headache hit me. At the end of class I had a severe sore throat. Within an hour I was miserably weak and PAINFULLY achy.   Ugg. We managed to purchase supper at a grocery store and we survived the evening.

The time between then (Tuesday) and now is a total blur of me feeling miserably weak, achy and all out exhausted. The children are obviously having lots of fun by the messes EVERYWHERE in our home.   I am thankful that with prompting they do an okay job at picking up their messes, PRAISE THE LORD!

It dawned on me earlier today that I have had a tree in the corner of my living room that needs attending and that nothing Christmas related is out. I DID get my Christmas cards in the mail today! That is about it. Ugg.

In our homeschool this week....
Other than co-op and haphazard reading (both Otto reading to me and me reading aloud) we have not done much. We did have a full day of school on Monday and I plan on doing Saturday school so we can do 2 lessons in math and some language arts comprehension.   We have also been reading Vikings books at bedtime but we have not actually started to STUDY Vikings as I had planned. *sigh*

My favorite thing from this week ....
is watching my children make the largest messes AS THEY NICELY PLAY WITH EACH OTHER IN THEIR WORLDS OF MAKE BELIEVE. Honestly, I take joy in knowing that my children can entertain themselves without electronic devices feeding their little brains. :)

Things I am working on...
I must get Christmas decorated and meal plans sketched out for next weekend when my Mother-in-law AND Father-in-law (divorced) will both be here for the magical days. So between now and this time next week I need to muster the energy and work through the aches and pains in order to get decorations up and to get this house (including some piles I've been meaning to go through) clean. OY!

Books that I am reading...
I am nearly done with my Galileo Book.   I also am trying really hard to read through Susan M. Lark's "PMS: Self Help Book."   Since Gracie's birth I have had the hardest time with my emotional/hormonal roller coasters. I am finally starting to see some patterns but I am also realizing that I am only emotionally SOUND for about one week out of the month. I am already doing some of the suggestions from this book and can't wait to dive into it to find out if I can make any life or dietary changes to help my issues. So far I have read a whopping 5 pages! *sigh*

A Quote from this week to share....
"If you can not do what you like, then do your best to learn how to like what you do."

With those emotional roller coasters above I have felt like a gray cloud has been hovering around me. I've battled energy and motivation. This quote helps me get off my tail end and helps me find my rosy glasses to muster through the horrible emotions/hormones that I have been battling. One day at a time..... I am conquering life one day at a time.

More About Breadfruit:
There are two videos that taught us a bit about Breadfruit. Video one features Diane Ragone who started this project and Video two features a PhD candidate who speaks about why Breadfruit can be such a vital crop for these people in need. Click on the underlined words to go to those videos.

To learn even more about this tree and it's amazing fruit please visit the following two sites. They are packed full of information. I have learned much as I have prepped for this project: Global Breadfruit and Breadfruit.org.

One more resource I will give to you is a long but very fascinating story about Diane Ragone and her passion for breadfruit. If you want to know how this project was started and why, this article is a must read.   Click here to read HANA HOU! TREE OF PLENTY.

Pick & Draw Stocking Stuffer WINNER!!!

2011-12-12T10:16:00.000-06:00

The Pick and Draw Giveaway Contest has come to a close and the winner is posted below.

But, before you scroll to the bottom and then go away I want to remind you that for the rest of December Pick and Draw Card games are on sale. The first pack is $10 but all additional packs are reduced to $8.

If you are interested, would you consider clicking on this button to make your purchase. For each purchase made using this link, I will receive a small cut and as we all know pennies add up. :)

And now on to the winner ...........................

I have emailed the winner.

If you did not win, please consider purchasing one of these very affordable little decks of cards anyway.

Disclaimer: I received a free deck of cards to review and the company is providing a free deck of cards to give away. For each purchase made when you click on the links above I will earn a small percentage.

Pick & Draw Stocking Stuffer GIVEAWAY!!!

2011-12-04T22:17:00.002-06:00

Contest ended 11:59 PM Sunday, December 11, 2011.

All comments after #54 are late entries and were not calculated in the drawing using Random.org.

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Awhile back in the mail we received a small little package filled with oodles of fun.

Inside a small bubble envelope was a plastic box holding Rich Davis' game....

Pick and Draw.

Pick and Draw is a non-competitive, fun way of learning how to draw cartoon faces. It can be played alone or with friends. Your finished faces can then be the spark for creative thinking or even story development.

At first it looks like a deck of cards held in a sturdy, clear plastic box. When you open the box you find thick, glossy, colorful cards. There are step by step instruction cards, a couple of notes from Rich and 45 colorful playing cards.

Click HERE to play the game on the Pick and Draw Website.

First you sort the deck by color. There is a smaller stack for each face part: Face, Nose, Eyes, Mouth and Hair. Those cards are laid out, color by color, in a line in front of the person who will be drawing.

It will look like this:

The next step is to flip over one card from each colored pile and place it below the mini-deck it came from.

Now it's time to draw. Grab your pencil and a piece of paper. First, draw the shape found on the red Face card. Then draw the shape on the nose card some place on your face. Next you draw the eyes, the mouth, ears (using instructions that Rich gives in the game box) and finally hair.

Here is Otto drawing one of his creations:

I love so many things about this game. Otto my 7 year old has been drawing stick figures for at least a year now. I think we have gone through a couple of trees so far in paper with him drawing. I have always wanted to help him develop those drawings but never thought I could draw much more than stick figures myself. Introduce Pick and Draw...... and he has some of the most amazing, funny faces!

(Hey, Rich? If you're reading....... Otto and his brother Abram (5) keep requesting a STAR WARS Jedi Pick and Draw Game. I must say that their stick bodied Jedi are now starting to make very interesting facial expressions!)

I love how kids can play Pick and Draw together or alone. I love how it is a quiet, yet a VERY mentally ENGAGING game. I love how there are so many combination possibilities (60,000!!). I love how it uses simple shapes that anyone can draw. I love how it's quick to learn and you can play for 3 minutes or 3 hours.

Not only are there 60,000 combination possibilities but there are numerous ways to use the same set of cards. Included in the box is this card:

WOW! It took me some time to look at these faces and realize that INDEED they ARE all drawn from the same shapes!

This game has so many possibilities. One is to pull language arts into the mix. Once your child has drawn a new character, ask him to name their new face. Once they have a name have them go farther and use their imagination to envision what they like to wear? Where they like to go? Where they live? Who do they live with? What they do when they play? What music they like to listen to? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Etc.

You now have a character profile and some jumping points to do some amazing creative writing!

Here's my favorite quote from the box from Rich Davis:

“I have made this Pick and Draw game so that you and I can draw together. I want it to be fun for you and I think you will be surprised how well you can draw. Your ability to create is a gift from God. So grab your paper and pencil and let’s draw!”

You can watch videos to learn how to draw even more fun characters at his Draw With Rich site. I had fun watching videos and picture tutorials about drawing a pilgrim turkey, drawing funny little boxes and, my favorite, drawing super cute kitties. :)

Pick and Draw sells for $10.

When I agreed to do this review I was also offered to become an affiliate, so if you have fallen in love with this game (as I did when I read other reviews of it) could you please click on this button or the button on my blog's side bar when you go to make your purchase? Each game sold kicks back a few pennies to my Homeschooling PayPal account and pennies do add up, you know?

Also, Pick and Draw is currently ON SALE. The first game is still $10 but all additional decks purchased in the month of December are discounted to $8 per deck. :) (Remember, every penny that you save adds up!!)

NOW HOW ABOUT A GIVEAWAY???

Contest will end 11:59 P.M. Sunday December 11th, 2011.

You must have an email address in at least one of your comments to win. If I draw your name and I can not find your email address I will not be able to contact you to get your mailing information. Please don't forget the email address. :)

I will use random.org to select a winner.

Please leave me one comment for each option you choose below. :)

MANDATORY ENTRY: Leave me a comment telling me you want to win.
If you would like you could be chatty and tell me why or who you would use the game with but it is only mandatory to tell me you want to win. :)

Additional Entry Options:
Choose any or all of these additional entries.
12 potential entries per person!

Visit Pick and Draw, Play the game and draw a character, name your character and come back here leaving me a message of what you named your character. (Feel free to tell me more if you'd like.) :)
Visit Draw with Rich and come back to comment on what tutorial you watched.
Like Pick and Draw on Facebook and come back to tell me you did.
Request to Clothesline Musings to be your friend on Facebook. Leave me a comment here to tell me you already are my friend or that you requested my friendship (LOL, that sounds so funny to me)
Join my Google Friends Connect, located over there on the left side of the page, and leave me a comment telling me that you have.
Hook up with me on Networked Bloggers, over there on the left side of the page, and leave me a message telling me that you do.
Sign up for my email updates and tell me so, sign up box is on the right side.
Follow Clotheslinemuse on Twitter.
Tweet about this entry, Feel free to copy this text:

Enter to win a free Pick and Draw Game from @Clotheslinemuse! Enter through 12/11/11: http://clotheslinemusings.blogspot.com/2011/12/pick-draw-stocking-stuffer-giveaway.html #Giveaway

10. Blog about this giveaway on your blog and leave me the link for THREE entries. :)

Disclaimer: Thank you to Rich @ Pick and Draw for providing the review and giveaway products. This review is based on my own experiences and gives my honest opinion.

Advent Lesson E-Book - Recommendation

2011-12-01T12:58:00.001-06:00

I just stumbled upon a highly recommended ebook that covers Advent lessons for young children.

Truth in the Tinsel

I have been looking for something simple and easy to use. Something that was hands on but did not require three ink cartridges to utilize.

Unfortunately the website does not have sample pages. :( That is super sad. I think she would sell more copies if it did. I went ahead and made the purchase blindly. The ebook is 49 pages, is wonderfully organized and costs only $4.99.

The book?

http://truthinthetinsel.com/

Organization:

Dedication page
Forward
Introduction: Where Amanda White shares how she developed this book and why.
How to Use this Book Page: Is very helpful at sharing what each day is about.
Full Supply List
Daily Supply List
The Daily Pages: Each page is organized in the exact same way.

READ IT TOGETHER: the passage for the day.
MAKE IT TOGETHER: step by step instructions for the ornament of the day and pretty pictures of the crafts.
TALK ABOUT IT TOGETHER: Offers thoughts and questions to gently talk about while you are crafting.
DO MORE TOGETHER: offers extra activities to take the lesson one step further.

Alternative Schedule Suggestions that help you slim it down to just characters, just basics, chronologically and prophecy.
An About the Author Page.
Extra printables needed for a few of the crafts
EASY Advent Paper Chains (print, cut a rectangle, fold and staple!)
And Square Advent Clues that you can use if you are lucky enough to have Advent boxes or a refillable Advent Candle.

Some of the ornaments include:
Light: a see through stained glass effect candle
Kingdom: a crown
Mary/Elizabeth: paper dolls
Joseph's Dream: a pillow ISN'T THAT CUTE!!
a stable, a manger, a cute sheep, an eye-spy craft, and crafts for all the main characters of the story!

These crafts are super easy. There is nothing in the supply list that most homes with children don't already have. The guidance through the scriptures and the discussion ideas are super helpful.

What I like most, you know--other than the above, is that this study is not preachy.

Yep, I am a pastor's wife but I find more often than I like that biblical lessons are often speckled with harsher, preaching that I often find inappropriate for children. Sometimes I even find that the theological point of view is upsetting to me because it portrays a different opinion than what we follow and often it comes with a "you must believe XYZ or you are a substandard, incorrect person" attitude.

THIS STUDY IS GENTLE, IT STICKS TO THE STORY AND IS NOT ANY MORE PREACHY THAN THE BIBLICAL STORY ITSELF AS READ WORD FOR WORD.

I LOVE THAT!!!

If you are one who wants to teach your children the Word but want to leave all the subtexts, interpretation arguments and debates for Adult group discussions, this is a great Advent Lesson!

Check it out today.

Disclaimer: I reviewed this ebook because it made me excited! I paid for it and received nothing free for this write up. (Cause I'm sweet like that!)

Thankfulness & Busyness

2011-11-25T23:13:00.000-06:00

Hello.

I AM ALIVE.

I AM grateful, despite the fact that I kind of fell off the Gratitude Meme on the 11th and haven't gotten back up on the boat yet.   Just because I am not blogging my gratitude does not mean that I am not daily thankful for so many things.

I promise I will be back soon, I promise!

Here are a few of the things I have been up to:
Gracie's Birthday on the 11th,
Double Birthday party on the 12th with two hand made cakes.
Abram's Birthday on the 15th.
Botany class and Breadfruit donation challenge on the 15th.
Battles with some serious motivation, hormonal & emotional weight--stupid hormones!!
Hubby's birthday and cake on the 23rd.
Thanksgiving home with kids and no family or turkey.
Sunday school.
Headaches
Camera researching (and purchase)
and
so
much
more.

I might be catching up........

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.

Okay, that's out of my system now! *whew*

I promise I am not gone, just otherwise occupied.

I ALSO promise to get a VERY FUN STOCKING STUFFER GIVEAWAY posted within the next 7 days!   Pick and Draw is a super fun game that teaches you how to draw and I WILL have a box to give away as soon as I get a chance to post my review!! :)

I have been frequently wishing that I could just hook up my computer to my brain and it would type out my blog posts. I have had SO MANY great ideas but sitting to write them has been quite the challenge.

I promise I am not gone............

merely a bit pre-occupied.

Hang in there my friends I will be back soon.   :)

2011- Gratitude Challenge - November 11

2011-11-11T22:34:00.000-06:00

Brenda at Garden of Learning is hosting a Gratitude Challenge.

It is a challenge to post once a day about something we are thankful for.

You may read my daily post below and you may also click here to see what others in the Challenge are thankful for as well. If you blog, feel free to hop on board. Just type up your posts each day and then connect your blog post specific blog address to the Linky that Brenda provided at the link above.

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November 11, 2011

Today I am thankful for....
creativity.

November finds three birthdays in our house.
Today was Gracie's (I'll write more on my sweet girl tomorrow).
The 15th will be Abram's.

I LOVE making cakes for birthdays because it gives me an out.

I will post pictures later of this year's creations here on this post.

Gracie's cake is Hello Kitty.

and Abram's cake is Spidy.
(picture to come tomorrow after I finish the eyes)
I LOVE creating. :)

If you would like to read more Gratitude Posts or jump on board click the button below.

2011- Gratitude Challenge - November 10

2011-11-10T15:02:00.003-06:00

Brenda at Garden of Learning is hosting a Gratitude Challenge.

It is a challenge to post once a day about something we are thankful for.

---------------------

November 10, 2011

Today I am thankful for....
Hubby.

He's my hero.

Today alone he:

* single handedly wrestled my washing machine into shape.

* His charm influenced the children to stop whining.

* His steer strength tore something apart outside per my request because it was annoying me.

* He transformed a defective tire on my van into one that is much better.

* With skill of yesteryear he started up the woodstove to keep me warm and muscled in more wood for later.

* His magnificent intelligence and research ability solved a few solutions and shook out a mistruth or two.

AND..... he called me *cute.*

I love Hubby and all the roles he plays on our homestead.

Here are just a few.


Our wood cutter & splitter.

Our animal caretaker.

Dad and Teacher

Gardener/Garden Prep Man

Pastor

Bee Man

and
Mechanic (aka: Appliance Rescuer)
BTW: That is my washing machine!

If you would like to read more Gratitude Posts or jump on board click the button below.

2011- Gratitude Challenge - November 9

2011-11-09T06:00:00.000-06:00

Brenda at Garden of Learning is hosting a Gratitude Challenge.

It is a challenge to post once a day about something we are thankful for.

---------------------

November 9, 2011

Today I am thankful for....

my SQUIRREL AWARD!

I have been awarded THE SQUIRREL AWARD in the 2011 Homeschool Misfit Awards!

Here is the description from NOT SO SUPERWOMAN:

The "Squirrel" Award- "Wait, weren't we supposed to be studying Abraham Lincoln? How'd we end up talking about the chemical properties of Styrofoam?" This is the homeschool blogger who begins her posts on one topic and then takes off in several different directions. ADHD anyone?

I feel so honored!

I have no idea who nominated me, nor who voted for me, but I want to say that I think that THIS AWARD fits me PERFECTLY!!!

I am the epitome of Attention Deficit Disorder and I have a diagnosis paper to PROVE IT!

Now I just need to find a squirrel mascot.

A friend (hee hee on the link) offered THIS one

BUT I told her it wasn't drooly enough.

I actually think they could combine the Squirrel Category with the Harried Homeschooler and the mascot would be a super hairy Squirrel. LOL

Oh! And I also now get to test my own patience as I wait for my prizes to show up in the mail and in my inbox! Whooo hoo. I'm SO EXCITED to watch my mailbox!!!

Here are my prizes (and what I chose):

A Journey Through Learning will provide a lapbook of choice to all 10 winners! I chose the INSIDE MY BODY lapbook! :)
TeachwithGames.com is offering a printable game set (10-15 games included) of choice to all 10 winners! I chose the Phonics Games Two.
AND THEN I AM SUPER STOKED TO RECEIVE from: TOS Crew member, Heather, from Faith, Family & Fun is providing 1 winner with a "Pamper Pack for a Homeschool Mom" ($20 Starbucks gift card, a fun book, some sea salts and organic soap)!

My Starbucks Gift Card is nearly empty: Whoo hooo, it is now recharged!
YAAAAAAAAY!!

THANK YOU SPONSORS FOR YOUR WONDERFUL PRIZES!!!
Please go visit them. :)

Sonlight Schoolhouse Publishing Teach With Games

A Journey Through Learning Joyce Herzog

Purposeful Planning Zeezok Publishing

Faith, Family & Fun Homeschool Horizons Magazine

Really, folks. I am so excited about this award because it means that at least a couple of people have noticed my little blog that is a scattered reflection of the whirlwind I call *life* here on the homestead.

Before you leave, can you go to the blogs below and show them some love too?

These are the blogs that were nominated in the Squirrel category.

Changed by Love

The Berry Patch

Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Clothesline Musings

Our Peculiar Lives

If you would like to read more Gratitude Posts or jump on board click the button below.

2011- Gratitude Challenge - November 8

2011-11-08T22:11:00.000-06:00

Brenda at Garden of Learning is hosting a Gratitude Challenge.

It is a challenge to post once a day about something we are thankful for.

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November 8, 2011

Today I am thankful for....
warm, dry fall days!

AND LEAVES TO PLAY WITH.

If you would like to read more Gratitude Posts or jump on board click the button below.

2011- Gratitude Challenge - November 7

2011-11-07T11:00:00.002-06:00

Once again Brenda at Garden of Learning is hosting a Gratitude Challenge.

It is a challenge to post once a day about something we are thankful for.

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November 7, 2011

Today I am thankful for....
THE SUN!

THE SUN!!

THE SUN IS OUT AND SHINING AND FOR SOME REASON THAT MAKES ME FEEL SO MUCH BETTER!!!!

I LOVE THE SUN.

Great Day Myspace Graphics / Myspace Quotes | Layouts | Build Muscle

I am thankful for the sun, the light it gives, the warmth it gives, the hope it gives.

I am thankful that when the sun is beating in on my south facing windows I do not have to start up the wood stove in the morning.

I LOVE THE SUN.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR THE SUN!!

If you would like to read more Gratitude Posts or jump on board click the button below.

2011- Gratitude Challenge - November 5

2011-11-06T20:03:00.001-06:00

Once again Brenda at Garden of Learning is hosting a Gratitude Challenge.

It is a challenge to post once a day about something we are thankful for.

---------------------

November 5, 2011

On the 5th Day of November I am thankful for....
my blog and all the opportunities it brings, all the people it helps, all the people I get to meet, all the people I get to entertain with my wacky life without annoying or embarassing my family in the flesh and for the opportunity it gives me to type out some of my thoughts that otherwise would just be rolling around in my head.

*gasp* THAT was a long sentence.

If you would like to read more Gratitude Posts or jump on board click the button below.

2011- Gratitude Challenge - November 6

2011-11-06T11:00:00.001-06:00

Brenda at Garden of Learning is hosting a Gratitude Challenge.

It is a challenge to post once a day about something we are thankful for.

---------------------

November 6, 2011

Today I am thankful for....
our church.

A little over 5 years ago our family and one other family decided we were tired of driving 75 miles one way to attend a church in our denomination (Mennonite Church USA). (If you want to learn more about who the Mennonites are click HERE.)

My husband had attended Seminary and had a Master's of Divinity.
Seminary was something to keep him occupied while I was working on some intense issues with a counselor. He's never really felt a *call* to pastoral ministry but is a servant and was willing to accept the job placed before him.

One day, at the church we were attending, the dad of the other family said, "You know, someone ought to start a Mennonite church in OUR town."

Hubby looked at him and said, "You're right. SOMEBODY should!"

That was the starting point. From there some rough outlines were scratched out, a meeting place was found, plans were made, and responsibilities were shared. On the first Sunday of November in 2006 we had our first service with our family, their family and a family that lived in the neighborhood of the church, a rented Synagogue.

I was 9 months pregnant that first week. I can't remember all that I did but I do remember we had a young child's Sunday School (led by the two originating fathers), an older Sunday School class that ranged 4th grade up through a freshman in high school (that I taught) and the rest of the adults met for adult Sunday school.

The second Sunday we were there with the same 3 families and ONE NEW ATTENDEE....... a 4 day old baby boy that we called Abram. Honestly, the only thing I remember from that second Sunday was that I was REALLY SORE (Abram was a rough delivery) and that we had not quite fully figured out nursing. I spent most of that morning underneath a large poncho shaped nursing cape trying to keep him latched on WHILE teaching Sunday school. I clearly remember having to continuously tuck my head under my cover and then back out again. I had the lesson planned quite well but had no available hands. So I remember asking the VERY HELPFUL kids to grab things, open books, read aloud, or hold something so I could read. I remember directing them using my words and by flinging my head in the direction I wanted them to go.   LOL   It was EXHAUSTING but a great memory.

Over the years we have gained families and lost families.

We are quite the motley crew of folks. We have a few who were raised Mennonite. We have a few who have spent their entire life in the Catholic church but liked aspects of our Mennonite faith and are learning the differences between these different faith traditions. We have some (like my family) who grew up in homes that were not churched, accepted a Christian faith in the non-denomination tradition and then became Mennonite as adults. We have a few who admit to being agnostic but strongly value the "stories and lessons of the church" for their children and we have some who fall somewhere in between.

I love having a church only 30 miles from home.

I love having children who are excited about attending church (especially now that they are 7, nearly 5 and nearly 3= they can sit in the pew without tap dancing or wresting--most the time!!!)

I will admit there have been moments where my attitude was dark, selfish, exhausted and even resentful toward God.   YET, the great thing about God is that if you are truly seeking to serve HIM He doesn't let you get away with those attitudes for very long.

Along the way I have learned to serve the church as if I were serving Jesus. To have no expectations of return here on Earth. Face it we are too small and we are ALL doing about as much as we personally feel we can muster.    Planting a church is hard work but a change in my Spirit along the way gave me a bit of tunnel vision, allowing me to focus my attention on serving the Lord with all my heart, all my soul, all my strength and all my mind and to love others better than myself. This change in Spirit (although it SOUNDS like it should have been a GIVEN when one is so involved in the start up of a ministry) has allowed me to experience the unexplainable Joy that only God can give while I am giving completely of myself. It has saved me from burnout and many frustrations. It allows me to serve without exhaustion on those days that more is given than obtained and it guides me to other areas where *I* can secure some spiritual sustenance for myself.

I am so Thankful.

And now, if you are still here with me, I'd like to ask you to help me pray for this little church of 6 regular attending families (with 2 that come occasionally). A new season has come upon our little church. Our family has announced that we will be stepping aside in spring so that the church can find someone more aptly gifted and skilled to take this congregation on to the next level.   This time is scary for us, as we likely will be losing our church home (at least for awhile, if not for good), but it is also scary for the congregation who is so small and is so unique.
While Hubby was the pastor he worked hard not only at the Sunday worship services but he also established a foundation, prompting the group to make steps that will allow the church to remain healthy even if and when the congregation is blessed with a sudden surge in growth. The ground work is laid out, the structures are set, the foundation is in place but now it is time for a new pastor who is passionate about taking a small core group and building it up into the next level to step on board.

The pastor they call will likely need to be bi-vocational and to make this switch in such an economy will be a tough task.   I, personally, am very excited for the opportunity the group has to dream and desire. I am excited at the energy and growth that might come from this changing of the guard. Yet, as one who has been so active in this church, it is hard for me to sit back and know nothing.

So if you are a prayer warrior and if you are still reading could you please pray that 1-God will give clear signals to those on the Search Committee, 2-that God will send the perfect worker to our church to be it's next pastor, 3-that instead of feeling fear and skepticism all involved might feel the excitement and hope this change could bring and 4-that we all might have a very peaceful and easy transition.

I thank you kindly.

I am SO Greatful that God allowed our family to help start this Mennonite Church.

If you would like to read more Gratitude Posts or jump on board click the button below.

2011- Gratitude Challenge - November 4

2011-11-06T00:17:00.000-05:00

Once again Brenda at Garden of Learning is hosting a Gratitude Challenge.

It is a challenge to post once a day about something we are thankful for.

---------------------

November 4, 2011

Today I am thankful ....
that life is, more often than not, forgiving. And that when I realize I am a day behind on posting in the Gratitude Challenge I know for sure that it is not because I had nothing to be grateful that day.

I know that I thought about typing something up many times on the 4th.
I have no idea why it didn't happen.

So, for my 4th Gratitude post I want to be thankful for the flexibility of life. A life filled with thanks that ring out throughout the day. A life with grace and mercy. A life that ebbs and flows with the needs, seen and unseen, of my family.

Flexibility.

Life is WAY too stressful without it!

If you would like to read more Gratitude Posts or jump on board click the button below.

Slug, 4H, Flood, Fire, Oh Yeah! Ie: MUCH RANDOMNESS

2011-11-05T17:52:00.001-05:00

Last week we were sick and had a ton of responsibilities that just wiped me out.

This week, I wish I had an excuse other than that low lying, remaining exhaustion that just wipes out any thought of ambition and laziness.

Here is a status a Facebook friend just posted. I found it very fitting for this past week: I've been a total slug today. Thankful nobody spilled salt on me.

Yep! That describes my week.

We did have fun Trunk or Treating on Monday..... perhaps next year I'll remember the camera. Here's a picture of my kiddos posing on the couch in their costumes with their pumpkins.

Does anyone else think that pumpkin carving is for the GROWN UPS?? Perhaps it's just because I'm not quite ready to hand my 7, 4 and 2 yr old a knife yet?

The boys drew their faces and I cut them. You can see Abram's face is all mixed up with it's nose on the top right and it's eyes all crooked, it's a "funny" face. LOL

So we had Halloween and then recovery. Then we had Story Time. I was hoping that I did not leave shoes too big to fill. :( The new librarian told me I was a tough act to follow.   She did great and I look forward to all that she will have planned in the future. :) This week we decorated pre-assembled Dream Catchers. Abram told me the next day that he thinks the Dream Catcher helped him **Have the FORCE** for the first time in his dream that night. :)

Thursday we had a playdate where the kids literally vanished into playland and I was able to hear my friend talk about some true trials and dilemmas she is dealing with. It is nice to be the supporting member for a change.

Friday night was Otto's 4H Banquet. He got a Perfect Attendance Plaque and a few other certificates. As a Cloverbud they don't get very many *Big* Awards. The most important thing that happened at the Banquet is he was given his 4H Fair Project CHECK. He was awarded a WHOLE $4.50!

In school this week, we were a bit relaxed as well. We did hit math (writing in expanded form, subtracting with doubles plus one factors & writing prices with dollar signs and cents signs). We covered some reading and reading comprehension. WE are trying to get through our AAS phoneme cards but some of those letters with 3 and 4 sounds are tricky! We also have a Little Critter reading comprehension book. I love this book and so does Otto. It contains questions about the story but also reinforces lessons on rhyming, word patterns and contractions. I never would have thought to teach him contractions without this book and now its exciting to see how much he enjoys creating contractions. Love.

This week Otto has also REALLY taken off in his desire to read signs and notes. I need to be more careful about what is left UP on the computer as I frequently see him staring at a computer trying to read the words.   Hubby is watching a TV show called *The Walking Dead*. Otto the other day announced to his brother that it was "The Walking Dad," I told him his version sounded much less scary than the zombie show Hubby is really watching. :)

(On a side note: I tried to watch the show. I watched 2 episodes and really liked the character development and story line but the make up was a bit too creepy for me. We often watch at night after the kids go to bed but before Hubby takes off for his night job. NOPE! Not a great last image in my mind when I am the sole adult home at night.)

So, what did I not cover (and are you dizzy yet?)? ((Nice punctuation, huh?))

Flood: There is a valve that has blown on my washing machine and the water is not turning off. I CAN wash our clothes if I stand there and turn off the water at the wall during each cycle.... if not the tub overflows! Uggg.   Hubby, ordered the part we think will fix it and I pray that it is a fast assembly and that the ordered part fixes our problem. I am thankful there is no carpet in that area!   The machine was at least 10 years old when we purchased it used 8 years ago.   Flood... not bad, but a frequent occurrence in my life right now.

Fire: immediately after I mopped up water I realized that there was food on my spill plate on the stove. I was fixing pancakes using my double burner griddle.... and apparently it got too hot and caught on fire! Thankfully I was able to blow it out and did not have to dump flour on it! :)

Yesterday, we also sent our first Steer off to the processor. I NEARLY cried 4 times but managed to choke it back. I just keep seeing his cute little eyes.

Here is a picture of how Tom came home to our farm!

He was a great, little tame cow.... and the steak he will give us will be very happily eaten.

What's new in your life??

And just because I managed to cover the pathetic amount we covered in school this week, I will be linking to the weekly meme called Weekly Wrap-Up. This meme is hosted by Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Go check her out today!

PLEASE VOTE: I've Been Nominated in the HOMESCHOOL MISFIT BLOG AWARDS

2011-11-04T15:00:00.000-05:00

I am so tickled.

There is this thing called the Homeschool Misfit Blog Awards.

It is a fun contest for blogs that wouldn't normally be recognized in the SUPER HERO BLOG AWARD CONTESTS.

I had heard that nominations were taking place but thought nothing of it.

Today I found out that I have been nominated in TWO categories.

Oh me, oh my, oh gee!!

So I went to NOT SO SUPERWOMAN to check out the nominations and started LAUGHING HYSTERICALLY!

Whomever nominated me knows my blog and my life well.

Here are the two categories that I have been nominated for and their explanations:

1) The "Squirrel" Award- "Wait, weren't we supposed to be studying Abraham Lincoln? How'd we end up talking about the chemical properties of Styrofoam?" This is the homeschool blogger who begins her posts on one topic and then takes off in several different directions. ADHD anyone?

and

2) The Harried Homeschooler Award- "Good thing I don't neglect my kids like I do my blog." or "Who are all these kids and why are they wanting my attention when I'm trying to blog?". This is the blogger who has every intention of blogging regularly, but life just gets in the way sometime. Her family expects regular meals. What's up with that?

I challenge you to go check out my competition.............and then go VOTE FOR ME! LOL Okay, you can vote for whomever you wish but I do encourage you to go vote. :)

I really think they ought to merge the two as I think I really deep down am a HARRIED SQUIRREL! :)

Click HERE TO VOTE.
Voting ends November 3.

Happy Voting and have fun exploring some new blogs out there in the world.

2011 - Gratitude Challenge - November 3

2011-11-03T22:26:00.000-05:00

Once again Brenda at Garden of Learning is hosting a Gratitude Challenge.

It is a challenge to post once a day about something we are thankful for.

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November 3, 2011

Today I am thankful for....

Playdates where children run off and play blissfully without much adult interaction while God gives me an opportunity to sit, listen and support a friend.

I'd tell you more about it but we were there for so long I am all played out and need to go to bed.

If you would like to read more Gratitude Posts or jump on board click the button below.

2011- Gratitude Challenge - November 2

2011-11-02T17:18:00.000-05:00

Today was the first Story Time for our new Children's Librarian.

I love Story Time.

I love how much the children love to listen to stories being read.

I love how they love making the crafts.

I love how we moms can go and chat with each other.....

.... or if we choose we have a good 15-20 minutes to just veg out while someone ELSE entertains our children.

I love Story Time.

I love that my librarians are also my friends (or at least good aquaintences).

I love my library and today am very thankful for it, for my librarians and for the fact that I worked myself out of a Story Time gig.

(And YES, I promise to get back to typing up my last 3 Story Time sessions.)

If you would like to read more Gratitude Posts or jump on board click the button below.

2011- Gratitude Challenge - November 1

2011-11-01T10:37:00.000-05:00

Once again Brenda at Garden of Learning is hosting a Gratitude Challenge.
It is a challenge to post once a day about something we are thankful for.
You may read my daily post below and you may also click here to see what others in the Challenge are thankful for as well. If you blog, feel free to hop on board. Just type up your posts each day and then connect your blog post specific blog address to the Linky that Brenda provided HERE.

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November 1, 2011

Today I am thankful for....
this meme.

Last year it was so fun coming up with what I was thankful for each day. It is often hard to choose WHICH thing I want to type about. Some days I cheated and typed about several things. Some days my thankfulness was long winded. Some days it was super short but by the end of the month last year, and I assume this year as well, I was filled with joy at how wonderful life it.

I am thankful for my blog, my 5 readers (lol).... especially the 2 that comment and I am thankful for my very full life which lends so much to be thankful for.

More than anything, I am thankful that sometime in the past several years I have learned the meaning of the word CONTENTMENT. Contentment and it's entrance into my life has been amazingly freeing, amazingly comforting, amazingly rewarding and amazingly powerful.

I challenge you to do two things today:
1) Check out the meaning of contentment and think about how you might latch onto this amazing thing for yourself.
2) If you have a blog, jump on board the 2011 Gratitude Challenge.

If you would like to read more Gratitude Posts or jump on board click HERE.

2011 Halloween Outfit = 1950's Housewife

2011-10-31T22:43:00.001-05:00

I promise to get back into my posts about my Story Time Gig books and crafts.

We were hit by two sequential bugs here, my mother came to visit in the middle of the last one (a nasty, hard hitting head cold) and then I had my last week at the library with our normal Preschool Story Time and an additional Thursday evening Elementary school Dress Up Party.

On Wednesday I was asked by the librarians if I had a costume because we adults were to dress up as well for the Thursday event. AHHHHH!!!   We had just been to a huge thrift store in a neighboring town the day before. I could have easily picked up an outfit then but did not know to do so.

Ugg. My brain quickly scanned outfits that I knew I had at home that would be appropriate for the lady leading the evening's events. 1) A very, very old sleeveless, fringe filled Indian Squaw dress (which seems so politically incorrect). 2) cat ears and tail to go with a black shirt and pants... of which I no longer have. 3) footed pj's that fit me.... these would be great but I didn't really want to show up for an event that I was in charge of as either a baby or a slob too lazy to get dressed.

So, I fed the children lunch after Wednesday's Story Time and I told them we would go on a car ride to find mommy a costume IF they RESTED OR NAPPED in the van on the way. Much to my surprise THEY DID! Although, there is nothing worse than waking kids up to go into a store after they have been asleep for only 20 minutes. THEY DID GREAT THOUGH!!

My original mission was to latch onto AN AMAZING RENAISSANCE Lady in Waiting gown that I had seen in the window the day before. It was STUNNING. In highschool I had ALWAYS wanted to be one of the very fine Madrigal Singers and could never make the cut. I just did not have the voice training and sight reading skills that those folks did. I drooled over their every move and their amazing costumes. THIS costume would have fit in perfectly....oh how I wanted it.

We got out of the van, went in the doors and walked straight up to the costume. I asked was it for sale, would it fit me and what was the cost. The first two answers made me giddy. The third answer ($49.99) made me sick to my stomach. :(

Plan B.... head to the costume department of the store. This store dedicates a HUGE area JUST for Halloween stuff, most of it was new.   My boys saw a witches hat and thought I should be a witch (knowing how little they know about witches I did NOT take their opinion personally). The hat alone was $9.99. UGGG.   I REALLY DON'T GET OUT MUCH!   I kept that idea on the back burner.

We then walked down a long aisle of used costumes and other clothing that was pulled that would easily fall into the Halloween Dress Up category.   I began pulling anything that was possible. I pulled black clothing, I pulled old dresses, I pulled an AMAZING, GORGEOUS FORMAL GOWN (black) that fit me like a dream.   I looked at the knee hi, high heel boots (witch outfit?). Then we went off to the dressing room. It was one of the smallest dressing rooms I have seen in a long time and I had all three kids with me. I told them to make themselves skinny and hold the walls up.....................AND IT WORKED!   After sometime Abram decided that he wanted to look out below which worked out okay.

The pair of old-fashioned jeans fit perfectly (by that I mean they do not have an hour glass shaped thigh nor contain any spandex!), YAY for me!! A hoodie fit great too. That evening gown was dreamy. Otto told me I looked like a princess. I then started trying on the *other* clothes. I was intrigued when a hand sewn blue dress fit as if it were made for me. When I pulled it off the rack I didn't really know why. I was thinking Marsha Brady. When I saw it on me I thought perhaps with an apron I would look like a housewife from the 1950's.

So we went off to the shoe section where I asked a cute older lady to help me find shoes that looked like they would have been worn with the outfit.   She looked at me with a cute expression and chose my shoes.

I then asked a worker if they had aprons. He led me to the right aisle and I started to look. I grabbed an apron that seemed perfect to me, tied it onto the dress, hung it up with the shoes below and asked 3 nearby ladies (likely in their early 70's) if the outfit looked authentic enough.   I thought the one was about to faint, the other two crowed how perfect it was. They then started giving me advice on my hair style and began arguing with each other over how I should do it. LOL

I was very excited.

The next step was to go home and research how on earth to do my hair.

I learned much from youtube tutorials (links below). I am always shocked at what you can learn from Youtube videos. There are some ladies who are really, really good at vintage hairstyles. I found out my hair is on the verge of being too long but I pulled Victory Rolls and Betty Bangs off anyway.

Here are my pictures:

(Yep, I had a little fun posing!)

No 1950's housewife costume is complete without the perfectly cut, powder sugar sprinkled brownies on wax paper, on a cut glass hostess plate!

With Princess Dora.

Here are those links to the YouTube videos that I mentioned above:
Aja's Beauty Corner at the VividMakeup's Channel helped me with Pincurling,another, and another. I fell in love with Aja! She seems so sweet, so genuine, so calm. Her styling is perfect and while watching her I felt as if I could do this without blinking my eyes............then I tried it and realized that she's REALLY GOOD cause styling hair like this is REALLY HARD!!

Aja, taught me about my make up too, click here. Yet, I must have thrown out the super light foundation I used to have and had to go without. Oh well, likely no one would have noticed anyway.

I just NOW saw this video and am now wishing that I had seen it the night of our costume party. No matter how hard I tried I just could not get the back of my head to do what Aja did with hers. I was WISHING that I had NOT combed out my curls from my hot rollers (*gasp* Yep.... my pin curls did not look great the morning of and I resorted to hot rollers.) Anyway, this back roll would have helped the look even more. Apparently, it's called a GIBSON ROLL. Oh the things you can learn in the topic of Vintage Hairstyles!

This gal HERE helped me with VICTORY ROLLS (the side rolls on my head) and so did this cute blondie. Of course, while I looked for those links I found this cute video. She spends lots of time videoing her brushing and clipping, but you can skim through those sections.

Interim Story Time Lady: Week 1= Autumn Leaves

2011-10-22T16:27:00.000-05:00

October 12th marked my very first Story Time Lady Experience at our local library. (You can read more about this HERE.)

The previous librarian had sketched out several topics before she left. When I looked at them I realized that I really needed to stick with most of these topics, after all the landscape only demonstrates the changing of leaf colors once a year!

So, before ALL the fall colors were on the ground I decided that October 12th we would read about the changing of seasons from summer into fall and then move into Autumn leaves.

I read 5 books and despite writing them down I can not seem to find my list. I logged into the library account and it is not set up to view past reading history. *sigh* So, below are four books that I THINK I read. I don't remember reading TWO Lois Ehlert books but know I like both of these books so I'll list them here anyway.

Book List

(click the link to view book on Amazon)

It's Fall by Linda Glaser
We're Going On A Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

After we read our books we went to the small child's table to work on our craft.

We made these super easy and quick bookmarks.

So, here is where you get to learn more about me. I HAVE A THING FOR CONTACT PAPER. My family is thankful we do not have a real laminating machine because if we did I would blow all our food budget on laminating supplies!! :) Second, I HATE, HATE, HATE thick bookmarks. They don't stay in very well and they leave gaps in the binding of the book if they are left for too long. *DISLIKE* This bookmark is not much thicker than two sheets of paper. Cardstock is actually thicker than these book marks! *LOVE* Third, fall leaves are my most favorite part of the year. I love capturing them to admire later in the year (like when snow covers everything in sight).

Do It Yourself: How TO Make a Leaf Bookmark
1: If I were at home with my own kiddos I would have us go on a leaf hunt. However, since I was prepping this craft for preschoolers I did this step on my own the day before. I went for a walk and searched for very small leaves. The bookmarks were pre-cut to 8.5" x 2.25" so the leaves needed to not only be pretty but be pretty small.

2: I precut the book mark pieces. I cut a piece of contact paper and a piece of colored copy paper to the 8.5" x 2.25" size. Why did I cut it to THAT size?? Umm, because it looked okay and because I had several scraps that could be cut to that size without wasting much. :) Waste not, want not!

3: Now here's the step that says "I love to be kind and I love easy, crafts with little hassle." I FOLDED A SMALL corner down on each piece of contact paper so that the moms would be able to more quickly pull the paper backing off! :) *wink*

4: I typed up the words "Happy Autumn 2011" in a small, easy to read font and printed it out. I actually used the table function in a word processing program for this. I made a table big enough to fit 20 of these and then created one cell that was exactly what I wanted, copied and pasted it to all the other cells. Quick easy. *Poof* Prep work was done.

5: AT STORY TIME assembly was super easy.
a) The children (and their adult) were given a piece of contact paper, a piece of colored paper, a "Happy Autumn" tag and they were able to choose 2-4 leaves.
b) The moms pulled off the paper backing and put the contact paper on the table with the sticky side facing up.
c) The children (though confused) were guided to put the leaves pretty side DOWN and the "Happy Autumn" tag with the words DOWN onto the sticky.
d) They then put the colored paper on top of the sticky contact paper and pressed it together.
e) Those who needed to then trimmed up the sides if they were put together crooked. It's so nice to just fix the edges up with a scissor instead of stressing out over the two layers not going together perfectly! (*easy*)

There ya have it. Super easy. Super Pretty. Super Fast Leaf Craft.

Coming soon
Week 2=Harvest Apples & Pumpkins
(Where I show how crazy I really am and use paint with a hand print craft!)

Interim Story Time Lady Gig

2011-10-21T13:00:00.001-05:00

If you have been around my blog for sometime you have heard me brag about how AWESOME the librarians are at my local library!!

I LOVE MY LIBRARIANS.

At the end of September our Children's Librarian notified us that she had found another position in a field she had previously worked. We were sad to lose Miss Jenny.

While the Head Librarian was talking to me (I hate saying "Head Librarian" as she is more of a friend to me than a librarian) she was a bit nervous about what might happen. She nervously mentioned that perhaps the moms could read a book or two and skip the crafts or perhaps Story Time would have to just be canceled for a week or two while she interviewed and hired someone for the position.

GASP!!!! CANCEL STORY TIME!!! CANCEL STORY TIME!!!

YOU CAN'T CANCEL STORY TIME!!!

I have been attending Pre-school Story Time for six years now and have at least 2-3 more years to go before my wee ones are too old. I KNOW FIRST HAND that Story Time is a time (and sometimes the ONLY time) when moms can sit in a comfy chair and sit back and not do anything. It's a break. Yeah, yeah, so sometimes we need to re-direct our children but it is a time to sit back and zone for 20 minutes. The librarian reads about 5 picture books and then the children do a simple craft. During craft time these moms (who are often not connected into the community whatsoever) get to know each other and start to grow friendships.

CANCEL STORY TIME! YOU JUST CAN'T!

So, much to Hubby's HORROR, I told her she couldn't do that and told her I'd be happy to be the Story Time lady for as long as she needed me to. She was worried and then I reminded her that I not only do this kind of thing at home frequently, as a homeschooler, but that I had a bachelors in Elementary Education!

She was thrilled.

I was suddenly nervous but VERY, VERY EXCITED.

I love teaching big groups (on occasion).

My brain immediately began going CRAZY with potential Story Time themes. Themes that were new for these kids. I found myself working on Story Time instead of doing other things I needed to be doing. I became obsessed.

So, I am the Interim Story Time lady. :)

The same day I volunteered for this position I emailed a friend of mine who has been job hunting. It was a perfect fit. She contacted the library right away, they interviewed her and within a very short time she was hired. :)

It's super exciting to have another friend in the library. However, I have teased her about taking my Story Time Lady Job! :)

I love Story Time.

Over the next week I hope to share with you what books we have read and the crafts that we have done.

Being the Story Time Lady in October actually left me feeling quite limited. The previous librarian had already compiled a list of books and themes. I have not stuck to her plans completely but there are some things that you just *HAVE* to cover when teaching pre-schoolers in the fall. Things like Autumn, Falling Leaves, Apples, Pumpkins and Halloween. Yep, that pretty much took over all my exciting new adventurous plans. With my friend being hired so quickly the Head Librarian is letting me handle the October Story Time mornings as well as an evening Halloween program. During this time my friend will be able to focus her attention mastering all the other tasks the librarians do.

In November the new Children's Librarian will take over, as she should, and my Story Time Lady days will be behind me. OH I LOVE MY LIBRARY! I LOVE this opportunity. It has been VERY FUN but I will also enjoy my MOM-ZONE-TIME again once my gig is over.

Stay tuned and in the next few days as I walk you through our Story Time Adventures.

I Choose to Occupy Life - A promise and a rant

2011-10-18T14:50:00.000-05:00

The recent "Occupy" events happening around the country have gotten under my skin. My husband frequently chats with me about some co-workers who are really excited about these events. I have had to "hide" a few friends from my FaceBook news feed because their every comment hits me like an entitled spoiled rich brat whining about not getting something that many people I know in real life don't actually have nor expect to gain.

My emotional response to this lately has been to get angry at what they are demanding yet how much time and money they are putting into these events. Please, can't you gather up that money and use it to clothe and feed the poor, hungry and cold. Really? Do you need to spend THOUSANDS+ of dollars making banners so that others *see* you? Perhaps saving that money or wisely investing it might help you over come the travesty of losing your retirement in erroneous stock market investments.

I guess I am just annoyed. Annoyed that people are THIS angry over things that look like entitlements.

I fall back to my pondering of CONTENTMENT. I am so thankful that I can pull myself back to the true meaning of this word as often as I do. I am so thankful I *get* what it means to be content even when life is far from easy. And honestly, I wonder how quickly I would become ungrounded without the toil of the garden, the childcare, the homeschooling, the cooking from scratch, the volunteering. If life were handed to me without all this physical work could I even remotely begin to be appreciative of what I have been given. Of how God works miracles every single season in my life and in my year? Even when I am slothful, neglectful and am in a slump God pulls through and provides so abundantly.

Yep! They have gotten under my skin and here is my response!

I CHOOSE LIFE!
--------------------------------------------------

I Choose to OCCUPY LIFE
I refuse to be a victim as there are still aspects of my own being and life that can be examined and tweaked to make this world, at least that which is directly around me, a better place.

I refuse to whine about how hard it is to "make it" in the world as I have been blessed beyond measure with some of the simplest blessings such as water, electricity, housing, food, heat, love....

I refuse to vilify those who seem to have easier lives as "ease" does not equate to "contentment" and exhausting physical labor grows one's character in humbleness, strength and appreciation for all that one has.

I refuse to demand others pay into my future as I have a healthy body and if I have not toiled to set up securities for myself and my loved ones with love, sweat and tears how dare I ask anyone else for a penny.

I refuse to blame others for the consequences that befall my errant choices. Why should others, both richer and poorer, bail me out of the loss I naively brought upon myself.

I refuse to buy into nor promote an attitude of entitlement as life IS NOT FAIR, nor has it ever been, nor will it ever be. Good things sometimes do not come to those who wait. Those who play by the rules are not always rewarded and despite the USA being the "Home of the Free" we do NOT have the right to anything we dream, desire or imagine. Life is hard, gritty, exhausting, physically demanding and sometimes does not pay in "bling" but I will teach my children that the reward is the joy of knowing you have pulled up your bootstraps and have mustered on through the muck that life hands you without a complaint in your heart.

I refuse to jump on the bandwagon of those holding the popular view, the accepted view or even the LOUDEST view as the flock often is more blind than they act. Instead I will continue to live the hard worked life, taking pride in knowing that I have not whined my way through life at the expense of others but have toiled for my own food and provision and have focused on the guidance of the Sovereign who leads the way to rewards in heaven which are much better than anything down here on Earth.

I will not play the games of "the 99%," Instead I CHOOSE TO OCCUPY LIFE!

BEST Spelling Tiles E.V.E.R!!

2011-10-16T20:59:00.001-05:00

My son is going to have the BEST spelling tiles EVER.

In the past I received these for free to review.

I thought they were GREAT.

Then, I purchased a new spelling program that promotes the usage of different color and letter combinations. I could purchase some very thin tiles from the company with additional magnets to attach for a total of about $18. Yet, I'm picky. I LIKE THICK MAGNETS and TILES.

So, I am making my own and I must say they are going to be the BEST SPELLING TILES EVER!!

Here is what I am up to:

A friend helped me with the letter combinations and the correct colors. Each letter prints out on a 1 inch square.

I printed these sheets on white cardstock using colored ink. I then laminated the top to make them more durable.

I then cut them apart.

Now these are about as thick as the ones I could purchase, but that is not nearly thick enough for my clumsy fingers. So . . .

I searched on line and found these lovely, smoothly cut 1 inch hardwood squares from Urban Homesteaders! ($9.25/50)

I then found these thick 1 inch square magnets with adhesive backs at Tools2Parts for $2.99/24.

I peeled the paper off of the magnet and stuck it onto one side of the wood.

I then took some glue and glued my laminated printed letters onto the other side of the wood and....

POOF!!!

Are they not just super duper cool???

Perhaps I am just a super, duper crafty geek who no longer has time to do crafty things unless I call it *school prep*??? :)

That's okay, I can take it!

What crafty project have you done lately "in the name of school"??

And PS: THANK YOU SUSAN FOR YOUR AMAZING HELP!!

(errrr.... assistance to my laziness)!!!! :) You are my hero!

The Farthest Away Mountain & Frog in the Hole

2011-10-07T12:55:00.000-05:00

Today I NEEDED to desperately attend to the apples that were going bad.

When Otto asked to put in a book on tape I was thrilled.

He grabbed one that we have not listened to in a very long time:

The Farthest Away Mountain.

We enjoy this book of adventure and Fantasy.

One of the characters in the book is a frog named Croak who lives in The Living Pool which is located in a cabin in the meadow. At lunchtime I was having a hard time figuring out what we would eat until the most obvious choice popped into my head: TOAD IN THE HOLE.

Toad in the Hole is a dish a friend taught us, although it has been around for a long time and goes by many names.

Toad in the Hole is a buttered piece of bread with a shape cut out of the middle with a cookie cutter. These then go on the griddle, or skillet for those of you who are deprived, and then an egg is broken into the hole. Here are some pictures.


Close up. (And kindly ignore the blackened spots on my stove top that my 19 quart canner permanently scorched there.)


The flipside..... and of course NO MEAL IS COMPLETE without my very special ingredient: Carbon!

What easy and fun meals do you fix for your family?

Letter Reversals

2011-10-06T11:02:00.000-05:00

Last year my oldest was having trouble with reversing a few of his letters and numbers. This is very age appropriate for some children, is common and I am not concerned (please do not talk to me about learning disorders, I am well apprised and am not yet concerned).

I am a visual learner. For YEARS I have been searching for a specific poster or two that I could purchase. I have not found the posters that are in my mind so I decided to make a smaller version that might help him out visually.

Here is the top half of the sheet I threw together:

Here is the bottom half:

I will be cutting these apart by row and posting them up at his new school desk. When he has completed an assignment I will be asking him to check his answers against the pictures.

One little tool that I hope will help us out some.

Helllooo???? Where are you???

2011-10-04T12:42:00.000-05:00

That is what my blog is asking me.

We've been busy around here. First it was the tomato harvest (I have pictures to blog someday). We had apples to harvest and some pears to can too.

Then the second week of September found me teaching my first (of many) botany class to homeschoolers. I have 6 sixth-eighth graders and 18 fourth and fifth graders. I was not fully prepared for 18 and what that actually LOOKS LIKE in reality. My cap was 12 with permission to go a bit above that but 18!!! YIKES! I will manage but it will be a energy filled class for sure. I will continue to teach them once a month for 65 minutes per group through the school year.

September 21st was greeted with my father-in-law coming to visit for 13 days. He broke his leg in May and has been laid up ever since. We thought about making the 12 hour drive down to pick him up and then again to take him home but then realized a round trip plane ticket was actually less expensive. So, we flew him up.

My father-in-law's visit was nice. He took the kids to play at a few parks in the area, he watched them while I cooked and tried to get my thermal curtains sewed. While he was here doing child care I was able to get our school room up and running and we even did a week of school. Otto suckered him into playing lots of games and teaching him how to play checkers and Abram frequently stole his crutches so he "could practice walking with a bum leg." Gracie loved to play with Papa as long as I was out of site. She is such a mommy's girl that once I came into view she refused to hug, tickle or play with Papa..... silly girl.

While my father-in-law was here I cooked up a storm. Hubby had taken a whole stretch off from work leaving him with 19 days off. He fenced in most of our 10 acres during that time with woven wire fence so that we can expand our sheep flock. It was hard work.... cutting paths through a thick wooded lot, carrying rolls of fencing that weighed 150 pounds a piece UP HILLS!! He deserved some good food and both he and my father-in-law praised the good cooking but then grumbled at the weight they were putting on. :)

September 26 marked our first day of school and WOW is it crazy this year. Last year Gracie wanted nothing to do with it and my famous words were "Abram... GO PLAY!!" THIS YEAR.... those two littles are super excited about school and I am having my own transition period of how to keep them occupied while I try to teach Otto his second grade work. Thankfully Otto's concentration has improved and his frustration with being interrupted is generally better. Whew! There are so many little activities that I can give the youngers but they only want to do them ONCE! Ugg! With time we will get things down but right now school is an intense, highly educational circus! :)

Well, I need to get back to life now. Must figure out something to fix for lunch and then I need to tend to a stock pot full of wind-blown apples that are trying to go bad. Should have dealt with them a week ago when Hubby brought them home but I've been a wee bit busy. :)

Life is good, even when it seems stressful.

Oh, speaking of stressful. If you could keep my father-in-law in your thoughts and prayers. Friday September 28 we received an early morning phone call telling him that his house had burned to the ground while he was here. It looks like a theft/arson case and he is meeting with insurance folks, police & fire chiefs this week. He has a shed that is half garage and half hangout place where he can live while he figures out what to do next but nearly all that he had is now gone.

And if you are not dizzy yet from this blog post I am going to leave you with a photo I just took of our beautiful trees starting to change colors. When my father-in-law arrived August 21 there were maybe 4 trees that were turning yellow. Now I would say that about half of our trees have turned and the maples are showing their beautiful reds. :)

Happy Autumn.

2011- NOT Back-to-School Blog Hop: School Room

2011-09-12T06:00:00.002-05:00

I might be doing the 2011 Not-Back-to-School-Blog Hop a month late, but that is okay. We honestly are NOT back to school so the Hop still applies to us.

The end of summer is always crazy for us with activities and harvest.

This year on top of the harvest I added in a Thrift Sale, the recovery of that Thrift Sale and at the same time as harvest we moved our school room upstairs to a very full office space.

I am GETTING THERE. I am typing this from ~~my new~~ Hubby's desk in the schoolroom. I have moved nearly all the furniture at least once, laid carpet my mother-in-law gave us years ago, cut that carpet to size and spliced it so it runs wall to wall. I moved furniture back and then began moving our school books and cabinet contents into our room. I *think* I only have science, preschool and this year's books to move into a space. I also need to move my filing cabinet contents back in and thought I might try to purge while I do so.

I am so close I can taste it. I am so thrilled and can't wait until I am done if for no other reason than the fact that everything will have it's own place and I can clamp down on children picking up and moving anything they get the whim to pick up and move. I am normally a very organized person and tend not to lose things but this whole dishelveled process has included kids who see new things they can play with and carry off. I find myself looking for items that I KNOW were RIGHT HERE. I know people in my life who do this all the time and I must say losing things about drives me over the edge!

We are so close I *think* by Wednesday of this coming week I might be able to have our *official* FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.

Tuesday is co-op day. We are not actually members but I am teaching a botany course and they have allowed my kiddos to attend classes while I teach. YAY!

Here are some pictures of the current state.
I will link back here when I get my final pictures taken and blogged.

This was the view seen from the entrance to our new school room. This mess is actually BETTER than it was. I was very PROUD of how clean this was! It's already better. :) Gracie is sitting on the new carpet. Underneath this new carpet are peel-&-(not so much)-stick tiles that were going to be the catalyst landing me in a padded room. The carpet will be SO MUCH warmer on our toes this winter too. :)

Making a circle around the room. This wall is to the right when you walk in. I will be placing cork boards and perhaps a white board on the wall to the right of the small desk. From the left: The tall bookcase is filled with theology books that must remain. I have obtained the bottom shelf for my school books and have put speakers for our cd player on another shelf, to the right of that is my white school file cabinet, to the right of that is the huge computer desk that *I* used in highschool and college, then our "workboxes" (aka: storage drawers) and the small student desk.

At this time I don't have a better picture of the back wall but when I sit at the desk (HUBBY'S DESK) this is what I see. The shelves up high have baffled us since we moved here. They are mostly for decorations but I had all these 3 ring binders that we obtained for free and I needed a place to store them. Here they are. Very visible to ME, not in the line of sight to others and although I need the ladder to reach them I at least know where they are. In the middle of that shelf is a 10 key calculator, an old camera and to the right are meaningful decorations that mostly pertain to Hubby's Seminary Graduation.

So, this area is unfinished. The right finds a file cabinet. I think I might put preschool stuff in here? The two book cases (super tall and very short) are more theology books that cannot be moved. The other bookcase I am storing my Scope & Sequence printouts and books, music books, foreign countries materials and the top holds my oversized papers (construction paper, 11x17 paper, paper rolls, etc.). On the far left is the new place for an old antique radio that Hubby's uncle refinished when he was in highschool. It stores black and white family photos.

Outside that door is a 4.5 foot tall kitchen cabinet we obtained. It used to hold books and now sits empty waiting for the perfect thing to be held within. To the right of the door is a student desk where the school computer will go. Under that desk to the left are storage boxes that can hang on the wall. Hubby was very excited about these free finds but I am unsure if I want to use any of them so for now they rest there out of the way. The large shelving unit to the right now holds board games on the right and the shelves below are items that are either listed on Amazon or Ebay or items that NEED TO BE listed. To be honest most of it is items that NEED to be listed! Once we settle in and once I get the thermal shades made for this room I will begin listing items again.... right now, I'm a wee bit busy!

There were times during this process where I COULD NOT walk through this room at all. I am so happy to be sitting at the school desk upstairs typing in a nearly completed room. :)

What does your schoolroom look like?

This post was linked to the Not Back-to-School Blog Hop. Click HERE to view more posts about school rooms.

Tomato Processing Time

2011-09-11T14:49:00.000-05:00

We have two tomato patches.

One down the hill (where this happened) which is pollenated by super docile big fat, fluffy bumble bees.

We have another patch near some bee hives.

Beyond the weeds between the hives and the brick wall are my tomatoes. The snow fence was an attempt to get them to fly UP and over instead of straight toward my tomatoes and it *kinda* works.

A bit too close to the bee hives.

This is what I wear when I pick from those vines.

This year I don't think I will be making any sauce. I just don't have TONS of tomatoes like past years. That is okay though since I still have juice and sauce from last year and since I often crave tomato CHUNKS in the soups I make. This year I think I might just process them all as tomato chunks.

So here is how I process my Chopped/Stewed Tomatoes:

First I pick.
Then I wash and sort out the ones that need more ripening time.
Then I SHOULD put these out on a table but what happens most often is I get distracted or too busy and they ripen in their pail!
Then I cut off the bad parts and cut them into large chunks.

Then I stuff them tightly into jars.

Then I add water if there is air space (minus the 1 inch head space).

Then I stick a chopstick down the sides to let the air bubbles out.
Then I process them.

Now here is the most frustrating part for me. We use heirlomes which are high in acid. This means I SHOULD be able to hot water bath my jars. But that means hot packing (hate) and then super long periods of time for the water to boil (hate) and then 45 minutes (some books say more) of boiling time in the water. REALLY??? My last batch I attempted to do this and after 2.5 hours of waiting I still DID NOT have a rapid boil. So I popped my canner lid on and pressured it!

I think I will be pressuring from now on.

I made chili the other day and they were still mushy. How on earth do the canning plants get the tomatoes to still have texture after processing?? Hmmm.....

Anyway, between purging my house, moving all our school stuff upstairs and trying to make sense of it all, laundry, normal house stuff and tomatoes.... I've not had all that much time to blog like I would like to. :( Sad me, sad you.

What have you been up to lately?

Busy...

2011-09-10T12:11:00.000-05:00

Friday's highlights:

History and Andrea Carter Circle C Adventures while still in bed,
Shower
Vacuum 1/2 of house
Strip and remade 2 beds
mail out, mail in
meal prep x 3
10 loads of laundry washed and hung to dry
cookie school lesson with kiddos. Otto READ HIS 1ST RECIPE!
dressed stuffed cat in preemie outfit at least 10 times
dishes, pots pans, dishes again
swept kitchen floor x2
4 loaves of bread
two phone calls to fix double charges to check card
a little purging
movement of things that must be stored for a bit longer (boo)
and much more...

Today:

Grammy is here. :) She took boys to LAURA INGALL's Day in Pepin WI! I hope she took the camera. (oops)
Took the Alien who talks Alien-talk non-stop to the trash collection site. Finally got rid of all the boxes from my thrift sale on August 18, 19, 20 and a little trash too.
Had great ambition to finish the school room but hit a wall. :( Alien girl is in nap and I must go suit up in bee paraphernalia so that I can go gather MY tomatoes from near the bee hives.
Then I NEED to finish the school room while the boys are NOT HERE to move my stuff!

MAYBE?? JUST MAYBE??? We can start school officially next Wednesday??

Monday is more of the same.
Tuesday is errands galore in the *big town* and our first co-op class! :)
Wednesday? Just maybe, Wednesday MIGHT be the first day of school up in the new schoolroom?? MAYBE??

What have you been up to?

Back to School??

2011-08-31T20:15:00.002-05:00

As you know I get frustrated this time of year because EVERYONE is talking about Back to School AND I'M NEVER READY THIS EARLY. Others keep asking my children, "Are you ready to start school again?" Otto just looks at them and tells them "We homeschool and are already doing history." He doesn't really know it but he's been doing more than that all summer long.

So, it's back to school time and I KEEP TEARING MY SCHOOL ROOM APART in effort to "Get it Ready". *sigh*

Tonight I moved EVERYTHING from one side of the room into a messy array on the other side. I have some beautiful carpet that ALMOST fits and I am trying to figure out how to fix it (maybe CUT it) in order to make it work.

So, in those moments when I get frustrated upstairs I find myself thinking about something FUN we can do this year in school. Which usually drives me to my computer to FIND something educational and fun to do this year.

One sight I have gotten a LOT of helpful worksheets from is KBTeachers.

I included diagrams from their PLANT & MICROBIOLOGY section in my Pre-test for the Botany Co-op course that I am teaching this year.

I also nearly ran out of ink printing off the AMAZING Astronomy pages!

I CAN NOT wait for the fun we will have this year with those knowledge packed pages.

Otto has also latched onto several books on Ocean Life so I might have to dig into THIS section

as well.

KBTeachers.com offers math worksheets, social studies worksheets, science and reading readiness as well. There are many worksheets that YOU control what prints. You can create copywork or decide what type of money you want displayed on the money counting worksheet you print.

This is a wonderful resource that I learned about last year while on the TOS Homeschool Crew.

There are lots of free resources as well, check them out today.

KBTeachers.com

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This post was motivated by a request from KBTeachers.com to help promote their new website. It makes me eligible for a free Starbucks gift card, although everything I have typed above I would have typed anyway. :)

Happiness is....

2011-08-30T13:35:00.000-05:00

A friend who gives up her corn stalks and silks after putting the corn away.

I'm NOT READY YET!!!!!!

2011-08-24T14:06:00.001-05:00

Everyone talking about "first day of school" this and "back to school" that is REALLY FREAKING ME OUT!

I just finished a 3 day garage sale.

I am trying to transition a very FILLED large office space into a very comfortable schoolroom. I have a personality that likes to go to the project, dig in, declare war, and work without eating or sleeping until it's done but this project is testing me. I think it is God developing my stamina and my patience because I can work for about 30 minutes before I get bogged down, overwhelmed, confused and just want to cry.

IT WILL HAPPEN....SOME DAY.

Then there are the tomatoes that are ripening out there and will need to be canned.

Then there are the thermal curtains that I will need to sew before the cold comes so that we don't have to wear duck feather down undergarments while we school.

Then there is the botany class that I am teaching a homeschooling co-op that is only sketched out.

Then there is the education of my own dear children. I have lots of books that all flow sequentially but I can't remember where we left off nor how to begin the new books that I am adding on this year (All About Spelling and Heart of Dakota's Drawn Into Reading). Then I have a 4.5 yr old who wants to learn how to read and write and a 2.5 yr old that thinks she can do anything her big brothers can do. I have a 7 year old who needs help on his writing and his letter reversals and... and.... and.....

Oh and I have a garage full of tables covered with baby clothing that need to be boxed away and I have about 10 loads of our current clothing to fold and put away too.

I CAN'T TAKE THE BACK TO SCHOOL TALK.

Tomorrow my kids are going to Our Lois' house. Lois is a retired farm wife who has adopted our family as her own. She watches my kids when I need a sitter. :) Love her. While she has my kids I will be:

Volunteering with our church at a Free Meal Ministry Kitchen.
"Just Looking" at a fancy kitchen bath place doing research into the replacement of my kitchen sink which is about to fall through it's counter!
Stopping by the church who sponsors the co-op to make copies for my first class in a couple weeks!!
Stopping at 2 maybe 3 fabric stores to purchase fabric for the thermal curtains in the new school room (I forgot my measurements the last time we went to town).
Picking up a free phone along my way since I stupidly forgot ours outside on a chair just prior to a 4 hour rain storm. **doight**
Hitting up a Greenhouse/nursery with questions and the need to purchase plant seeds and maybe bulbs for my botany class.
Stopping at Menards to purchase or order my counter top and new sink. We ONLY have Menards. He is a townie here and has some "FABULOUS" strings tied onto the city board here that will allow NO competition for his stores into the area. So "we spend big money, spend big money, when we shop Menards!!"
Praying to sell a handful of nicer outfits at Once Upon A Child that did not sell in my Thrift Sale.
Then I will be hitting up a couple of office supply stores buying a few supplies for us and my Botany Class.
Finally it will be off to pick up the crazy kids and get them home and to bed.

I'm already exhausted and NO!!!!
I AM NOT GOING TO START
SCHOOL ANYTIME SOON!!!!
And I don't have to because I am a homeschooler!

In all honesty, our local school districts don't start until September 1st! :)

This blog post has been linked to:

Please Vote for Hubby --- HE WON!!

2011-08-22T12:23:00.002-05:00

Hi.

Hubby has found these really cool fabric head wrap thingy's. They wick the sweat away from his head while he is working and he loves them dearly. They are like $30 each and he soaks one with sweat at least once a day. The winner of this facebook contest wins a treasure trove of Buff Wear. I'd love for him to win this.

Would you be willing to take a few seconds to click the link below and vote for the coolest farmer around??

Voting is now over..... HE WON! HE WON!! :)

It took only 17 votes to tie for 4th place but he won and that is worth some free UV Buffwear! Whoo hooo!!!!

Thank you if you voted for Hubby. :)

Week In Review: The Thrift Sale Week

2011-08-21T18:27:00.001-05:00

While I sit here writing I am wondering if I will EVER have energy or a clean house again!

This past Thursday, Friday and Saturday I had my first ever Yard Sale.

Over the many weeks leading up to my sale I spent much time thinking about where to put signs, what I wanted my signs to look like (or NOT look like). I asked around to borrow tables, I thought about how I wanted my tables arranged. I was purging our home like a mad woman. If we had not touched it in 2 months it was likely tossed in a box. I decided I would only mark a few items and that everything else would be 50 cents. The mission was PURGE, PURGE, PURGE!!!

Last week started with me prepping for my first ever yard sale. By the way, in my neck of the woods they are called *Thrift Sales.* I made my signs by printing my words really large on paper, sticking them onto a white poster board template and using an exacto knife to cut out the letters making a huge stencil. I then colored in the stencil holes with permanent black marker.

They looked great and best yet..... people told me the same thing. :)

Wednesday found me cleaning up the garage and then cleaning a rich organic compost like debris filled with dirt straw & manure off from our concrete pad. The barn and chicken yard is up the hill and every rain washes such debris down the hill and onto my driveway. (Yep, I know, kinda gross.) THREE wheel barrows FULL of debris and the concrete was clear. Ugg.

At 3:15 pm on WEDNESDAY (sale was to begin Thursday at 10am) my first EARLY customers arrived. I had not even one thrift sale box down stairs and into the garage. They were all towering mountains in the upstairs spare bedroom and the office/soon-to-be school room. I had to bring the elderly, early shoppers into my house and up the very uneven stairs to dig out the stroller and the guitar they wanted. I shake my head over this but am not complaining since their purchase was big enough to PAY FOR my advertising!!! :)

Wednesday night, Hubby and I put up tables, covered them and unpacked as much stuff as we could until it was too dark to see. A baby bat, who was NOT afraid of humans, joined us making our work a bit interesting. I told him we had plenty of bugs and that he could move over the yard a bit. :)

Thursday morning I was up at 5:30 am to shower and go place signs. Then I came home and THOUGHT I had enough time to finish setting up before my 10 am start. I have learned MANY, MANY things throughout this sale. I had been given very good advice before hand but had not been prepared for the HUGE RUSH of (blood thirsty) PEOPLE showing up at 8am for a 10am opening!!!   Next time, if there is one, I will have the GATE CLOSED on the driveway with a sign prominently place stating that the sale begins at 10am and ends at 6pm.... and I will remember to CLOSE the gate until I am ready!

I was also not prepared to negotiate prices. I had NO experience negotiating prices. When these early birds arrived I had not marked many of my bigger items because they had been buried upstairs in the mountains. I had an older, second rate rocking chair out that was not marked, when I was asked my price I felt obligated at the time to keep my word that "Anything unmarked was 50 cents." As my words came out I immediately regretted my choice but felt I couldn't take it back.   I had not had any think time and had not known that I could have announce that the sale started at 10 and we were not quite ready and not everything was marked. Thankfully, despite her ruthless negotiating on other items the woman who snagged that 50 cent chair overpaid me and told me to keep the change. She also made off with a super old antiquish cultivator for $5. I think she would have bought it for $25 but alas it is now out of the brush and Hubby will now no longer come in with pretty bruises on his shins as he runs into it hidden in the weeds. :)

Pricing: the most tormenting part of my sale. I found myself in this internal debate the entire three days of my sale. I REALLY just wanted stuff to go and was only having the sale so that I had less to transport and could make a few bucks along the way.   However, there were several items that I COULD have held out on and made much more money than I did. I felt this internal struggle between getting excited over watching someone take 4 plastic grocery bags of baby clothes away (so I didn't have to lug them somewhere else) and then lamenting that I only made $4 from ALL THOSE CLOTHES.   I had to keep reminding myself that YES they were getting a *Steal* but letting this happen most often blessed many people (and I was told this directly) and it also blessed me by getting rid of my stuff.

Overall, if I lived in town I would have made more but considering that I live out in the country I did pretty good. I think the money I made should either completely pay for or will make a large dent in replacing my kitchen sink and counter and will allow us to do that project sooner (you know, before the sink falls THROUGH the counter top)!

There were other benefits as well.
* The scale is showing me at lower number after all my running around. :)
* My calves are NICE AND TONE, or at least more tone than they have been in a VERY long time!
* I will not overwhelm the bi-annual clothing distrubution that I donate my unwanted stuff to. :) Twice a year people working with the Social Services of my county get to come to a distribution point and may take anything they could use for free. They are so needy and so thankful. I LOVE taking my stuff there. Each Spring and Fall they fill a HUGE room full of tables that are piled near shoulder high. At the end of the one day giveaway they usually are only left with 1 partial car trunk full of leftovers that they then give to Hope Gospel Mission. Yep! It's a cool thing to be a part of. :)
* As a woman who no longer receives a paycheck there is just something about being able to make money that helps out. Hubby selflessly works hard both in his paying job and doing physical labor around the homestead. I know I don't need to but there are just times were I feel bad that I can't help out. This little chunk of change will be a great help and I am so excited to be able to help pay for the one repair in my home that I will get the most regular use out of. :)

I am sure there are other benefits as well. Currently I am too exhausted to think or type any more. Those of you reading my posts on email on your lunch break are saying "WHEW!! It's about time she stopped yapping!" :)

It was a fun experience. I am not sure I want to repeat it anytime soon but it was fun, I enjoyed it and I learned much about the process and about myself along the way.

Now it's back to life:
1) re-coup QUICKLY
2) go harvest the tomatoes that DESPERATELY need to be attended to.
3) get my Homeschool Co-op Botany course planned (At Least September 4th's class)
4) Pack up the clothes in the garage and figure out if I will save them all for the Clothing Distribution (see below) or give some away on Free Cycle.

5) Take all my trash (mostly plastic and stained clothing) to the dump.
6) get the school room finished now that the box mountains are out of the way and I can access it.
7) Thursday I am volunteering at a meal service place ("soup kitchen") and then running errands. I will be looking at sinks, counters, buying curtain material for the school room, picking up needed supplies at an office store for my class and for homeschooling, stopping by Once Upon a Child to see if they will buy some of my nicer kid outfits and stopping by Sams to pick up a few needed items. I suppose at the end of my day I should pick up my children from My Lois' house. :) LOVE HER!
8) can tomatoes
9) sew thermal curtains for the 2 MONSTER windows and 5 other smaller windows upstairs
10) plan our school year
11) finish purging the last 3 spots in the house that I did not get to and sell some of my items being stored in those spots on ebay. (Side note: If you get the urge to try to sell on ebay..... 1) KNOW there is a HUGE learning curve and 2) DON'T have your sales come off of auction DURING your very first THRIFT SALE.....just sayin.....)
12) start teaching school
13) pass out.

So, what does the end of August and beginning of September look like for you?

Wishes Sometimes DO Come True...

2011-08-15T09:00:00.001-05:00

All my life I have wanted a real, wooden, non-electric piano.

I do not know how to play but am pretty good at messing around on the keys and picking out tunes by ear.

I have ALWAYS wanted to learn how to play the piano. Five or six years ago, I even purchased a highly recommended "Learn to Play Piano, for adults book" and I MIGHT even know where to find it.

Last year when I was reviewing homeschool curriculum for The Old Schoolhouse's Homeschool Review Crew my family received KinderBach to review. My children (especially my oldest who is now 7) LOVED this curriculum! They learned so much and had so much fun learning.

Hubby in the past has had respect for pianos and for those who play them but was never sold on the need for our family to have one. After all, bluegrass doesn't play very well on them and you can't sling one on your back and carry one where you want to go?

Earlier in the summer, Hubby watched as the kids had a BLAST with KinderBach. He was impressed at how much they had learned and how much they were able to do on our keyboard that didn't really work. After some thought he told me that after watching the children he realized how much the family could appreciate and use a real piano and that in time we should look into purchasing a nice used one.

A few weeks ago, I was skimming through my local freecycle email. I NEVER find anything on these emails and often have asked myself why I waste the 3 minutes looking it over every day.

That day I skimmed and saw FREE PIANO. I texted Hubby (my email to his phone) and asked "Free Piano, what do you think?" He texted back and said "Try to get it." I emailed right away thinking for sure it would be gone already. When a few days had passed and I did not receive a response I KNEW it was gone. Then I received a phone call. I was told she was taking people on a first come, first serve basis and *I* was first. :)

I could barely contain my excitement and she could tell that. I was thrilled. I asked what might be wrong with it and she stammered and said "Well, there is one thing." My heart sank. She said, "Last winter someone set a glass that had ice in it on the piano and it left a round mark where the condensation hit the wood." I WANTED TO SCREAM FOR JOY!!!! THAT is the worst you can come up with!!!! It had not been tuned for 2 years but she told me that prior to that it had always tuned very well.

I was estatic.

The next challenge was trying to figure out how to get it to my home. Through many phone calls, A WONDERFUL NEIGHBOR FAMILY, a rented piano dolly, some brute muscles and determination to make it happen we got the piano into my living room. The finish on the entire piano shows a bit of wear. I look forward to asking the tuner if he might guess how old it is or if he knows how we could find that out.

Meanwhile, I have a piano.

My children can't wait for everyone to be awake in the morning so that they can play. Gracie likes for her stuffed Smurf to play tunes, Abram makes "a joyful noise" and Otto plays as many of his KinderBach songs as he can remember.


Otto still in Spidy PJ boxers.

Singing the Blues.

Which reminds me, I need to tweak his song sheets so they fit the correct way in that 3 ring binder so he can actually SEE the music.

I am so excited about the music that will fill our lives in the future.

Music is where God reaches and touches my soul. I am SO THANKFUL.

The 2010-2011 Schoolhouse Planner Winner is.....

2011-08-13T17:30:00.000-05:00

RaeAnne

Here is her winning entry...

RaeAnne will have 24 hrs to contact me for prize dispersal. If she fails to do so I will have random.com draw again.

Hope you enjoy the planner RaeAnne. :)

I hope to have a chance away from my purging and thrift sale to get you all a post of how I am using this planner so far. :)

Have a great weekend.

"I want my hair like Daddy's"

2011-08-12T09:04:00.000-05:00

Last week at church I was ruffling Abram's (4.5) hair. I realize he had a lot of heat rash and flaky skin under his 3 inch hair mop. I felt super bad that the heat had gotten to him. I had seen him itching but had NO IDEA it had gotten so bad.

So we did haircuts to lessen the heat on the scalp.

As I was pulling out the clippers Abram announced he wanted hair like Daddy's.

My husband shaves his head with a razor. Hubby announced that we couldn't do that and Abram began to pout. With this pout I realized that Hubby had not shaved for several days and had a nice velcro-like fuzz layer on his head. THAT IS WHAT ABRAM WANTED!

So a buzz cut (Guard #1= 1/8 inch) he got.

Here he is before:

and here he is with Daddy after.

Are they cute or what??

He then proceeded to ask us (wearing a look of pride) if we liked his hair about 30 more times that evening and again about 15 times before lunch the next day.

A few days later he was at VBS and I had a hard time finding him with the other kids ... until I realized he was the one with the buzz. :)

Curriculum: 2011 NOT Back-To-School Blog Hop

2011-08-11T09:00:00.035-05:00

So, I am behind in the 2011 NOT Back-to-School Blog Hop....

and that's okay.

I've been super busy purging my home, deep cleaning corners, packing stuff up for my Thrift Sale (that would be YARD sale to any of you not from my Neck-of-the-Woods) and turning a neglected office into our new school room (while finding a place for all the stuff being stored there).

We have been doing some major fixing up and cleaning up around the homestead all the while canning, harvesting and purchasing all my curriculum this year with the proceeds of book sales.

Yep, been purging the books and selling them off as well. I am so excited to have this whole year paid for by extra books that were just collecting dust. :)

Anyway, BACK TO THE BLOG HOP!!!

WEEK 1: CURRICULUM

Otto= 7= 2nd grade

Math: Finishing up Saxon 2 and moving into Saxon 3

Handwriting: Review while the youngers learn. I use Hand Writing Without Tears Techniques and $1 consumable books from Target, chalkboards and copy work for materials.

Read-A-Louds: We will continue to read through the Circle C Beginnings and Circle C Adventures series' and then we will work our way into Caddie Woodlawn (a local pioneer hero) and likely into Laura Ingalls Wilder after that unless the follow the flow of interest leads us somewhere else. I will be using Heart of Dakota: Drawn Into Reading to help guide us as we begin to start thinking about literature from a more academic point of view. I also have First language Lessons.

Reading: We will finish the last few lessons in Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, will read through the Primers from Veritas Press' Phonics Museum, will work through some shorter workbooks on comprehension and will essentially keep building his confidence and skill so that by Christmas he will be sitting down to read entire picture books without much assistance. We are a bit behind in reading but that it okay.

Spelling: I purchased All About Spelling Level 1. I look forward to using it. Last year our attempts at spelling were horrific. I look forward to this program reinforcing spelling rules, thus helping his reading improve as well. I hear it is a GREAT program and I look forward to starting it.

Writing: We will continue to work in our science journal and with copywork. I also hope that as his reading skills boom and his spelling improves that by mid-year he might be able to begin writing on his own some without having to copy.

History: We will finish reading Story of the World Vol. 1 aloud and will continue to memorize facts for each chapter. We will then move into Vol 2 and will take side tracks along the way with library books to supplement topics of interest as we find them.

Social Studies: We *might* start learning about different countries. As I have reorganized my school stuff I rediscovered some great information on various countries that we could do something with. You know IF we get bored (*cough, cough, sputter, mwaaahahaahahahaaaa)

Science: I've decided we are going to Space Out! Errrr, I mean study space, stars, constellations, planets and other out of this world items.

Art: We will work through Artistic Pursuits book 1 and if we finish it we will move into book 2.

Music: Kinderbach will continue to teach music and music theory. Hubby and I have not really discussed piano lessons yet but we shall see how Otto progresses with the "new" piano that he loves. Otto actually asked me if we could start at the beginning of Kinderbach and do it again from scratch. I now own everything they make, thanks to some AMAZING deals! :)

Abram= 4.5=4 yr old Kindergarten

Reading: We will continue to move at Abram's pace through Ordinary Parent's Guide. He was doing very well and is very motivated but his attention span is closer to 2 minutes when his brother's was closer to 20 minutes at this age. I also have letter tiles and will pull out books and sliders with simple words when he is ready.

Pre-K stuff: Last year Abram kept asking me where HIS school book was or when HE could DO SCHOOL. I had a partial copy of this book. I would use it to test Otto to see what he could do. I'd open it up do a verbal quiz and then put it away. For this year I have decided to purchase Abram his own book and have him do a few pages each day. It will be enough for him to *DO* school, it will help him learn to sit and be still and stay on task for small periods of time and although I don't see it being too terribly challenging I do see him learning from it.

Math: I MIGHT pull out Saxon 1. MAYBE. We shall see. I started Otto in Saxon 1 in Kindergarten and Abram will be 5 in November but emotionally is VERY 4. I plan to just ride the wave with him and wherever the surf takes us that is where we will go. He is after all the age his older brother was when I announced "My BABY is TOO LITTLE to send off to school 5 days a week for 1/2 days in a classroom." I need to remember to let him be little still. :)

History: He listens to SOTW with us and sometimes does the memory.

Writing: I have a few early phonics $1 writing books from Target. One on the alphabet, one on numbers and another on short words. I bought one for each of my kids. Otto will practice with the goal of being HIS BEST. Abram will learn his letters and numbers the correct way (I will also do some air writing with him and some Wet-Dry-Try with him) and Gracie will show me what she can do. She is so advanced with fine motor skills I MIGHT be teaching her how to write.........or maybe she will just pretend.

Read-A-Louds: He will usually listen in.

Art: We will do this together.

Science: Spacing Out with the rest of us. :)

I also need to find some MECHANICS for Abram. Perhaps a board with holes and bolts and nuts. Or some hinges and bolts on a board or something like that for my little mechanic. He was building the dog a dog house treat house earlier this week with cattle panel and scrap boards. I REALLY need to get this kid working on mechanical arts in some fashion.

Gracie= 2.5=Preschool

I hope to pick up some special "school only" books for Gracie.

I will basically be keeping her safe and occupied while the big kids do school. I have accumulated pre-school like activities and eventually I will figure out where and how to store them in my new school room. I can say for sure it will be interesting to see what kind of messes she might make while we are upstairs and we are downstairs. *sigh*

I do have lots of small activities to pull out to help her fine motor skills (as if....).

I suspect by February she will have a few letters down!

My overall goals for her are: potty training (which she has recently REALLY turned a corner in), teaching politeness and manners, getting her to use REAL words and not ALIEN TALK, keep her safe and happy and expose her to fun tasks that allow the older kiddos to get their work done. I am sure I will be visiting my favorite toddler sites (Confessions of a Homeschooler & 1+1+1=1) often for ideas.

I am also certain I have forgotten several things here as well.

Those who read my posts know that my state only requires me to promise to teach a certain amount of hours in a certain amount of topics in a sequential order. I personally enjoy text book formats and so does my "Mini-Me" (Otto) so life is super easy in the way of planning around here. We pick a text and we do a lesson every day or so and keep the momentum moving forward. As long as we keep moving we are fulfilling the requirements and it is honestly NOT HARD to exceed them. We work in a steady way and we stop to veer off the text book path when a fun topic hits that we want to study.

My curriculum list is obviously reflected in this path of organization, now if I can just pull our life together so that we can get started we will be doing GREAT.

This blog post is linked up with the Blog Hop.
Please click on this button to find more 2011 NOT Back-to-School Blog Hop Posts.

DIY: Dry Laundry Soap

2011-08-09T09:00:00.015-05:00

There are a ton of recipes out there for making your own laundry soap. Most of them for a pseudo-liquid variety that needs to be shaken before each use. I like dry detergent.I wanted to make my own but didn't want the hassle of the gloppy liquid stuff.

Then Money Saving Mom featured HER experience with dry detergent making and I thought, "Okay, I can try it too."

My first batch was clumpy. I used the shredded cheese section of my grater (like MSM shows) and in my washing machine that only has cold water (currently) the clumps just never dissolved. USUALLY the wind knocked them off the clothing on the line but I was worried about winter and how those clumps would do in the dryer.

So I tried the tiny prickly section of my 4 sided grater. IT WORKED DREAMY! It grated my soap into a beautiful fine powder.

So I decided to do a double batch and I grabbed another bar of soap and it DID NOT WORK DREAMY!!   The soap clung to the prickly grater and did not break into a powder fine substance.

Hmmmm.....   I realized my first bar of soap was over 3 years old and the second bar of soap was a new, nice and creamy bar of Ivory. NOT HELPFUL when grating into a powdery fine substance.

Hmmmm.....   So how could I speed up the drying process of my soap?

Microwave? Nope that would melt it.
Air Dry? Not enough time.

Hubby suggested that in the freezer the freezing action would draw out the moisture.

So I unwrapped my bars. I wrapped them with a paper towel. I put them in a wide mesh orange bag and into the freezer.

I was hoping my detergent would last long enough for the moisture to draw out but alas here I am needing more. What to do? What to do?

So, today I NEEDED more and figured I had no other choice but to TRY a bar from the freezer.

Here is what I found........... when frozen the bar grates powdery fine like I need it to. :) YAY!!

This is good news. I figured if I could get it grated powdery fine while frozen and get the other two ingredients mixed in before the soap flakes thaw and clump I would be good to go.

This was a great plan and worked well but I continued to learn today.

Lessons learned:
1) Frozen soap bars are REALLY COLD to hold onto. I wrapped that paper towel around the end I held onto.
2) Setting down a partial bar of soap while tending children means that you will need to place that section of the bar into the freezer to re-freeze.

Grating after just a minute or so with the children is like grating a room temperature or luke warm bar of soap..... soft and too gooey.
3) Frozen bars of soap are REALLY COLD!
4) The soap still cakes onto my grater much more than those ancient bars did which tells me that even though frozen...the moisture content still makes it a bit clingy and soft. But.....
5) IT ACTUALLY WORKED!!! and that is all that matters sometimes.

My recipe:
1 bar soap
1 cup WASHING soda
1 cup Borax.

I put 2 Tablespoons in the bottom of the washer before my clothing (when I remember to put it in first). I also use a small dose (Maybe 2 Tbs) of fabric softener in a ball to appease my addiction to that pretty laundered smell. Someday I will be able to cast that addiction away but for now it remains.

I keep looking for Fels Naptha or Zote or Dr Brunner's when I am out and about. Someday I will find them in a store and I will be able to see if they have a drier moisture content (assisting with grating to powdery fine). The first two are made with laundry in mind so one MIGHT think they would be drier.... I will let you know what I know when I know it. :)

Do you make your own detergent? Has anyone every tried to make homemade powdered detergent?? How about dishwasher detergent?? That might be in my future, although I have read a bit about how some think it is unsafe for the appliance. We shall see, we shall see.

First I need to get my school room finished and my house purged before my August 18, 19, 20 yard sale. :)

The 2011-2012 Schoolhouse Planner Review & GIVEAWAY.

2011-08-07T21:17:00.002-05:00

One thing I really miss about being on The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew is receiving REALLY COOL homeschooling products for free.

Something I miss more is when I received products that I fell in love with and wanted to run out and tell all my friends to go out and purchase for themselves.

A short time ago, while talking to a friend at The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, I was given a free copy of The 2011-2012 Schoolhouse Planner to review

AND ANOTHER ONE TO GIVE AWAY!!

Last year I was able to review The 2010-2011 Schoolhouse Planner and loved it. You can read here and here about last year's planner.

This year's planner is EVEN MORE AWESOME!

There are over 175 new forms, new articles, new recipes. The cover is newly designed and super groovy and they have even included pages that I MYSELF recommended.

How's that for super cool!

Any of you ever had a planner redesigned in any way based upon YOUR own suggestion?? Huh?? Huh??

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine listens to suggestions and desires of those who use their planner and they mold each new year into an even better product than before. I find that pretty amazing.

As you have read before, I don't get into detailed planning. It stresses me out and I find my plans never work out anyway. With my past record of expressing how silly it seems to me (with few state requirements and really young children) to spend so much time planning, some of you might be scratching your head asking WHY THEN IS SHE SO EXCITED ABOUT A FREE PLANNER??

I am so glad you asked! :)

The 2011-2012 Schoolhouse Planner is NOT just for PLANNING school.

It is jam packed with tons of useful pages ... to help you:

Plan and record all of the dynamic aspects of your homeschool year from top to bottom.
Schedule your social activities effectively.
Organize your technological resources.
Manage money wisely (and teach your kids this important life skill too).
Be the queen of your kitchen.
Foster family pride by establishing family goals and recording family tree information.
Record important medical information including medications and family medical history.
Run a successful home business.
Get ready for the holidays.
And so much more!

The Old Schoolhouse Store says: The 2011-12 Schoolhouse Planner is a list maker’s dream! You’ll find lists for everything from blog post ideas to childhood memories. Enjoy endless brainstorming with 50 list-style forms designed to inspire you the whole year through. It's a tool that will help you maintain a well-organized home and homeschool.

Now, in answer to your earlier question of why does the NON-PLANNER want such a huge planner????? It's because I am a list maker! I am not a great planner but I have lists all over. I LOVE to organize. I LOVE to fill out forms and shuffle papers and make my own smaller books of planning pages to fill out. I might not plan in advance but having the forms in this product to fill in and file makes my heart sing. :)

OVER 800 PAGES or info and Blank Lists!!!!

There are two sections of forms, one for homeschooling and one for household planning

There is something in this planner for everyone:

Calendars and Scheduling Pages
School planning sheets
Tracking sheets for school topics, unit studies, field trips, reading lists, technology tracking, etc.
Family budgeting, household management forms
Must know lists
17 Homeschooloing articles on topics like read-alouds, tight budgets, science in the early years, literature, incorporating Bible activities.
There are PRESCHOOL forms and multiple child homeschooling forms.

If you DREAM it...........

Likely you will find it.
If you don't find it email The Old Schoolhouse Store and they might just include it in next year's product!

The Old Schoolhouse has also designed STUDENT PLANNERS as well.

There are student planners for Primary Students, Intermediate Students, High School Students and Special Needs.

You can see more here.

The Schoolhouse Planners are great because you can purchase the e-version which downloads directly to your computer or you may choose the CD version which comes free in the mail with free shipping. The planners allow you to individualize many of the forms and print as little or as many as you choose.

Now, I must admit. At first glance I am IN LOVE with all this planner has to offer. However, in the time since I received the planner and when I had promised to get this review and giveaway into cyberspace I have had family visits, a printer change, printer issues after the change, a major household device malfunction, major homestead tasks needing my attention and a trip out of state. I am SURE the Schoolhouse Planner would have made all those situations MUCH LESS STRESSFUL and I look forward to now being able to print to my hearts desire.

I promise, dear loyal blog readers (and those who are here merely to sign up to win) that I will post again soon (in my current life that is in the next couple of months) about how I have USED THIS PLANNER TO MY HEARTs DELIGHT!!!

IF.... you sign up for email notices OR .... IF ... you sign up for Networked Blogs you will find that post immediately after it posts AND you will get extra entries while doing so. :) (Life is so swell, isn't it??)

And now that you all have heard how awesome I think these planners are HOW WOULD YOU LIKE A FEW CHANCES TO WIN YOUR VERY OWN???

Leave a separate comment for each entry and in each entry please leave me your email address so that if you do win I am able to notify you and let you know how to obtain your free copy.

This contest is for the electronic download version of one Schoolhouse Planner of your choosing. :) (Are they not awesome at The Old Schoolhouse or What??)

Mandatory Entry: Visit The Old Schoolhouse Store, investigate the planners, then TELL ME WHICH PLANNER YOU WOULD LIKE TO WIN AND WHY.

EXTRA ENTRIES

1) Tell me the qualities you see in the Schoolhouse Planners that you find most alluring or intriguing.

2) Like The Old Schoolhouse Magazine on Facebook and leave me a comment telling me you did.
3) Like Clothesline Musings on Facebook and tell me about it.
4) Sign up for email notifications of Clothesline Musings on the right side of my blog and tell me that you did.
5) Follow clotheslinemuse on twitter and tell me you twitter name.
6) Follow Clothesline Musings with Google Friends on the left side of this blog and tell me about it.
7) Follow me via Networked Blogs on the left side of this blog and tell me about it.
8) Post this contest on your Facebook and tell me you told all your friends.
9) Tweet about this contest and give me the link about it. (Daily Tweet) (1 entry per day)
10) Blog about this contest and give me you link (3 entries) – Give me your link and enter three times in the comment section.

Don’t forget to include your email for each steps. No email means I will have to pick someone else. I need to be able to contact you if you win! Random.org will be use to determine the winner. You will have 24 hours to contact me so I can send it to my contact!

Deadline to Enter: Friday Aug 12th , 2011 @ 11:59 PM CST.

A Mighty Fine Green Bean Bounty

2011-07-26T14:56:00.000-05:00

Are you all sick of hearing about my canning updates??

Is ANYONE THERE AT ALL any way???

Sometimes blogging is so lonely. Sometimes I blog and see no comments.

I KNOW some of you (*ahem: KIM*) are reading but it feels like I am typing to the wind some days.... oh well!

Okay. Canning update: 18.5 more quarts of green beans

Total: close to 80 quarts! :) I am excited about that tally. It means I most likely will not have to buy any beans from the store this year.

Love, love, really love.

Just like the ants..... the MANY, MANY ants.

2011-07-24T16:52:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking about a bible verse on and off today.

I've not been so great at following it's wisdom but have been thinking on it none-the-less.

The verse?

Proverbs 33:25

²⁵ Ants are creatures of little strength,
yet they store up their food in the summer;

I've been canning green beans lately. I've been picking every other day or every third day and have been canning about 20 quarts from each picking.

My next picking is tomorrow morning.

I've been super happy about my MONSTER CANNER that Hubby bought me for Christmas a few years back. I sometimes worry about my stove when I am operating it but love that it holds 19 quarts in one setting. :)

The cherry tomatoes are on the vines (green) and our other tomato plants look like they are coming along. AND... while putting the green beans in storage I realized I only used about 2/3 of my tomato products from last year. We are in great shape.

The squash plants are coming and we ate our first zucchini the other day.

I think we are putting up food, just like the ants.

Speaking of ants.....

Yesterday Hubby was fixing some drywall in our bathroom that had been tore apart for many years after a burst water pipe. :) A wall is a good thing to have. :)

While he was in drywall mode he cut square pieces to put over a hole in the ceiling in our room and the boys' room. When we bought the house it had 2 trailer/camper skylights in our bedroom and one in the boys' bedroom. When Otto was just 6 days old Hubby and Father-In-Law re-roofed the back of the house and covered those holes. On the inside the stuffed the hole with insulation and covered them with a piece of plywood.

Covering the hole in our bedroom went quite well. Hubby was on a roll and went to the boys' room to take that piece of plywood off to do the same.

****

Pause the story. The past year I have found these big black ants in random places in my house. Unlike their sweet kitchen ant counter parts I could never find a nice little ant parade, just random ants. It was driving me crazy but I had no idea what to do about it. They were not hurting anything, just annoying me.

****

Flash forward to yesterday..... (Can you guess?) Hubby unscrewed the plywood to find the ant nest was ON that plywood.

The plywood now suspended in the air. Through frantic communication where I tried to take the board, he tried to take the board, ants fell off, ants fell on us, ants fell on toys (praise Jesus the kids had recently picked up that room).

We FINALLY (maybe 30 seconds but felt like an hour) got that board tossed out into the yard. Hubby gallantly ordered me around and as I was in a weird state of ***AAAHHHHH, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO*** shock, took over the vacuum cleaner and sucked most of those critters up. The boys were put on the order of *squish any ant you see* and quickly and bravely took over the task. Hubby then went out and sprayed the board and the surrounding area with wasp spray. Hey! It's all we had!

I then spent the evening vacuuming up dust from under the bed, drywall powder and dead ant carcasses which covered 3 rooms.

EEEEEEWWWWWWW!!!!!!!

I am SO glad it was Hubby and not me.

I am SO glad I merely went into shock and didn't scream like a girl!!

And most importantly I am glad we found that nest and prayerfully got rid of the queen and that they were mostly hanging out in the open space the skylight originally occupied and did not cause much damage from their chewing.

Whew.

Could have been worse.

I kinda feel bad about disturbing their nice little home, after all they were just storing up food and babies for the winter. Yet, it's MY house and I'd rather not share it with any creepy crawlies!

What have you been up to?

Morning Surprise

2011-07-23T09:25:00.001-05:00

I went to bed hot, sweaty and super grumpy. By 10:30 the house was 81 and the outside was about the same.

I woke up pretty grumpy too.

The weather map shows cool temps are on their way after a round of strong storms that should hit in the next hour or so. I am praying the storm blows my crankies away.

Then...

Otto came inside with these.

Hubby had spied these beautiful flowers the other day. He had sowed the seeds 2 years ago and until this summer we had not seen any results. We had written them off as a failure and yet here they are. Makes me thankful our Lord doesn't write us off so fast! :)

What's all the YOU MUST ORGANIZE NOW hub-bub about??

2011-07-22T14:29:00.000-05:00

So, according to all the emails I am receiving these days I am supposed to be ORGANIZING my homeschool and my fall plan. And apparently I need a LOT of planning sheets, organizers and special tools to get that done.

I think about our school a lot. While cooking supper or hanging clothing, I think through what we will be studying and evaluate if I am missing pieces. I have been selling un-needed curriculum and using my sales money to purchase new products that I have researched and feel will fill in our gaps.

Every time I have tried to sit down and plan out a daily schedule or find other ways to micromanage, errr I mean ORGANIZE, our days and weeks I find we stick to it for just a few days and then it falls by the wayside. I do like routines but I like routines that help me feel like the world is not chaos. I don't like routines that feel like I am living in the super strict world of a 19th Century one room school house where if I turn my head the wrong direction at the wrong time I will be swatted with a ruler or switch. I feel the need to keep progressing at the speed my children can handle and I believe that allowing lots of flexible non-planned time in our week allows us to double up lessons one day so we can take the next day off. This kind of scheduling allows for us to just hop up one day and take an impromptu field trip without the pressures of feeling *behind*. I honestly have never felt behind. We PROGRESS. If one is progressing then I am confused as to how you can be BEHIND unless of course you have over planned and you have divided all your books into nice need perfect schedules (that rarely line up with real life's roller coaster filled life lessons)?

In my state I vow to implement a "sequentially progressive curriculum of fundamental instruction in: reading, language arts, math, social studies, science and health." I am not required to do a portfolio. My children do not have to do standardized tests. We have no interviews or conferences with people with more credentials. In fact in my state at this time the law states there is "no authority for any agency or school district to monitor home-based private education programs or to verify the hours of instruction." Perhaps that is why I can relax so much more than the online friends I observe who are all frantically organizing and planning and worry about how it will all happen.

My fall plan is to keep doing low key on the spot schooling until the harvest is over and then pick up our books where we stopped and keep moving forward. Perhaps, I'm a weird homeschooler but I just don't understand all the extra stress and energy of *PLANNING AND ORGANIZING* for the new year. Perhaps it is because I prefer to use books that either are or resemble text book.s (I have disliked nearly ALL the unit studies we have attempted.) Perhaps, I was just brainwashed by NIKE as a young child and REALLY BOUGHT INTO THE **JUST DO IT** motto?

I guess I figure if I keep my calendar and thus know if we are staying home or running errands, keep my teacher planning sheet (which I often fill out the DAY OF our lesson) and keep my children moving progressively through the required topics then I am "good to go."

Perhaps I have just slipped into harvest time vision blur already?

Perhaps I am just not the SUPER HOMESCHOOL MOM that others are attempting to be?

Perhaps our school style just fits this way of planning best?

Perhaps I'm just weird or perhaps I just have it super easy where I live.

Any way you look at it, I really am scratching my head as to why everyone thinks I need their expensive planners and organizers that actually give me even more work to do and more *stuff* and papers to find a place for. I just I just don't get it. I guess I just DO IT.

Graphics provided for free from: Webweaver's Free Clip Art

Heat Wave - Day 4 & 5

2011-07-21T17:32:00.000-05:00

Wednesday was day 4 of our heat wave.

We started out at the library. Each week in the summer school age kids can attend our Library's Story Time. (Click here to see pictures of week #1. It's under the KidStuff tab if fun pictures don't pop up.)

This year they are learning about other countries and cultures around the world. Wednesday they had a professional musician & story teller perform. Usually we are outside in the shade near a very pretty gazebo. This week we were all crammed into our very, very small library but the story telling was mesmerizing and the children all sat with wonderful behavior. YAY!

After Story Time we headed to the grocery store and then back home again to lay low. Earlier in the day I received a call from each ball team telling us they were canceling the last week of ball due to the excessive heat. That was sad, but a very good call. It was 90 at 5:30 pm when we would have been loading up to drive to the fields.

Thursday on any other year I would label to be hot enough for a heat wave. Our high for today was forecasted at 87. I picked beans today. I picked for an hr in our lower bean patch. I call it the Jungle. It is a mixed crop patch. We planted peas and beans together alternating seeds. The peas are done producing and I have pulled most of them. The beans are now the primary crop but there are places where we allowed the volunteer tomatoes to grow. Those volunteer tomatoes are mingled here and there and there are places where it's really hard to find the bean crops which are still growing and producing. We thought about pulling the tomatoes up but all year those volunteer tomatoes are bigger, healthier and have much more green fruit growing on them then the seedlings we started AND the green house seedlings that we purchased!

So far I have put away about 25 quarts and have a very large batch waiting to be washed, snapped and canned yet today. (Perhaps I'll do them tomorrow.)

Aren't they lovely?

So how have you been surviving the heat?

Heat Wave - Day 2 & 3

2011-07-19T18:15:00.000-05:00

Day 2, yesterday.

We survived. The kids took 2 baths and I tried not to touch the hot computer. I read nearly an entire chapter book to Otto as we sat on the couch with the ceiling fan on high.

When Hubby woke he went out and picked green beans for me. It had cooled off to 80 outside with like 98% humidity. It was as hot, but less muggy in the house.


She holds 19 quarts.

After kiddie bedtime Hubby and I snapped beans while watching some Netflix until he had to leave for work. I stayed up to finish snapping and then I got the fun task of CANNING. I had 20 quarts and so I pulled out my big gun. I need to name her.

Perhaps I will call her Rosie the Riviter.

You have to be about that tough to lift the thing up on the stove, she requires 2 burners and forget moving her with jars and water in her! UFF. DA.

By the time I finished snapping, filling jars, loading the canner, rumping up temperature and pressure and getting through the required canning time it was about 3 hours past my bedtime.

Can we say I slept REALLY WELL?

Today, Day 3, the house is much more humid. The floor is laid directly on the concrete pad for our home and I have had condensation collecting on the vinyl floor the past few days. I keep swishing a towel around it using my feet. I just really don't like the wet floor feel. I can't wait for this heat to go away.

The kids are doing mostly okay. They get loud in the house (especially with a sleeping daddy on the other side of the living room wall) but it's super hot outside. Today we watched Superman 2 and did some reading. Earlier today we passed the time by researching answers to some library quizzes. One was on Japan and another was on famous facts and landmarks around the world. Otto learned much, Abram enjoyed watching the short clips from the internet and it not only kept us still--and thus cool-- but I can count it as geography!

More incidental school = love. it. :)

This evening is going fast. I soon will be pulling out some cold pasta salad and then it will be bedtime. If we have time we will have fast baths to cool down before bedtime.

Tomorrow we will be distracted with morning Story Time at the Library and with our last (MUST REMEMBER THE CAMERA) week of ball games (T-ball and slow pitch).

Right now the kids (all 3) are on the couch pretending to be on a pirate ship. They just all survived a quite intense shark attack. He who is up in the crows nest (kitchen bar stool) just spotted A FLYING SHARK. I think that means this captain need to get her eyes up in the skies and off from the computer, lest those flying sharks want to attack moms too! :)

Hang tight and stay cool. :)

Heat Wave- Day 1

2011-07-17T20:29:00.001-05:00

It is July.

In some places (like Central IL where I grew up) one EXPECTS a huge, long, super hot heat wave in mid-July through August.

Here in Wisconsin, we are used to 5 or less days where the temps reach 90. And we are CERTAINLY NOT used to sticky, muggy humidity.

Here is our forecast, as predicted on Sunday (when our high was in the upper 90's).

UGG!!!

Now, after having moved up here I have adjusted quite nicely to the very cold winters. I can handle months and months and months and months (like 7) of little sun and temps hovering between freezing and negative 20. I can handle my home getting down to 58 before I feel I MUST, MUST, MUST start up the wood stove. I actually don't get chilled to the point of no return until the temps go below 62 in the winter.

However, in the summer I start to wilt at 70, am incredibly uncomfortable at 75 and think I might combust at 80.

BEFORE YOU CALL ME A WIMP, please re-read the paragraph after the "Ugg!!"

So, knowing the forecast for the next 7 days (minimum) was going to be in the 90's I started to emotionally and mentally prepare for the wave. I usually depend upon cool night temps to cool down our house. There will not be any temps below 70 until Friday and then it will only be 67. Next week we will find ourselves in the upper 80's and I am praying that means that our lows drop at night.

Currently, we have our thermal shades down, our windows shut tight, most of our lights off and we are trying not to move or get on each other's nerves. Our house is built into a hill and reaps some benefits of that as a basement might, but it is still a bit warm today.

I hope to give you a daily report of how we are doing.

Day 1:

Internal temp at 5pm was 78 degrees.

Temps outside at 5 pm had gone down to 91. I don't think I want to know what the high was.

I fixed Wacky Mac with ranch dressing (cause my Italian was gone). I tossed in cheese chunks, peas and sliced carrots. I am praying I can come up with cool, cheap meals to fix after getting to a grocery store tomorrow. I'm not sure I will be able to sustain my family on cold pasta all week.

We shall see.

At 8:30 pm it is raining out side a nice gentle rain, but the sky looks like the loud stuff is on it's way.

Kids are bathed in cool water and it must have worked because my super silly second born, who was NOT attempting to be silly, told me he wished I would start a fire in the wood stove................UH.NO!

My mantra for this week (which I hope to believe soon) is: If the pioneer women could survive heat waves like this with fewer conveniences then *I* can survive as well.

Let's hope that it works.

And that my headache and nausea goes away!

Ein Keiloheinu (Non Komo Muestro Dyo)

2011-07-17T20:14:00.000-05:00

I have NO idea what that means. :)

It is the title of an beautiful song that is often sung in Jewish Synagogues.

A while ago, Hubby and I hired a sitter so we could go to a special lecture/concert by a Jewish Cantor who spoke about the history of Jewish Music.

It was a great night, you can read more about it here.

While we were there he sang this beautiful song.

God speaks to my soul in music. I am amazed often at how a beautiful traditional tune, especially when accompanied with powerful lyrics, can move me in great ways.

I wanted to share the beautiful lyrics to this song.

Here they are:

There is none like our God,

there is none like our Sovereign;

There is none like our Ruler,

there is none like our Savior.

Who is like our God?

Who is like our Sovereign?

Who is like our Ruler?

Who is like our Savior?

Let us give thanks to our God,

let us will to give thanks to our Sovereign;

Let us give thanks to our Ruler,

Let us give thanks to our Savior.

Praise be our God, praised by our Sovereign;

Praised by our Ruler, praised by our Savior.

You are our God, You are our Sovereign;

You are our Ruler,

You are our Savior.

Well, perhaps I was more impressed with the words when it was sung in Hebrew but a place to direct one's reflections it still remains.

Homeschooling on the Fly

2011-07-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

We still homeschool here and there in the summer. Sometimes it is sit down formal and sometimes it is on the fly.

The other day Mr. Abram pointed at the wall chart (Okay, calendar being used as wall chart) and told me "Sometimes we should do those numbers."

So I pushed up a chair, pulled out all the little numbers, tossed them into a bowl and said "Have at it!" He loves this. I need to work on color matching and letters too.

So, do any of you out there do pocket charts? What do YOU do with them? I'd love some new ideas. Especially if they don't cost me anything and are low on prep time and printer costs..... snicker, I want it all don't I!!

Bendigamos

2011-07-10T19:27:00.000-05:00

A few months ago, Hubby and I hired a babysitter and headed off to the synagogue that our church rents space from. They had invited our Mennonite Church to a special lecture/concert from a Jewish Cantor on Jewish music and history.

I only understood a bit of it, most of it was in Hebrew. On the flip side, we are pretty sure that many of the Jewish counter parts were also a bit in the dark with the language barrier.

One song the cantor presented was this one: Bendigamos.

The top of the music states this:

This is the only Spanish-language hymn which was retained by the Jewish community in Amsterdam, and brought to America. It is customarily sung immediately after the Birkat Hamazon, especially on Sukkot.

I found the English translation to be beautiful and so I thought I would share it with you.

O let us bless the Lord most high,
The God whom we adore;
Give thanks unto His holy name,
And praise Him evermore.

O praise and glorify His name,
Our rock, our shield,our guide;
Whose love and mercy e're the same
Shall with us e're abide
* * *
O bless the Lord whose gracious hand
Hath saved from all disgrace,
And led in glorious mission here
His chosen people's race.

O praise and glorify . . . . . .
* * *
O praise the Lord who giveth us
Each day our daily bread.
To Him let praises e're ascend,
By whose kind hand we're fed.

O praise and glorify . . . . . .

* * *
O blessed by this holy fane
Where songs ascend on high,
Where feasts and blessings ne're will fail
With His blest presence nigh.

O praise and glorify . . . . . .
* * *
English version by Rev. Joseph Corcos

Can we say....

2011-07-06T16:33:00.000-05:00

over packaging?

On our trip to IL I began working on Christmas stockings for my children.

I have wanted to knit these for YEARS now and never remember it until November. :( This year I was going to pull it off and get at least one done in the car during this trip.

Well..... I would have but it would have been big enough to fit The Jolly Green Giant! I needed a smaller set of needles and they finally came today.

I was a bit taken aback at the size of the box and then I laughed very much when I opened it to find the needles on the bottom of the box with all those air pillows on top.

Oh well 1) it got me to giggle and 2) they are here.

Now I just need to figure out how on earth I am going to find time to knit between now and December!

Who needs a wedding....

2011-07-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

when you have your very own flour girl.

Who thinks *smiling* includes squinting her eyes like this...

Gardening Can Be Such a Pain in My Rump

2011-07-05T12:12:00.000-05:00

Sometimes on the homestead we do things quickly.

Sometimes we do things without the best, most ideal tools.

Sometimes we do the best we can with what we've got and we look away knowing we are doing just fine (even if our ways would not be featured in Better Homes and Gardens).

I'm not sure exactly which of the above or if it was something else but this is how our fence ended up enclosing our garden. It does a great job at keeping the animals out but....

When one is bending over to pick peas....

And one does not pay attention to how close she is to the fence....

One runs her rump into THIS...

Which results in THIS...

Which results in an injury beneath that hole and folks, I'm sorry but the photography ends here!

Let's just say when I revealed it to Hubby he said "WOW, that's a big Owie.... and a great reason for why we keep our tetanus shots up to date!!"

LOL

There are few dull moments around this homestead.

Dog Gone Tired

2011-07-02T15:34:00.000-05:00

Dog

Gone

note gravity affect on upper lip...lol

Tired!

I'm not.

I'm doing okay.

The heat and humidity are trying their hardest to suck away my motivation

but I'm alright.

Apparently, Maybelle was awake most of the night upset about the thunder, lightening and rain and needs to nap it all off today.

Giggle.

(And a side note: Photo bucket and I are having an argument about getting a watermark on my photos. I actually put my blog address on ALL of these but only one copied over. HMMPPH. Guess it will have to wait for another day as my blogging time for today is gone.)

Where I have been

2011-06-30T11:27:00.000-05:00

I still owe you all the story behind those last two pictures.

I hope to get to writing those up this decade.

I really should not be here but I wanted to make sure you knew I have not abandoned my blog.

I've just been a bit busy.

Here is a summary of the past 2+ weeks.

June 7: My birthday and those owed stories
June 8-10: Cleaning and other wise being super busy doing mom stuff
June 11: My Aunt Jan and Uncle Dave's 60th Wedding Anniversary Party
June 12: the church service where we had a visitor and we were locked out of our rented facility after beautiful new doors and locks were installed
June 13-16: Super busy cleaning and prepping for IL trip
June 17: kids to MyLois's house while I shopped for cute, non-kid stained outfits for my 20 year reunion
June 18-19: laundry and packing
June 20: left at 5pm for a 12 hour drive to Gale, IL
June 21: 5:30am arrived in Gale and took a nap then hung out with Papa Dan and Papa Joe
June 23: left Gale, drove North to Nokomis to visit Papa Don & Ruth
June 23-24: the boys camped in Grammy's yard in a tent and then we went to the Bloomington Children's Museum and then out to eat Chineese
June 24 evening: it was off to Grannie and Papa G's house in Champaign for birthday surprises for Otto (now 7) and then Hubby and I were off to a bar in my hometown (which was formerly dry) for the first stop of reunion activities. I saw NO ex-boyfriends and got in some GREAT talks with classmates from my youth. It was a WONDERFUL time. Hubby was not terribly bored either!
June 25: I toured the high school which has had TONS of additions. WE HAD A BLAST! Hubby would have been very embarrased as we grabbed the marching band's practice flags and started to twirl them! Hubby had the chance to drive up north to visit with a college roommate. That afternoon we took a nap and then that evening headed off to another gathering of classmates.
June 26: We needed to skip the family picnic and head on up to Morris for a gathering of two Aunts, an Uncle, Great Grandmother, Grammy and some cousins. It was a nice relaxing visit grilling out and watching our kids run around like wild people.
June 27: we drove the 7 hours home and I was bit by a cleaning bug.
June 28 through today we have been catching up on cleaning, rest and other activities.

I've been a bit busy but promise to come back soon to give you some REAL stories. Until then, hang tight.

Stay tuned............

2011-06-08T11:45:00.000-05:00

As soon as I am home long enough to not only do basic, bare minimum child care and house management but to actually sit and THINK while typing at Miss Mini.....

I will tell you the story between this:

and this.

And the Pony Trouble Winner is.....

2011-06-08T10:48:00.001-05:00

Number 48.

So, I guess the last shall be first.

Congratulations to

Mom2Seven.

If she has not responded in 48 hours

one of the other 10 entrants will be selected by Random.org.

Give Away: Autographed Copy of Andi's Pony Trouble

2011-06-08T00:02:00.000-05:00

Awhile ago I had the pleasure to review ANDI'S SCARY SCHOOL DAYS written by Susan K. Marlow. It is one of several books in her Circle C Beginnings Series.

You can read my review for the TOS Crew here.

Circle C Beginnings is an easy reader book series geared toward children ages 6-8. The series takes place in the Wild West in the late 1800's and centers around the life and adventures of a little girl by the name of Andi Carter. Andi and her horse Taffy are full of curiosity and fun with a predisposition to getting into trouble.

I am in love with this series and after the author, Susan K Marlow, commented on her wall I emailed her and asked if I might be able to sing her praises even more. I have found Susan to be incredibly sweet and kind and thoroughly enjoy our exchanges.

I am very impressed with these fun books that keep me and my two boys (6 and 4) tuned in at every corner. I am just as impressed with Andi and Taffy's amazing website and free resources that Susan has devised to accompany these books. While you are on the Circle C Beginnings website you can access and download activity packs, puzzles, coloring pages and more. Andi also has her own blog where she writes short updates on the characters from the Circle C Beginnings books as well as the Circle C Adventures books which are written for ages 9-14.

Here is a fun video to show you even more:

Do you know what I am EXCITED ABOUT THE MOST???

Susan K. Marlow gave ME an

AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF

ANDI'S PONY TROUBLE

FOR ONE LUCKY READER to win!!!!

You can click HERE to learn more about Andi's Pony Trouble where Andi attempts to show her family that she is old enough for her very own pony.

Andi's Pony Trouble is the very first book in the Circle C Beginnings series.

Are you ready to learn how you can get a chance to win

or perhaps even a few chances???

First some rules:
You must leave one comment for each entry.

Your email must be embedded or typed into each comment or I will not know how to contact you to email you your prize. If that happens I will re-draw.

Mandatory Entry:

Tell me you want to win!

After you do that, you can gain some extra entries by any of the following, remember to leave an extra comment for each item so they will count as entries...

1. Visit and Like the Circle C Facebook page

(Please note this contest is not affiliated or connected to Face Book in anyway. You do not have to visit FB in order to have a chance to win this prize.)

2. Visit Andi's Blog and then come back and tell me something you learned or about your favorite part.

3. Follow Clothesline Musings through Google Friend Connect (top left) or tell me you already do.

4. Connect with Clothesline Musings via Networked Blogs.

5. Follow Clotheslinemuse on Twitter.

6. Tweet this giveaway: Sample Tweet: @Clotheslinemuse is hosting a Circle C Beginnings #giveaway. Enter here: http://tinyurl.com/3zagnnh

7. Friend request Clothesline Musings on Facebook.

8. Scour Clothesline Musings and and tell me about your favorite post. You could give a link so that others could easily find it as well. :)

This Giveaway is open for anyone.

Contest ends Midnight June 7th CST at the close of my 29th birthday!!

(okay.. this will be my 10th Celebration of 29 and next year I'll admit I really am 39!)

I will select a winner using Random.org on June 8th, so be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry. The winner will be emailed directly and will be announced here. Winner must respond to email within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen.
----------------------------
This giveaway is linked up with
Hip Homeschool Moms!

Go visit them to see what other awesome things you can try to win!

The 2010-2011 TOS Crew Blue Ribbon Awards

2011-06-01T08:13:00.000-05:00

At the end of each review year, TOS Crew members vote for their favorite products. The results have been tabulated. If you have not already visited these vendors you most certainly will want to do so.

And now I present to you, the 2010-2011 Blue Ribbon Winners:

Favorite Language Arts Product => Institute For Excellence in Writing (IEW)
Favorite Social Studies Product => Bright Ideas Press-Wondermaps
Favorite Science Product => Eagle’s Wings-Considering God’s Creation
Favorite Math Product => I See Cards-Pyramath
Favorite Online Math Product => Ten Marks
Favorite Writing Product => Writing Tales
Favorite Reading Instruction Product => Talking Fingers
Favorite Foreign Language Product => Classical Academic Press
Favorite Fine Arts Product (art, music, etc.) => Artistic Pursuits
Favorite Preschool Product => Go Go Kabongo
Favorite Elementary Product => Speekee
Favorite Upper Grade Product => Vocab Ahead
Favorite Special Needs Product => See-N-Read
Favorite Christian Education Product => Apologia
Best Resource I Didn’t Know I Needed => Lanschool Technologies
Best Customer Service => Peterson Directed Handwriting
Best Online Resource => Big IQ Kids
Best e-product => Zeezok Publishing-ZGuide to the Movies
Best Technology Resource => Collectorz
Best Homeschool Resource => Yesterday’s Classics
Best Book, Novel or Magazine => Zoe & Sozo Publishing-Foundlings
Best Children’s Book => Kregel Publications-Circle C Beginnings
Best Hands-On Resource => Corps of Re-Discovery
Most Adaptable Resource => The Write Foundation
Most Unique Resource => GoTrybe
Most Family-Oriented Product => Growing Healthy Homes-Nutrition 101
Kid’s Choice => Schleich Action Figures
All Around Crew Favorite => Institute For Excellence in Writing

Keep your eyes open for an upcoming post on TOS CREW PRODUCTS we here on the homestead think you MUST purchase. :)

Clothesline Musings

What to do with those Flower Bags from Valentine's Day?

A Fishy Craft

JULY 31, 2010

Chance to Win $100 from All About Learning Press

Mind Over Matter

5 Things Friday - Feb 10, 2012

Uh oh! She's in super math-gadget planning mode....again!

Mommy vs. Daddy: The Challenge of Grown-up Reading

Cold Weather & Vikings & Excitement, OH MY!

Left Brain vs. Right Brain

A Content New Year in 2012

Merry Christmas

Homeschool Mother's Journal

Pick & Draw Stocking Stuffer WINNER!!!

Pick & Draw Stocking Stuffer GIVEAWAY!!!

Advent Lesson E-Book - Recommendation

Thankfulness & Busyness

2011- Gratitude Challenge - November 11

2011- Gratitude Challenge - November 10

2011- Gratitude Challenge - November 9

2011- Gratitude Challenge - November 8

2011- Gratitude Challenge - November 7

2011- Gratitude Challenge - November 5

2011- Gratitude Challenge - November 6

2011- Gratitude Challenge - November 4

Slug, 4H, Flood, Fire, Oh Yeah! Ie: MUCH RANDOMNESS

PLEASE VOTE: I've Been Nominated in the HOMESCHOOL MISFIT BLOG AWARDS

2011 - Gratitude Challenge - November 3

2011- Gratitude Challenge - November 2

2011- Gratitude Challenge - November 1

2011 Halloween Outfit = 1950's Housewife

Interim Story Time Lady: Week 1= Autumn Leaves

Interim Story Time Lady Gig

I Choose to Occupy Life - A promise and a rant

BEST Spelling Tiles E.V.E.R!!

The Farthest Away Mountain & Frog in the Hole

Letter Reversals

Helllooo???? Where are you???

2011- NOT Back-to-School Blog Hop: School Room

Tomato Processing Time

Busy...

Back to School??

Happiness is....

I'm NOT READY YET!!!!!!

Please Vote for Hubby --- HE WON!!

Week In Review: The Thrift Sale Week

Wishes Sometimes DO Come True...

The 2010-2011 Schoolhouse Planner Winner is.....

"I want my hair like Daddy's"

Curriculum: 2011 NOT Back-To-School Blog Hop

DIY: Dry Laundry Soap

The 2011-2012 Schoolhouse Planner Review & GIVEAWAY.

A Mighty Fine Green Bean Bounty

Just like the ants..... the MANY, MANY ants.

Morning Surprise

What's all the YOU MUST ORGANIZE NOW hub-bub about??

Heat Wave - Day 4 & 5

Heat Wave - Day 2 & 3

Heat Wave- Day 1

Ein Keiloheinu (Non Komo Muestro Dyo)

Homeschooling on the Fly

Bendigamos

Can we say....

Who needs a wedding....

Gardening Can Be Such a Pain in My Rump

Dog Gone Tired

Where I have been

Stay tuned............

And the Pony Trouble Winner is.....

Give Away: Autographed Copy of Andi's Pony Trouble

The 2010-2011 TOS Crew Blue Ribbon Awards