Continue homeschooling or not?

How do we know if we should continue with homeschooling or its time for the chick to leave the homeschooling nest? I ask myself that question daily. If I ask myself that question, I'm sure there are others out there that ask it too.

I asked my sons if they'd like to go back to public school. The older two said no. Oldest told me it was a living nightmare there and will not go back. Gets upset if the subject is approached. Youngest has tears in his eyes, total fear of failure looms in his expression. Yet my youngest says to me, "Only if my friend Mike is going." *sigh*

After doing some research on the subject, didn't find much but I'll see what we can use.
1. Pray. Find a quiet time and place to talk to God about this. Ask Him what He wants you to do. Your answer may not be what you want to hear. Trust in Him with the answer that is best not only for your child but your family as well.
2. Call and talk to several fellow homeschoolers. Ask them all the questions you have. They may have felt the same way and have overcome these feelings.
3. Don't fall to pressure. If you know in your heart that God has told you to continue or to stop...do so. Feelings of failure are satan's way of making us sin. When we feel guilty, we do everything in our power to fix the problem. We try to control our lives instead of doing what God has told us to do. At the same time, not fall to pressure from others to put your child into public school.
4. Do your homework. Yes us mom's have to prepare every week for the next weeks lessons. Being prepared helps keep things running smoothly.
5. Take time for yourself. A burned out mom is not a good teacher. Schedule in a free day every so often.

I have bad days and good days. All moms do. Good luck and enjoy your time with your little ones.

Menu Plan Monday!

I had to get organized again. Life does not evolve around McDonald's, Wendy's, or whatever fast food place we happened to hit on the way home from work. I have 3-4 hrs before dinner to prepare a more healthy meal for my family. Just plain laziness on my part. NO MORE!!

Here is what we are having this week:

Monday: Cowboy Chicken Sandwiches

Tuesday: Overnight French Toast and sausage links

Wednesday: Meatloaf

Thursday: Pasta Carbonara

Friday: Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

Saturday: Beef Stew

Sunday: Chicken Spaghetti

8 Weeks to a Frazzle Free Christmas

Got an email this morning titled "8 Weeks to a Frazzle Free Christmas". Of course it bit my curosity so I opened it. What a great email. Me, the organized one, the person with unlimited amount of rememberance for detail.....forgot I had signed up for a newsletter with Families with a Purpose. This is a gem of a site, hurry up and click the link. I'll wait. NOT!

I totally forgot about it this site and shamefully didn't bookmark it for later. (Sorry Families with a Purpose, to many things going on at once.) The site has mega info. Lots and lots of advice, how-to's, ideas, free printables, items to buy, and the list goes on with this site. I'm still looking around and finding new things to read or want or wish to buy. ;)

Sooooo, I printed out the ebook containing information to make my holiday this year much easier. Its similar to FlyLady's and organizedhome.com. BUT this one I like better. It seems more Christian to me, more Christmasy, more user friends, more me. Now I get to start planning on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Make people give me more firm dates/plans and info. My family won't like me at all. hehe Which reminds me, we need to buy a new Christmas Tree this year. Better go add that to my list. TATA!

A title? What title?

Trying to come up with a routine type schedule is hard. I'll admit it. I don't like to do this, its boring. So my tendancy to procrastinate comes out. But with a little help from FlyLady's website, Motivated Mom's Chore Planner, and other searches on the net to find homeschool schedules...I came up with our own. Yes, this thing will be a work in progress. Yet I'm following KISS. Keep It Simple Sister.

Our basic schedule:
- As we leave in the morning, take your math book or other subject you wish to work on at grandma's while mom is at work.
- When we get home, let the dog out and put the things away we brought with us that morning. Feed dog so he doesn't nibble on our arms as we read. lol.
- Grab what subject you need to work on next. My kids know that Mon & Wed is science and Tue and Thu is history. Or if they need to work on their spelling or grammar book.
- Put all finished papers in the "to be graded folder". I have a metal divider that hangs on the door to the computer closet that holds this folder.
- All subjects must be reviewed over with mom before she deems you are done with school for the day. Until then there is no tv, computer, or electric toy play/viewing.
- After school, evening chores are started.
- A name is put on the calendar of whom is mom's helper. They help prepare supper as well as do the dishes after the meal.
- Bath time for those that wish to bathe at night. (That would be me. The mom. I love a nice hot bath.)


School Routines:
Mon -
Tue - Library/Errand Day
Wed -
Thu -
Fri - Put away day. This is the day we put everything away.
Sat - Field trips and/or fun things to explore or do
Sun - Prepare for a new week or Prep Day. I write up the next weeks lesson plan, grade all papers and file them away in the appropriate folder; I get all the next weeks materials together (do all cutting, photocopying, gathering of books etc.) and put them in the kids' shelf, and last I make a supply list for any of the missing items to get on Tuesday (which is my Grocery and Errand Day).

Household Routines:
Mon -
Tue - Shopping Day
Wed -
Thu -
Fri - Budget/Paper work day. Also my clean out the purse/van day.
Sat - Home Blessing and Family Fun Day
Sun - Spirit renewal , pamper me, and prepare for a new week day.

See. That was easy and I kept it simple. Now I won't feel guilty for not doing something. I don't have a day for zones, I do those as I work on my list everyday with my Motivated Mom's Planner. Mending clothing...same thing or I stop what I'm doing when a button falls off and repair the items right then and there. I don't need a FREE day. To me, that's Sunday. Its my pamper/get ready for the week so I won't be harried day. Also, each kid has their own chores to do either daily or weekly. Youngest takes the trash out every night after supper. Or the oldest runs the vacuum on Sat morning or my middle son loves to do laundry. I use that kid a lot. ;)

Now I need to go find the two younger ones. They ran upstairs when we got home. Looks like a no tv night for them little buggers. Oi! A mother's job is never done.

Hard lessons

Guess what? Never got to making that schedule yet. Tonight, I've started it (which has nothing to do with the list below, I'll post my new schedule another time). After being the mean yelling mom yesterday we came up with a few things that give me a twitch in my eye. Today, my children found out I meant every word I said the day before.

Here are some of my highlights yesterday:
- All items left out and not put away are trash (no digging it out of the trash either).
- Everyone will do their chores, period. End of discussion.
- All school work must be completed before the tv, ninetdo ds, or other electronic (fun) devices are played with.
- When mom or dad calls your name, you will move quickly while hollering your coming. It could be an emergency and we need you to learn to move fast without question.
- If mom or dad tells you to put something away, we don't care if its yours or not nor do we care if you didn't do it. We are wanting something done without question. The guilty party will be dealt with when we find them.
- You will bathe daily. I don't care if you don't feel like it or you forgot. Its a daily habit; its good for your body; it keeps you from being sick; etc. You've had one everyday since your birth...get over it and just do it. (Me talking to my 15 yr old who wants to become the sloth that his father is...aka my ex.)
- Bedtime is for sleeping. This is not time for playing games or staying up reading til the wee hours of the morning. No getting up to get something. No getting up to get that snack or drink. Stay in bed and go to sleep.
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Today was another hectic day. I did get off work at 1:30 pm. BUT I had to take the van in to the dealership. The engine light has been on for a week. After siting for 2 hrs, they fixed the issue for $39 and I was on my way. So this meant we got home after 4:00 pm. *sigh* School work, dinner, dog & cat wanting attention from being left all alone all day, and mom getting to pee...whew! Oh, did I tell you it has been raining a cold drizzle all afternoon too? Yeppers.

The kids did get their book work done. I found the cd that held the history unit study. Taking that baby to work to print off the note pages. Even trade I have going there. I print things for work here, and get to print school stuff there. hehe

Everyday will have a focus. Example: Tuesdays will be errand/library day. Sundays will be mom's planning/grade papers day. My goal is for my children to learn as much as they can and remembering what they have learned. If this means they take a year and half to complete and understand Alegbra 1; so be it. They will have a better graps at the subject than those that sped through it and skipped over several lessons to boot.

So for tomorrow, my plan is to have the schedule/routine written out. We will start implementing it immediately. I can't wait. I need the structure just as badly as my kids do.

Rescheduling the schedule

We, I mean me or is it I, need to revamp the school schedule. The one we have is not working. Or it would work if we did it. But we do not. Instead I sometimes get off work at 1 pm. Most of the time is later, up to 3 pm. Then my mom or grandma (usually grandma) needs something done. By the time we get home its supper time. Nothing is planned because I was hoping to be home by 1:30 pm. By the time I have time to think of school its bedtime. UGH!! So frustrating.

What I need to do is create a weekly schedule every weekend. Sunday afternoon is for getting my week ready. Getting my work clothes set out for the week, pampering me, etc. Why not include school planning? Because I get so frustrated. There is so much I want to include I get overwhelmed. Then I starting thinking about FlyLady. (Yes, I am a flybaby since 2001). Baby steps. Also remember KISS. No, not the rock band. Keep It Simple Sister. Ahh....simple.

So for today, revamp schedule. Have kids work on Math, Spelling, Language Arts, and science today. By tomorrow, we can include history, PE, and a couple other things the boys want to do. I will post my schedule when its done.

Government Bailout

I usually keep my political opinions to myself. But this bailout really ticks me off to no end. It is plain wrong and still it was vote for. Who pays for this huge ole mistake? Us, the taxpayers of America that's who. I wrote to my senators and congressman. My husband called them. So did several of my friends, family, and complete strangers. Yet these men still voted for it, even after admitting to the press that all of their emails and phone calls received from voters said to not vote for it. Looks like we'll be not voting for them in the next election. Oh, wait...that's coming up in November. *mawhahahaha*

What I'd like to know is where is the old fashioned punishment for these individuals that blindly allowed the debt to rack up as it did? You know, getting fired for being an idiot, blackballed from the business world, and sued for the money they basically stole from the taxpayers. Instead, we are in the "Its not my fault" generation so lets slap them on the wrist so we don't hurt their feelings or some such drivel.

Where has the world gone to that your word doesn't mean anything anymore? Where has the world come to when it's ok to default on your loans (debt) and only get a "its ok, you'll do better next time". Where has personal responsiblility gone? Instead the pattern of defaulting on your loans is repeated again and again and again and again. No one learns from a mistake if things are taken care for them. A baby won't talk or walk if someone does it for them. What is the difference if they are adults? None.

If I remember right, there is a war in history that stopped crap like this. Didn't the colonists start a revolutionary war because of being taxed to death? Why yes my dear Watson, I believe they did. Looks like I need to go find some tea.

DING! DING! DING!

The 2009 Motivated Moms Chore Planners are available! Woot!!! I love these planners. Last year I used the half-sized planner with Bible Study. Can one be more organized than I am after using this little planner. This size worked very well and fit perfectly in my organizer. This year I'm going to try out full-size per day planner. I'll print out a weeks worth and hang them on the fridge. As I finish up a chore, I can check it off my list. Each evening I can remove the finished day's list.

There are eight versions of the Motivated Moms Chore Planner, the full-sized planner with scheduled Bible reading (Read the Bible Through in a Year), the full-sized without Bible readings, half-sized planner with and without the Bible readings scheduled, the full-sized Page Per Day planner (with or without the Bible readings scheduled) and now a *NEW* version half-sized Page Per Day planner (with or without the Read the Bible Through in a Year option).

Click on this link, Motivated Moms Chore Planners, to learn more.

Free family fun

Friday at work my boss offered me 5 free tickets to a St. Louis Cardinal's baseball game for the next day. With them came free transportation. Woot!! Can't beat that with a stick. My dh was the most excited with the news, followed by two of my three boys.

Several things I've learned attended a major league baseball game.
- This new stadium, its huge. Not just huge, mega huge. Our seats were in section 271. We figured second level, newp. Third level because of the special CQ seats in between the levels. After hiking 6 flights of stairs, my oldest noticed the elevator next to them. *duh!*
- Don't arrive hungry. Every restaurant within walking distance is packed full. Even the restaurants farther out are filled to capacity. Why? Because in a major city one huge sporting event isn't enough. We need two or three going on at the same time.
- If you do buy food in the ball park, bring lots of moola. I have teen and pre-teen boys. We all eat a lot. We are not shy with this fact either. We only ordered 2 regular hot dogs, 3 polish sausages (better than a brat any day I say), 4 coke colas, and 1 beer. Total cost $52 and change. Not kidding. Small box of popcorn was $4. Bucket of cotton candy was $6. Bag of shelled roasted peanuts was $4. Ice lemonade (10 oz cup) was $4. You get the picture.
- Be prepared to get up out of the way for others in your row for food, potty breaks, and whatnot. Everyone is always polite which is quite refreshing.
- Cracking up with your kids at the antics of the mascot.
- Getting home after 2 am.
- Having your child fall asleep on you on the ride home due to exhaustion. No matter their age. Priceless.

All in all, we had a super time. We'd do it again in a heart beat. Well, then again maybe not that soon.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks

I love to cook. Really love to cook. Hate the clean up, but that's all part of the process. So someone told me. Quite by chance, someone on a forum told me to look at a recipe on this site. OMG!! Step by step instructions, mouth watering recipes.....I've become an adict to this site. Who knew butter can be my friend? This site is a gem of a find.

Ree, owner of said site, teaches us how to cook (even the ones that know how to cook...me). Every recipe she posts to her website, she painstakenly takes photos of each step in the cooking process. Now that takes a huge amount of time in a person's day. Go Pioneer Woman!! You Rock!

Each recipe I've tried have become a family favorite here. This has also expanded my culinary experimentation too. My kids are willing for me to try out new recipes.

Go and check her website out, The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I swear you won't regret it.

Planning ahead

Our computer crashed last week. A week and a half ago to be exact. This has thrown me and the kids into a tailspin of not knowing what to do, when to do it, or where to put it. Our homeschooling schedule and unit study material was in that metal box. No to mention the games they and dh played. Who knew that our life revolved around that machine? I sure didn't.

This unexpected catastrophe has caused me to rethink things. How should we store our information? What kind of backup system should we use? A shoe box? A memory stick? What would be best for us? At the moment, anything would be better than doing nothing. Which is what we did. Nothing. No backup of any sort. Nada. Zilch.

As of tonight, I still have no idea what kind of damage was done to our computer. The techs have yet to contact me to say, "hey, your computer is fixed". For all I know it could be dead. How long does it take to look at and fix a computer anyways. They have had my baby since Friday. What's taking so long?

For the most part, I've done my best to keep having school each day. Even if its only Math & Spelling, we are doing something each day. The kids read all the time from books from the library, they love watching the History & Discovery channels, and everyday chores must be done. They are helping to take care of two elderly grandmothers with me has taught them more than what they could learn in a class room. As many will say, there will be holes in every education...we have holes here. Wish they were donut holes. ; )

School started Monday

To the shock of my sons, school started in our house Monday. They drug their feet grabbing up the books we needed for class first thing that afternoon. DS1 went to the computer and loaded up Saxon's cd for his Algebra I lessons. He loves it. Much better than me trying to explain it to him. DS2 has a goal this year, straight A report card. Because I have to keep grades for the oldest, he wants me to do it for him too. Why? So he can show it off to everyone. LOL!! If it means that much to him and it gets him to do his work, I'll do it. DS3 just goes with the flow, but loves to have one-on-one time with mom. He and DS2 fight over couch time (study time with mom). I'm finding that DS3 might need a more advance set of curriculum, he's beyond 5th grade as is. I'm going to wait and see though. Don't want to push to much on him, or he'll baulk.

Yet, after all this good we are doing I'm having issue with my oldest. He has to get over this crappy attitude of "but I was taught this way, you're showing me different. I can't do it that way" Talk about grinding your teeth. I hear him, I understand what he's saying to a point. It the tone he's using. This kid fights me on everything, its like his joy in life. See how to tork mom off in 10 words or less. Some may say its his age. Maybe, but he has major underlining anger issues that stem back to 3rd -7th grade in public school. He was the victim of bullies (yes plural) and never told me about it; mom had to figure it out on her own. I'm starting to see what his problem/issues are. He totally believes he's an idiot. My helping, teaching, etc., are triggers for him and only adds to his embarrassment. This will be a work in progress. He has a long road ahead of him. I truly believe when he starts seeing progress in his own abilities his anger/embarrassment at himself will go away. Lots of prayers are needed for us.

Our schedule is working out great! While I'm working the kids do their 'homework' at grandma's. I work until 1pm or so; we get home 30 min to an hour later. Get home, unwind for 15 minutes and start school.
I can throw a load of laundry in, get supper started, tidy up a room, etc., as I get a free moment between lessons with the kids. They are all self starters, which is great for me. In the evening, after dinner, we finish up school. Usually done around 8pm that night. Bedtime routine beings (baths, jammies, snacks, cuddle time on the couch). After the kids go to bed its my time to work some more to add to my 4 hrs at the office, but from home. This is working for us so far. Doesn't mean it will last, but for now...its doable.

*Drum roll* School starts....

Monday. Yep, two days from today we get to go back to the grind of learning, coaxing, begging, pulling our hair out, and walking away before you say something you'll regret later just so out kids will actually learn something. School is upon us.

Driving to work this week I saw the public school had started up. I watched new mom's walking their little ones to school, both scared and nervous about the first day. First day of school and adventures for the kid, first day of no more little one at home with mom. Broke my heart, I remember those days. Always wondering what my boys were doing, if they were safe, if they needed me. Those days are no more for us.
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Wrote out a school schedule this week, in pencil of course. hehe I know there will be changes to this baby before the month's out. Got a call from our homeschool support group yesterday, they had a meeting that I couldn't attend. Looks like I'm the go to person for information, getting things done, etc. Don't know if I'm in charge of the group or not, I'll find out soon though. Even so, I'm seeing that no one wants to or can get things going. So I sat down last night and came up with some things we as a group could do together.

Field trips once a month. I tried to make them on the 2nd Friday of every month with the exception of February. That's when we will go see the Maple Syrup begining made, but its in the last part of the month. Another idea I had was schedule a play day once a month. Say the 1st Fri of the month. Everyone knows that if the weather is nice (warm, no rain, etc.) then it will be at a local park. If it is not so nice outside, then we can meet up at a church and have arranged games/activities for the kids to do for a couple hours.

So, today I'm going to get my household chores done first. Then I'm going to come up with more ideas on what we can do as a small group. Co-op classes will have to wait until Spring because this fall there are too many of us weighed down with extra things in our life. Like a new job, a new baby, other commentments, etc. We'll get together, do what we can this Fall and start planning for Spring.

Back from camp

Church camp was a blast. Hot, lots of walking with hills and hollers. Had a couple bad sleepless nights due to a couple of the girls in my dorm being homesick or just to wound up and talked to much. Zip line, swing over the lake, rock wall, and several other activities....whew! The kids were exhausted every night, so were the adults. ; ) (I'll attach pictures later.)

All in all, my boys and I enjoyed ourselves immensely. First night DS2 wanted to go home. He hated it there. This kid doesn't like loud noises and is extremely shy. I finally had to tell him he had to suck it up and deal with it, we weren't leaving. Day by day, I noticed he was talking more and more to the other kids. At night during worship we caught him singing. No he wasn't dancing and acting silly like his mom, but he was smiling. He told me on the way home he can't wait to go back again. That was worth the trip in itself.

DS3, my youngest came forward the last night we were there. He is going to be baptized tomorrow at church. Woot!! The kid asked his dad to do it. DH is so honored to do that. Don't know who is going to be crying the most tomorrow. Probably me.

A camping we will go

Today is camping day. Our church is attending a local Christian camp site this week. All packed awaiting for time to leave. Last night I went down to see how to get to the camp with a group from church. They needed to take supplies ahead and get things set up today before the rest of us arrive. As in me hauling 11 kids and 2 adults arrive for the fun and adventures that await us.

We are going to be up to our ears in activities, food, prayer, food, activities, and food. Tonight is a pool party for an hour. Never heard of only an hour in a pool, but time is limited with all the things they have scheduled for the kids.

First time camping like this for myself and my kids. They are so excited; the kids have been packed for a full day and its killing them. They want to go NOW. I'm starting to get excited too, don't tell them they'll never leave me alone if they knew. When we get back, I'll posts some pics of things we did.

Getting ready for School

Last night I sat down to see exactly what we needed for school this year. Science and some kind a extra curricular subject he wants to do for the oldest. As a whole, we are looking into history to help with my unit studies I have purchased.

The science we are using for all kids is from Apologia. Exploring create with Botany (younger two) and Physical Science (older one). My kids love these books. Lots of hands on experiments for the boys to play with.

History I'm doing unit studies on the ancients from Mr. Donn's website but also will get The Story of the World Vol. 2 to supplement what we are doing and fill in the gaps between the ancient civilizations we will move onto. It comes with a book on the subject and an activity book to do crafts/project to tie in what they learned.

I'm thinking this will come under the $150 I set back for these few books. Great thing about most of these books is I can use them for the younger two when the time comes. Then save up this fall semester to purchase the Driver Ed in a Box. Little pricey for my tastes at $229, but it has tests and other info I may know but forget to teach my kid. And again, the other two will get to use it when their time comes. Breaks down to $76 per kid this way. Next up on my to-do list.......... scheduling. *runs away screaming*

Week in review

Work, omgoodness...I forgot about how hard and tired I'd be working. Didn't help that my 4 hr days turned into 8 hrs day. Good for the budget, bad for my body. I'll get used to it though. No worries. The job maybe temporary, we won't know until after the first of next month. That's fine because another job is in the wing waiting for me, I think. Working at a local coffee shop. Be still my heart.

As I'm laying in bed at night thinking of the hundred things I need to accomplish this week. It dawns on me, I have less than a month left til school starts. There are some books I need to order, assignments that need to be scheduled for the kids, daily schedules made up, and supplies organized/bought. Lots of things still left to do. Where did my summer vacation go?

In hind sight, we have had a really great summer so far. No, we didn't get to swim as much as the kids wanted. Nor did we get to go camping like we had planned. But we still had fun. Water balloon wars in the back yard, walks in the park, over nights with friends and their favorite uncle, getting to stay up as late as they wanted one night a week, and more.

With fun, time speeds by. I'm guessing we've had lots of fun this summer.

Got a job!!

Money is super tight here. Just like everybody else. Today, after a long uphill battle, I was offered a job. Part-time at 20 hrs a week. My old employer called me out of the blue. Start tomorrow morning. I'm excited and can't wait to pay off some of our debt at the same time.

This job maybe temporary or permanent. Depends on several factors on both sides (my and theirs). Either way, we'll be able to pay off some things and save up for others. Have some relief from worrying so much. I can't wait.

A month til school starts?!?!

This morning at church, I was talking with Mrs. F. She had been DS1's fourth grade teacher. We were in pain realizing that school starts for us in a month. Hers starts sooner. They have a teacher's meeting on the 8th and public school starts the 13th. Meetings to tell her what she has to do in the year. All the information she has to sweeze into her day wheither the kids understand it or not. I commented that one day the schools will be going year long instead of 180 days. Mrs F. agreed and said she was glad that she will be retired by that time.

The 13th?!?!? I couldn't believe it. Still can't believe it as I write this. Two years, ago public school started the last full week of August, it did when I was in school too. Yet it seems to be creeping earlier and earlier into the summer. What happened to the two full months off from school? The two months we as kids played outside (yes outside, not in front of the tv or computer) from the time the sun came up til it was dark. Those summers your parents had to call you in for bath and bed. You were so tired you crashed and somehow had the energy to started it all over again the next day. The good ole days. The days where you were expected to be a kid. To play.

Yet, nagging in the back of my head, a little voice is telling me that I have a month to go too. Aug. 18th is when I plan on starting our school year. Do I have my schedule written down? Do I have all the books/curriculum we need? Do we have enough school supplies? Almost, no, and yes. Looks to me I need to have a back to school meeting with myself. Get things lined out. Plan some fun some my kids can still be kids even when we are in the middle of school. Yeah. That's the ticket. Fun while we learn. Oh yeah, they call it homeschooling. Glad we decided to do that. Let our kids be kids while they learn to be adults and upstanding citizens, what a concept.

Math Breakthrough

This morning, DS3 came running to me with my Brain Age 2 game. He was competting with DH on some math training, see who could get the highest score, etc. DS was so excited, said: "Mom, look at my score on the math part. I didn't have to think about the numbers, they just popped into my head!" I had to smile, told him that is how you are suppose to do math. All your addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division are to pop in your head. The light came on in his eyes. He got it!!! DS ran to tell his dad, his brothers, and I think the dog. He was so proud of himself.

He and I have worked for the last two years on his math. Struggled more like it. It was his weak subject, he just couldn't get multiplication. The kid struggled and struggled with it. No matter what we tried it just didn't pop in his head. Even after all the flash cards, worksheets, games, and whatnot we tried...he just didn't get it. Today he did. All from a different type of game. Competition with his dad. How cool is that?? That little Nintendo DS game was $20 some dollars I spent for me to play with. Instead of being some little game dh an I played, it helped my son learn his mathematics. Priceless.

Driver's Ed

We are looking towards teaching our 15 yr old this school year. (He'll be 16 in March.) Unfortunately, our state (Indiana) doesn't acknowledge any homeschool type driver's ed curriculum. We have to either take a class at a local school, private driving company that is approved by the state, or teach him ourselves.

If we did go with the private course we'd have to think about these things...

• Traditional courses give an average of 30 hours classroom and 6 hours actual driving experience.
• Child is 15 yrs old with learners permit. Will get driver's license at the age of 16 yrs and 1 month.
  
• You attend at the school’s schedule, not yours.
• After completion of a traditional course, the parent is still responsible for preparing the teen to drive collision-free.

How can a kid learn everything they can in a 36 hrs of class that lasts only 3 weeks?

Considering that we do not have the money to pay a school ($350 when I was last quoted in May) and we do not want our son back in the public school setting, we are left with one option. Teach him ourselves.

We are going to use, more than likely, Driver's Ed in a Box enough though its not an approved curriculum (like they can stop me from using it, they'll just require our son to take the written & driving tests). Its a curriculum to teach the child AND the parents. Cost is a bit high, $229. Yet we have 3 kids and we can use it for them also when the time comes, comes down to $76.33 per kid. Added bonuses with teaching our son ourselves... (Information copied from Driver's Ed in a Box Indiana area.)

• Our son applies for permit at 16 and is allowed by the state to get their license at 16 and 6 months. This slight delay in licensing can make a big difference in maturity (less wrecks).
• The first section of the classroom gives the teens the information required to pass the written test.
• The Videos, Audio CDs, Parent Companion and Classroom sections all work seamlessly together. These tools give both parent and teen the goals and communication skills for each lesson to be a pleasurable experience.
• At the end of each phase of training you move on to the next phase when both parent and teen agree they are ready.
  The phases are:
• Parking Lot
• Neighborhood
• Light Traffic
• Freeway
• Rural
• Heavy Traffic
• You do all this on your own schedule during the permit period.
• The result is both Teen and Parent are comfortable and confident in the teens driving ability.

I might be a tad bit weird, but I'm looking forward to teaching my son to drive. Especially after he gets his driver's license. He can go to the store to get those things I need to pick up like milk, bread, butter....

What a deal!! Motivated Mom's Chore Planner is 1/2 off...

The 2008 Motivated Moms planners have now been marked down to $4 since there's only half a year left on them. Now is the time to buy if you weren't sure if you wanted to try it out at $8 but will try it for $4!

I have to say that I really love mine. By the second day I realized I had done more cleaning/organizing in my home than I usually did in a week (it didn't seem like I had worked all that hard). Yet I had more to show for all I had done. My fridge is clean!! (Major ordeal here) It took two weeks with a little reminder of just clean the top shelf today or the door shelves, etc. Amazing!! Deann, the owner of Motivated Mom's Planner, is a friend of mine and former homeschooling mom. She's put a lot of thought and work into her planners because she knows what we need to get done with so little time to do it. Give it a try, then let me know here how you liked them. I'll pass them onto Deann.

July Menu

Summer is in full swing here. Baseball is over and done with, so now I can cook more pleasing meals instead of hot dogs and hamburgers every week before the games.

Dinner (will be served with a veggie we like if not posted):
1 - Chicken Quesadallas, salad
2 - Country Club Sandwich, fruit salad
3 - Spaghetti, garlic bread, salad
4 - BBQ Chicken, baked potatoes, grilled veggies, and 4th of July themed dessert
5 - Dinner at FIL
6 - Hamburgers, fruit salad
7 - Chicken Burgers, potato salad, strawberry spinach salad
8 - Crockpot Beef 'n' noodles
9 - Triple decker club sandwiches, cucumber salad
10 - BBQ chicken pizza
11 - Cowgirl sandwiches
12 - Lasagna, garlic bread, salad
13 - Bruschetta chicken skillet, rice
14 - Meatball subs
15 - Cowboy chicken sandwiches
16 - Roasted porkloin, cheesy taters
17 - Hamburgers, tator tots
18 - Tuna Patties, mac n cheese
19 - Spaghetti chicken
20 - Roasted turkey breast, mashed taters & noodles, green bean casserole
21 - Baked potato bar
22 - Hot dogs, fries, slaw
23 - Copycat Steak 'n' shake Frisco Melts, Fries
24 - Chicken Enchiladas
25 - Meatball subs, slaw
26 - Heavy Breakfast buffet
27 - Easy Manicotti
28 - Sloppy Joes
29 - French bread pizzas
30 - Fried Chicken
31 - Meatloaf

QBQ

QBQ! Question behind the Question by John G. Miller. Received this book today in the mail. Love PaperBackSwap for this kind of great find. I'll not only use this concept in my work life, but in my everyday life too.

From the back of the book:
Have you ever heard questions like these?

"Why do we have to go through all this change?" "Why don't they communicate better?" "When is someone going to train me?" "Who dropped the ball?" "When is that department going to do its job right?" "When will someone share the vision?" "Why is this happening to me?" "When will we get more tools and better systems?"

If so, QBQ! is the book for you and your organization.

In today's business culture, the lack of personal accountability is a problem that has resulted in an epidemic of blame, complaining, and procrastination. No organization - or individual - can achieve its goals, compete in the marketplace, fulfill its vision, or develop people and teams without personal accountability. The solution is an entirely new approach - characterized by new thinking and behaviors - where we no longer give lip service to teamwork, but ask, "What can I do to contribute?" and "How can I make a difference?" John G. Miller helps us make this happen. This new, hard-hitting book from the author of Personal Accountability shows us all how to become more effective and successful. Using succinct, lighthearted stories and easy-to-read chapters, Miller gives us a practical method for putting personal accountability into daily action, which can bring astonishing results: Problems get solved, internal barriers come down, service improves, teamwork grows, and people adapt to change more quickly.

In QBQ! The Question Behind the Question, John G. Miller presents a winning handbook you'll want to keep close by for situations requiring personal accountability. It's a terrific resource for anyone seeking to learn, grow, and change. Using this tool, each of us can add tremendous value to our organizations and our lives by eliminating blame, complaining, and procrastination.

English Curriculum

Talking with a fellow homeschooler today. She mentioned I really need to get a hard core curriculum for my oldest's needs. He'll be starting high school this fall. I don't like the hard core stuff. He will be doing nothing but school work all day instead of the few hours that it normally takes us. That's one of the reasons we love homeschooling so much.

Looks like I need to do some soul searching on this. Is it because I don't want to spend more time teaching, out of my day of things to do? Or is it because I know he'll fight me tooth and nail on it? Or is it because I really don't think he needs this type of curriculum, instead that I can teach him better myself? Lots to think about. Research needed.

Tent is up

Yesterday afternoon the kids and I put up the tent. Forty-five minutes it took up to put it up, huge sucker. Sleeps 10 people. The boys even put the hammock & stand in there so one could sleep in it. LOL! I made sure they had extra blankets, pillow, and were dressed warmly (it got down to 59 last night). For the first time they told me goodnight before it was time for bed.

I have to say, it was fun to watch them with their excitement of this new adventure. Each kid brought most everything they own to have in the tent. At 5:30 this morning, all the boys were all up, hungry, and a little cold. Yet they have already told me that they were sleeping out there again tonight.

Times like these I wish I was a kid again just to experience these adventures.

FireFox Fans - New upgrade 3.0 is now available

I love FireFox, much better than anything else I've used in the past. Got information that today, Mozilla FireFox is wanting to set a Guinness World Record (great marketing ploy isn't it?) for the MOST software downloads in 24 hours.

There website is blogged down and takes forever to get in due to this demand. Instead, I found this download link: http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-3.0&os=win&lang=en-US

The new version is nice so far. Need to play with it more. Have fun and lets see if we can break a world record. ; )

Need a great Chore Planner?

If you are looking for something to make your life easier check out what I found. Motivated Moms Chore Planner (see left column for link) is stocked full of everything you need to do in a day, week, month, and year; all wrapped up into a downloadable ebook. The owner has created several different types for you to choose from. Regular full page, 1/2 pages, , Page Per Day, and each one has Daily Bible Reading Schedule option or not. Click on the link for more information and to look at her free samples. I've gotten the 1/2 page ones to put into my planner. This way I don't forget to change the furnace filter or it is time to reorganize under the sink. Its all written down for me to check off. Who doesn't love easy?

Lost most of my canning jars

We got the basement all cleared out and for some reason I forgot to check in the storage room until yesterday. Oh my what a mess that greeted me when I opened the door. I had stored all of my empty jars in cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other until canning time again. When the bottom box got wet, it got soft and caused the whole stack to fall. Out of most everything we lost down there, this one the one thing I really used. Darn it.

So I sent out an email to my homeschool support groups. Those ladies are good at finding bargains and things people are looking for. Some are farm wives or just as frugal as I am. We grow gardens and can our produce. My son told me once I was like the ant in the store of the Ant and Grasshopper. He said, "Mom, you get ready for winter". What a smart kid I have. lol

The other thing we lost was our Christmas tree. That was given to use by my mom, we get hand-me-down items from her a lot. Its not water ruined per say, it is growing mold and you just can't kill mold 100%. We don't need that in the house. We'll just save up for a new tree. No big deal.

Tomorrow, the hubby and I will be going to ACE Hardware to look for a backup battery for the sump pump. They have them, they say. We will see. The one I looked at online has a small sump pump attached to the battery. When the sensors realize the power is off, it starts working for us up to 7 1/2 hrs. When the power returns it recharges the battery. Cost is a bit much, starting at $150 and up. Yet the peace of mind that little suck will give me is priceless.

The spoils

Book sale was today. I did very well, considering all of what I had. At the very end, I gave a bunch of board games and craft junk away. Didn't want to bring that home. A friend of mine (Moody Foodie) told me to go to Vegsource.com to sell my books/curriculum. I'll try that out when I get a chance.

Adding up what I made, minus the 3 books and Geosafari game I bought, the love offering to the church, and lunch I made $141. Then I realized I need fuel for the drive home (gas has been hovering at 3.99 gal for a few weeks). Today it pushed passed the $4 mark, settled on $4.19. $40 later, and the tank still wasn't full, we have a nice little start in the homeschool envelope I have for expenses. $101 of the spoils. Go me!!!

Getting ready for the book sale

As my luck would have it, with all the cleaning out we've been doing in the basement, I get a chance to get rid of somethings we have in the homeschool supply area. Several different types of curriculum we don't want or need, craft supplies (seriously thinking of giving all of that to our church), board games, this and that items, and storage carts. Since I can't store anything downstairs without mold trying to grow on it, they have to go.

While I'm selling or sitting waiting on someone to venture by my table, I'll be making up hair scrunchies, if I remember to bring them. Wish me luck.

Weekend update

We are under a state of emergency. Major flooding due to the rains. Either we had rain everyday or every other day. Friday night until Saturday midmorning we received almost 9 inches. It's a mess to say the least. There are houses under water, our grocery store has flood water starting to enter it, roads closed and/or washed away, and the interstate is closed as well as a US Hwy in our town. I'm glad no one has been hurt from it. Only have to deal with the added traffic being rerouted from the Interstate to the US Hwy by us. I'm hoping and praying that the waters dry up so they can reopen the interstate.

DH got home last night. He should have gotten in at 8 pm. Instead, with the rerouting and traffic, he didn't get in until 12:30 am. Said it took him over 2 hrs what would have normally taken 10 mins from where the traffic had stopped. Poor fella. He woke up several times in the night with leg cramps that made him feel as if he was gonna (and I quote) "Cry, puke, or poop." LOL This morning I gave him a banana and a Tylenol.

Got almost everything out of the basement. Lost several things, mostly things we forgot we had and never missed in the first place or was left here by the previous owner and we didn't want them either. Did find we own enough school supplies that we will never ever need to purchase them again. (I think my future grandchildren will not need school supplies from the looks of what we have. LOL) Major savings there. I'm trying my best to not incur more expenses when it comes to homeschooling.

Friday, three support groups in three different counties are getting together for a Used Homeschool Curriculum Sale. I keep finding more and things to sell. Yay me! The money I make on this sale will go into the Homeschool sinking fund. We will use it for any field trips, membership fees, books we may need, etc., that will come up. All in all, I really like this frugal living and planning we do. My family things I'm weird, so I know I'm doing right. ; )

Phooey

Thanks to a major t-storm last night, we lost power for 2 or so hours. No power means our sump pump doesn't work. This little sump pump works all the time, have a high water table here and we live in and area where there is nothing but clay dirt so little to no drainage. Within 30 minutes the laundry, furnace room, and storage room was flooded to about 2 inches (laundry is where the sump pump is and is the lowest area in the basement). By the time the power came on, we had 8 inches of water in the laundry room. We lost a lot of things. Luckily the washer and dryer work, so far. *knock on wood*

I've spent all day cleaning out the big room. All of our things are now upstairs or in the trash outside or in the garage for a yard sale. Major decluttering going on here. Our big room is like a family room, has a fireplace and a bar built in and the last owners left an antique piano which is probably not worth much since it wasn't taken care of before we bought the house. I was using this room as a school room (lost a lot of my papers). All of the area rugs are gone. Most things that were made of wood is gone because of the mold from just being in the basement at all; add more moisture and the mold took over. Still have the other half of the basement to go through. Called my furnace-a/c company to have them come and do the yearly service on the a/c and check the furnace for water damage.

After we get the basement dried out I have several things we HAVE to do.
- Buy a battery backup for the sump pump.
- Caulk the windows and put in plastic covers over the outside of the windows
- Call the basement people to come back out and reseal the house (thank goodness for lifetime warranty).
- Save up for a perimeter drain to be put in around the house and garage (oh ya, it leaked too).

I'm just thankful that a tree didn't land on the house or garage or we weren't hurt. God is good.

Speaking of good. A couple members of our church was to help us repair our roof. The job was to tricky to do so one of them contacted a roofer. He just left and told me the bill had already been paid in full. My eyes are leaking as I write this. What a timely blessing! God is the GREATEST!!!!!

Freebies

Found some freebies this morning in my readings and searches.

- Quamut.com the go to how to - It shows you how to do just about everything. I found many things to learn to do under these headings they have for us to search through....House & Home, Mind & Body, Hobby & Leisure, Money & Business, Computers & Technology.

- The Homeschool Shop has a free item every month. This month's item is a study for high schoolers with History Scribe - Ancient Egypt.

- Learning Though History has unit study on the Panama Canal. Sign up for their newsletter to receive information on new ones.

I'm published!

Woo Hoo! My first article was published. Check out my recently published content on AC:
School is Out: Home Schooling Parents Need to Plan for Next Year .

Spread the word. The more people that read the article the more exposure I will get. Woot!!

Summer Reading

Received via UPS this morning McCall-Crabbs Standard Testing Lessons in Reading. I have two boys that have problems with reading, third son reads better than I do (he's 10). Mostly its vocabulary issues, yet I believe one of them believes in his heart he can't read so he doesn't even try. Being the loving mom that I am, I decided that all of my boys are going to work on their reading abilities this summer with me 3 days a week. This includes vocabulary work. *evil laughter*

I read a link in one of the yahoo groups I belong to (sorry, don't remember which one). The mom explained that she used these books and they really worked. I did my research and found what I was looking for.

McCall-Crabbs Standard Testing Lessons in Reading was originally published back in 1926 and later reprinted in 1961. This tool will help a student improve their reading comprehension. The student is given 3 minutes to read a short section (usually less than 1/2 a page) and answer multiple choice questions. Each lesson is given by ability level. You, the parent, can see quickly how well your child is comprehending in relation to his grade level. The book(s) can be used again and again if you use a piece of paper to write down the answer for the tests. There are five books you can buy. Book A for 2nd Graders, Book B for 3rd graders and so on. Book E measures all the way up to post-college level. I can't wait until my sons are all in level E.

For Vocabulary I have Rummy Roots (bought last year and never used....why do I do this?) and a book called Vocabulary Cartoons SAT Word Power. Rummy Roots is an unique card game designed for students to master 42 Greek and Latin roots. First you need to learn the words and alphabetize them by playing 'go-fish'. Once that is mastered, you move onto Level 1 until you reach Level 3. In Level 1 players combine roots to form English words and practice dictionary skills. Level 2 players try to stump their opponent so dictionary skills are used even more. Lastly, in Level 3 is played like Rummy using three root words to expand their vocabulary and comprehension. The Vocabulary Cartoons book, gives us words and cartoons. Each word has the main word, the link word, a cartoon, a caption, and two or three examples of how the word is used in a sentence. You are given ten words to study and at the end of the week a brief quiz is given to see what your child has remembered. We have laughed at many of the funny cartoons, captions, and meanings.

Well, they just asked to go to the library. Maybe this summer plan will work after all.

Associated Content

A long time ago I've wrote an article, submitted it to Associated Content and they published it. Even got paid for it too. Depending on the article and the amount of hits AC thinks it will receive, will vary the amount of cash you'll get for your writing.

I decided today to write another and see how it will do. Planning on writing a few more just for the fun of it. Even if I don't get paid much, I still am making some money. Every little bit helps, especially with fuel costs as they are now a days. Click on the link and check them out. Never know, you might make a few bucks.

Knitting socks

Decided to take a leap of faith, the plunge as some would say. Making a pair of socks by hand. Knitting with two needs is bad enough....but four! Don't know if I got it in me, yet so far I do. Got just under an inch made in a circular creation going on. Have search the net for how to make socks. Found a couple nice site, but youtube has movies. Yay me! Need all the help this chick can get.

Using Sock Ease from Lion Brand in Taffy color. The yarn also has aloe in it to help soften the hands as you work. Added bonus. When done, I will try to post a picture of the complete pair. Depends on how lame they look though. My lameness is legendary around these parts. Just ask my kids.

Health Curriculum

After many searches and asking several people, I've come to the conclusion that there isn't a health unit study out there like I want. Fun, hands on, and non text bookie is what I'm looking for. Looks I'll have to put one together every year. That's perfectly fine. This way I get what I want and I'll know what the kids are reading/studying.

My plans are to create the unit to last a semester, focus on 1 main item and highlight several others, have fun things to do and at the end have a test to verify what we've learned. Sounds easy. Praying that it is. Looks like it might be easy. AND if the kids start asking questions about something, we will probably veer off the main subject and focus on the new idea. That's fine. That's homeschooling.

Memorial Day and new links

I found a site that had millions of links. Took me a while to whittle them down cause of the dead links. I hope to find more. So if anyone comes across a free or low cost curriculum or homeschool aid, pass it along to me.

In other news, staying home this Memorial Day. FIL usually has a cook out but he and his mom went to see his brother. FIL just retired and is find that his wife of 25 years isn't the person he thought she was. He is expected to pay his own bills even after he retired. News to him. Sadly, his kids and her kids new this already. *shakes head*

So we are going to cookout here at home. Just the five of us. Could start a new tradition. BBQ Chicken, Wild Rice, Best BBQ Beans on the Planet, Cucumber Salad, and Strawberry Tart. By the way, the baked beans are to die for. With the severe thunder storms rolling in this evening, we may be eating in the basement. hehe

Frugal Summer Fun

The kids are eager to start on summer fun things. Me, I'm looking forward to the major cleaning we'll do as well as painting the master bedroom. I don't want to think very far ahead, but if I don't things will get out of hand.

Now my kids will have fun this summer. Don't get me wrong. Yet they will also do their daily and weekly chores. No work, no play. Most of their chores take no more than 5-10 minutes a day, unless its cutting the grass...that takes a little longer. ; )

Ideas we would like to do:
- Library: Ours just reopened from a major remodel. Lots of things to explore there. Plus my kids love to read.
- Camping in the back yard: I've been asked this several times since April. Waiting for night time temps to rise a bit more.
- Camping: Over a weekend in the State parks around here. Only out the fuel, park entrance fees, and the tent camping fee. This will be our vacation fun this year. Lots of fond memories to be made.
- Walks and bike rides
- Picnics in the park
- Swimming at the park (sparingly)
- Have friends overnight
- VBS at our church
- Volunteering to help at the Senior Center and a couple other places
- Finish up the baseball season
- Play games on the computer or Playstation: We have many tournaments around here. The boys love challenges.
- Visit Grandma: She lives near Lake Michigan and has a local zoo. This could be a great getaway for us. Depends on fuel costs as well as other expenses (boarding animals, fees for zoo, etc.)
- Use the binoculars and/or telescope: Watch the moon, stars, birds, etc.
- Visit a nature center
- Water fights: Water balloons and water guns are great fun; even for teens.
- Free field trips: Call around for free field trips. Great way to spend a hot afternoon or rainy day.
- Movie theater: Check out a movie. Our theater only charges $3 a person to get in.

There are probably many other things we will be doing that I haven't even thought about yet. Sky is the limit here. I'll just ask the kids what they'd like to do if I run out of ideas.

Blog changes

I didn't like the layout normal blogger templates has. What I really wanted...you know like that chocolate cake you really really want on your birthday. Well mine is a 3 column layout. Found it doing a search on Google. Yay for Google!!

To much information I like to put out there for ya all. As old and new information comes available, I like to keep our wealth of knowledge continual. And I need all the help to retain all this useless *cough* I meant useful information.

Planning for next year

Yes, I'm officially nuts. Planning for next year's school schedule now instead of procrastinating. Usually I buy a bunch of stuff in Mar at the convention and do the panic run in Aug, "what the heck are we going to do? " Not this year. Saved me $500 at least in books doing things the easy way. Unit studies seem to be working for us. Kid really enjoy them. Got Language Art, History,and Science down. Need a few others to tie this up into a neat little package. Looking now for a Health curriculum or unit study. Friend of mine loaned me her Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy book for science. We really loved it. Hands on, not to much reading. Hoping to find a Health series like that.

In the mean time I'm also learning how to use Homeschool Tracker Plus. Spent the money for it, never used it. Now, I"m using it. Need to use it because the oldest is starting high school next year. Transcriptions are going to drive me looney or loonier...depends on who you talk to. The program is not user friendly; me I can use pretty much or figure out how to use most programs. Sadly I need to watch the tutorial several times to see how to use different aspects of the program. How has time for that? Not me.

Also in my day to day things, I've been throwing out and donating crap we don't need. Streamlining the house. I've applied to several part-time positions. If I start a job, I want my life to be 110% easier to maintain. Yet my pain is my husband is a serious packrat. I mean serious as in hard core. Here's a good example of my pain: He has a box of rocks and twigs that was a Christmas present back in the early 70's (I can mentally picture the 70's clothing in this flashback) when he was a small kid. Under strict orders to not every toss them away. I kid you not. So far I've tossed a few items from the basement that he hasn't missed or when I cleaned out the parking area of the garage. I can now park my van in it without hitting something when the doors open. Still need to get rid of the broken lawn mower he promised to fix 5 yrs ago. Wait a sec....trash day is Tue next week. hmmmmmm.........

He's gone

My uncle is now in heaven with our Heavenly Father. I'm glad this battle is over for him. He was in such pain. In the next few days we will have the funeral. Then help my aunt, as much as we can, to finish up moving. They were in the processes of selling their house when my uncle got so sick.

Reflecting on my uncle today. He loved life, babies, tormenting those he loved, and the great outdoors. He'd get so tickled at little kids that it was contagious. Laughing is the only contagious thing I'd like to catch, kwim? Yet, he was a hard worker. Wore my butt out trying to keep up with him. Most of my memories are of me being little and me always trying to impress him. Don't know if it worked or not, but I sure tired hard. Also remember in my teenage years of him having a chain saw in hand, I'm cleaning up debris or helping split the wood. Uncle Bob was the only male in my life, besides my grandpa, growing up. He loved the outdoors as much as I do, the quiet of the country life. Gonna miss him horribly.

Uncle Bob

Uncle Bob is the only man left in my life that I've known since birth. He is also my buddy. Uncle Bob hasn't been feeling well, went to the doc and found out he had pneumonia. That was last fall. Fast forward to last month. He found out he had a mass on his right lung. The doc's biopsied it, not cancer.

Two weeks ago the doctors removed the lump. Found cancer in his lung and in the lymph glands. Chemo and radiation was talked about in great length. My uncle said "Bring it on!"

He was home last week, but didn't get better. Got weaker. Kept coughing and couldn't catch his breath. As well as not being hungry and felt like he was full of gas. Couldn't burp for nothing. Sunday he had to go into the ER because he couldn't breath from coughing. That's when the news got worse.

He had blood cloths in his lung. More testing found he had cancer in his stomach and liver. He wasn't full of gas, his stomach was full of fluids. A drain tube was put in. Today, he had a heartache and his kidneys failed. I have prayed and prayed. In my prayer, I asked God to see that my uncle was saved so he could be with Him if it was his time to go. Because, quiet frankly, I had no idea if he was or not. Prayed that he was out of pain and to help the doctors do what needed to be done.

Yet a miracle happened. Uncle Bob pulled out of it. Regained his appetite and started acting like his old self. The nurse asked him if he'd like to see the hospital chaplain. He said yes. My uncle and my aunt were baptized tonight. God is wonderful!
_________________
Edited to add, we lost my uncle Saturday May 17th. He will be greatly missed.

Cool site

Found this site http://www.armoredpenguin.com/ today. It has word search puzzles, cross word puzzles, etc. Great for helping with vocabulary words.

Gonna have my boys be in charge of making them each week to help them remember their vocabulary words. I'm finding if they teach, have hands on things to do....they can remember more and for a longer period of time.

Tithe

Now when DH asks a question or mentions something to me, I think on it and ask him more about it the next day to see if he wants to change something. We were talking in Sat night he asks how much do we tithe. I said $20 a week for now and will up it as we get our debt paid off (yes, we have done stupid). He rolled over and fell asleep. I guess the subject was dropped.

Not for me. I thought about it a few times while trying to sleep. Then again the next morning. God was working in me, because I don't know why I asked DH about his tithing comment Sun morning as we were walking out the house to head to church. My mind wasn't on tithing, it was on....are the kids ready? do they have their hair combed good? where is my purse? Etc. Plus my mind can go a million miles a minute on 20 different things...its no wonder I get tongue tied or say something totally stupid.

Here's our conversation (me in light blue): "Do you want to up the tithe?" "Yes I do." "How much? Full 10% or a smaller amount?" "Smaller." "How much smaller? I need a number to work with." "Oh, $30 or so." "How about $40? $40 keeps popping in my head." "Yeah, $40's good." "Do you want to do it this week, I'll have to void a check and rewrite another one." "No, lets start next week."

Gotta love the man. He doesn't say much, but when he talks its important. You want to know the great thing about upping the tithe amount? I'm not afraid to do it. Even though I do the budget, I know our numbers of what we can pay and can't pay...doesn't matter. God will fill the void and make it happen. God is so great.

Last day of co-op

Woo-hoo! We are done with co-op classes today. Funny how we are so excited when they start, but so glad to see them end. Only 9 weeks (1-day a week) of them each semester. Not so bad. The lady that has been in charge stepped down this year. And surprise of all...no one has volunteered to take it up.

Tomorrow night we are having our End of School party. All the kids in the co-op have been practicing on a play. Memorial Day is the theme. All the kids love this idea of being in a play, except for one. Of course it had to be one of my kids. DS2 refused to participate and his is happy as a clam. The kid doesn't like people to look at him and especially hates going up in front of people. Claims he has stage fright. *rolls eyes* Yeah, whatever.

All in all, its been a pretty good school year for everyone. We are all tired and can't wait til summer vacation.

Almost done

Haven't had time to post much on here as I used to do. We get up early, kids do their book work (usually math, grammar, vocabulary, and spelling), and we work together on the two unit studies that we are finishing up on. Science and History.

Cleaned out our book shelves this weekend and have gathered up all the curriculum we had bought in hopes that they'd be the 'one' we'd stick with. Unit studies have been working a lot better for us than anything boring old book did. When my kids read, what they read never sunk in. With the unit studies, we do a lot of hands on and interaction...they remember and can tell me stuff I forgot we read. hehe

Can't wait til June. No more school and the kids are going to help me deep clean the house. It needs it badly. Kids want to camp. Might let them camp in the back yard a few times. Friends of ours at church invited us to camp with them. My back is already yelling at me for even thinking about it. "What?? Are you crazy!?!? Woman, I'll cramp up on you so darn fast...." Yes, my body talks to me. Yesterday my shoulder was tell me to quit laying on my right side so much. *sigh*

Baseball season is upon us too. Get to spend a few nights a week at the ball park.

And we are building our garden this weekend. This is going to be a summer school project for the kids. When we start our botany unit study this fall for science, they should be able to tell me a lot about what they learned with our garden. At least, that is my hope.

Count down

Spring is here and its beautiful. In the last few weeks, the kids would rather spend their time outside playing, than studying. Wouldn't we all! LOL School count down has begun. We have until the end of May to get this done. The boys have agreed to double up on a few days to get caught up, a day off here or there hurts us when we realize that we'll be having school til Jun.

Surprisingly the kids are getting up early every morning. Before 8 am is unheard of here, yet they get me up now. Breakfast and chores are done quickly. School started, checked, reworked if needed, and finally the unit study we are working on is started. By the time we are done its 12 noon, lunch time. They have the rest of the day to play or read or talk me into a bike ride.

DS2 loves to do laundry. Thinking of hiring this kid out. hehe He just found a new love, hanging clothes on the line. I have to fight him to do it. Especially if he is suppose to be working on math or other subject. DS3 loves to ride his bike or play sports. DS1 would rather read and not do anything physical. Must be a teenage boy thing, he's going to get over that quickly if he doesn't want momma bear to get mad.

All in all, I think this summer is going to be loads of fun. Got plans to make a big garden, plant flowers out front, and rent cabins in the park for mini vacations. Nothing grand this year. Want to pay off some debt we have looming over our heads. Can't teach the kids good stewardship if we don't practice it ourselves.

Learning to make my own unit studies

I've been searching on how to make a unit study. Lots of info out there, but they all have links to sites that are dead links. Sites are no longer there. Makes it hard to find the info I need. So I'm on the look on how to make them. Others things I've found want you to buy them from them. I can understand that, but when I do buy them the pages are blank and you kids are expected to fill them out. BIG DEAL! I want something written out that tells me how to teach my kids this subject.

Because of this lack of completed unit studies out there, I decided to create my own. So far I've come up with a template of sorts to start me off. I don't want them to be totally focused on just internet links either. Those come and go. Books don't. Maybe I might create something that others may want to buy. Its worth looking into though.

Support Group

There are two homeschool support groups in my area. Today, we joined the other one. We'll get newsletters, monthly meetings, etc. from this group. Plus meet other moms that I wouldn't normally get to meet in the area. Hoping this will just give us more options to network than I had before. The other group is filled with some really nice ladies, but they just don't support you the way I want/need.

As for the one we originally have been members of. We will probably stay members with, but will not be as involved. Wait and see. Just wait and see.

He took the job

DH contacted his employer this week to let them know his last day is Saturday. In the trucking industry, drivers come and go like a revolving door. What we didn't expect was they took his load from him and left him sitting in the wind today. No load assigned to him, he doesn't get paid. Nice huh? Not overly worried about it though. We have money stored back in case of emergencies. This is just a bump in the road.

As for the new job. That one I hope is all it was promised it would be. If Dh drives as many miles as promised, we will have a debt snowball of $868 per month. A friend of mine asked me if I have played with the budget yet with this new job. *smiles big* She knows me so well. Of course I have. Buffing up a couple envies. I'm finding that when we have all our categories funded, the budget works much much better.

So, back to the snowball. If I don't work and we have that kick butt snowball. We will be debt free by Spring next year. Credit card free by Nov. Is that cool or what? Talked to DH and we both think that if I work part-time say at a bank or something like that and work 20-24 hrs a week. That extra will go to the snowball too and/or say a fund to buy a new to use vehicle for DH. Probably the latter. Until the jobs start picking up here we will just have to wait.

Overview of the week

Been super busy these last few days. DS1 had his birthday Sat, turned 15. Asked me if he could shave again. Hmmm, lets see...if you feel like you need to, then do it. I don't know until I see it. Guess the thought he needed permission to shave every time. Learning lesson for both of us.

Friday we went to co-op. The boys went out with a dad who had traps set for beavers. Got 3 and explained to the kids what he can trap, what's illegal to trap, how to skin them, etc. Never show us first hand the skinning process, bet my kids would be right up in front watching. I on the other hand, helped out in the kitchen. The 2-3 grade girls are taking a cooking class. All hands on for them. Yeee! We were doing fine until the other mom and I got to talking, forgot about the garlic bread in the oven. Now we both brag about how good of cooks we are, this was not one of our shinning moments. I hollered at her to get the bread and when she opened the oven door, smoked billowed out. Everyone came a running to see what we had burned. LOL!! It was to funny, we'll never live that one down.

Dh still hasn't found a job he likes yet. Or better yet, a job I'm happy with. He got an offer to one that I question. Its only been in business for 2/3 yrs. The one I'd like for him to get he questions the amount they pay. Wish we'd both get on the same page on this.

As for my job hunt, its at a stand still. There is nothing within a 30 mile radius for my skills. Clerical at the basic to Administrative Assistant. Very scary if I can't get at least a part time job. That money would be our fun money or for the snowball. Whatever it needs to go to it would fill in.

Spent the day running around with DH and the boys. While they played I got a pedicure and a manicure. Feel like a queen right now. Probably should do this more often than when I feel like it. This time though, it was a gift from my mom. I really loved it. Tonight, we are all play video games. Family game night at its best.

Egg sale at CurrClick

Who says Easter egg hunts are only for kids?!

You're invited to CurrClick's first annual "Easter Egg Hunt for Parents."

When: Monday March 17th-Sunday, March 23rd

Where: Use the CurrClick's banner to the left

Our wonderful publishers have been arranging for tons of great surprises and our technical crew has been hurriedly preparing and hiding your virtual eggs. There are over 45 of these eggs hidden all over CurrClick, all with promotional codes worth up to 75% off select eBooks. There are even 7 totally free titles ... If you can find them. Start hunting now! Have fun and don't push anyone. (We had to say it. It's an Easter egg hunt!) *Every code can be used once by every customer.

Happy Easter!

The CurrClick Staff

Curriculum in a Click!

March Menu

Last night I decided I had best get working on the menu for this month. Hadn't gone to the store yet, officially, and needed to make sure we had the staples for the month. I thought I only needed to come up with a week or two of items. Wrong again. I only had a week of ideas written down. That's what I get for assuming.

Mar 9 - Chicken & Wild Rice Soup, Home made bread
10 - Steaks, Best BBQ Baked Beans on the Planet, Salad
11 - Spaghetti, garlic toast, salad
12 - French toast, bacon
13 - DS2's birthday (his request) Grilled BBQ Chicken, peas, boiled potatoes
14 - Beef Roast w/taters, carrots, onions
15 - DS1's birthday (his request) Chicken Enchiladas
16 - Italian Beef Sandwiches (use leftover beef roast)
17 - St. Patty's Day - Beef Stew, Irish Soda Bread
18 - Lasagna, salad
19 - Leftovers
20 - Chicken N' Dumplings
21 - Meatloaf, mac & cheese, salad
22 - Montreal Chicken Sandwiches
23 - EASTER - Either dinner at families or Ham, scallop taters, deviled eggs, waldorf salad
24 - Pepper Steak, mashed taters, spinach salad w/diced apples & walnuts
25 - Meatloaf sandwiches (use leftover meatloaf)
26 - Grilled ham & cheese sandwiches (use leftover ham), soup
27 - Meatballs in sauce, hashbrown casserole, green beans
28 - Sweet & Sour Chicken, rice
29 - Leftover
30 -Beef pot pie (use leftover beef stew)
31 - BBQ Chicken packets (these have potatoes and veggies in them while they cook in foil over grill)

Ultimate Blog Party!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey there! Welcome to my blog. This is Craftsy Momma here, De-jay for the night. Put on your party hats and join us as we party like its 1999. LOL!!

My blog is a bit of everything. From our daily lives, financial struggles, homeschooling, and of course crocheting or knitting (which I'm still learning how to do.) So please don't ask for a picture of my first project, its uuuuggggllllyyy. We laugh, we cry, we have fun, and we do chores. The hills and valleys of life, all right here.

Click on the link to the right or Mirst Linky below. The one on the right will take you to the Blog Party. Sign up if you want or just look around for other bloggers. So....lets put on our dance shoes and dance baby, dance!

California Court of Appeals say its illegal to homeschool

This one of the first things I heard this morning, as I was getting ready to head to our homeschool co-op. A state appeals court has decided California parents, without teaching credentials, do not have a right to home-school their children. The 200,000 homeschooling families in California are now criminals.

I heard someone say there is an estimated 2 million homeschooling families in the United States. Several people I talked with today said that this is a gross under estimate. Most homeschooling parents' fear is this will snowball into every state. And they should. Each of the 50 State's political arenas will see this as a stepping block into controlling homeschooling families.

Where did our Constitutional rights go?

TAKE ACTION
HSLDA is asking concerned citizens across America to sign a petition asking the state Supreme Court to "depublish" the case, which means to apply the case to the family involved — not to all California families. Basically it will limit this ruling from growing and spreading. Please, even if you don't homeschool, sign this petition. One day your rights, that your truly believe in, could be in jeopardy too.

More on the job search

Apparently Dh's job is not going well. After all the promises, they just are following through. The latest change is in Aug., he will have to commute 3 1/2 hrs away to leave his semi and keep it at that hub each week. The truck will not make it that far, afraid to say.

Because of this and a few other things they won't pay on (layovers and such), he decided to look elsewhere for employment. I swear the man is part cat. Lands on his feet every time when it comes to getting a new job. Started yesterday applying and a couple today. He thinks he has one already, job A. They had him do a drug test today. He really wants a job at company B. Yet he said that if he doesn't hear from B then he'll go with A. Confused yet? I am.

Surprise money

Love love love surprise checks in the mail. $350 of it too. Its gonna pay for the 4 small medical bills we just received that total around $287. :D

DH is looking for another job. This last one was all full of promises and are falling short. Semi drivers make more money driving, not waiting for a load to become available or waiting to be unloaded. If you are paid per mile, $70 for layover pay is chicken feed compared to what he'd make driving 8 hrs - 11 hrs in a day.

He wants to be home every night. Feels like he's missing out on the family. And truthfully, he is. Stinks to high heaven, but you do what you gotta do for the family. He's been a semi driver for 8+ yrs. To much for him, he's a social animal.

Between both of us, me getting a job and him a new/better one. I believe we'll be able to pay off our debt and move forward towards a better future.

Mail call

Got an application in the mail from the bank. They needed me to fill it out to go along with my resume I had sent in. Getting excited, yet I don't want to jinks it either. Plus it says that if there are other positions I want to apply for, I can just let them know and they'll add it to my file. Cool!

Spring Fever and Food

I'm on the hunt for a good tried and true pulled pork recipe. Have this picnic roast in the fridge thawed and don't want it to go do waste.

IM'd a friend of mine, she seems to have some really good recipes and ideas. She told me to put it in a crockpot on high for 6 hrs. Pull it apart, remove the fat and nasty pieces. Put the pork back into the crockpot, add BBQ sauce, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and some onions. Cook on low for 2 more hrs. Will try this.

But, I'm hungry for something else. Maybe its my spring fever brain telling me it wants to grill out again. Wanting to find that rub and that sauce you put on your meat that makes it taste like heaven. I'm super picky about food. If it don't smell or look good, I'm not eating it. Drove my family nuts growing up with this pickiness with food I have. Never liked tomatoes when I was little, still don't; grandpa even tried to get me to eat one with sugar on it. YUCK! Why would anyone want to ruin sugar like that. So, if anyone has that tried and true rub and a kick butt sauce, pass it along.

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

Spring fever has hit me hard. Started last week. My friend P is getting read to close on a house and move. She's telling me about all the cleaning she needs to do to this new house as well as painting and making it their own. Got me to really looking at my home. UGH! Its a mess. Clutter everywhere. This house is smaller than the last house we had. I thought we had gotten rid of things but apparently we didn't or the clutter had babies. Clutter must be like rabbits.

Started in the kitchen Monday. Boy did I do a great job. Decluttered a lot, with a lot more to go. But I can breathe in there. We can sit at the table without bumping into something. Only a few, and I mean a few items on the counters now. Scrubbed the grout on the counters (Why do people put tile on their counters. Makes into a huge cleaning nightmare. Not sanitary at all.) Brought my bakers rack upstairs. It now hold the microwave, toaster oven, and my cookbooks! Yay! Missed my books.

The rest of the week, gonna start on in the cabinets. Remove things we don't use or need, wash them down, etc. Example of the crap we have and don't need......We have 2 soup tureens. Giving to us by DH's grandma and mom. We don't use them at all, never had. But they were gifts. Talked to hubby about them and wonders of wonders, he agreed with me. (He's a major packrat.) I don't need 7 cutting boards either. 1 or 2 will do. So much stuff. Someone could be in need of my junk. Wish I was Amish, they don't have packrat tendencies. Naw, they don't have modern advancements in their homes. Maybe just a little of their tendencies then. LOL!

Still waiting

Applied for a part-time bank teller position on Friday. Sitting here wonder if they will ever call. How long does it take? Job's been posted since January. You'd think they'd be wanting to get it filled quickly. Getting a job is not what I really want to do, but the more I think on it...I'm getting excited. Work 12:30 - 5:30 Mon-Fri and some Saturdays.

Figured I'd make $500 net a month from it. $100 would be for fuel and I'd need $50 of it for clothing. The rest of it, $350 would be for our budget. To fill in the gap and/or snowball. I'm hoping for snowball. Tired of this debt. We are short each month and its all due to medical bills.

We can still homeschool the kids. Schooling first thing in the morning, have lunch and leave for work. Kids can stay at my mom's or help my grandma. They will both love it, seeing the kids daily and getting extra help around the house. If the kids need to finish a project, they can do it at grandma's. Win-win for us all.

Please say some prayers on this. We really need for me to work at this time.

10 More Months

Til Christmas! mawhahahaha *ducks and runs from room*

I've got a sinking fund set up just for Christmas. Yep, sure do. Been on this plan for two years. I take out a set amount each paycheck and keep it in a savings account. During the year, if I find something I know someone will absolutely love it (try to get on sale or clearance, my money goes farther)...then I can get it. I have the money. Instead of waiting until Dec 24th, thinking its an emergency because one didn't have a plan, and whipping out the ole credit card. Nothing worse than getting the bill a month later beating yourself up for the amount it is. Got a plan this year and I'm gonna work it.

Off to stir up more trouble. ta-ta!

Money woes

Dh's check was way below what I estimated. We have a roller coaster pays each week. Highs and lows. They very greatly to the point that its hard to make a budget stick.

Two weeks ago his check was over $200 than I estimated. So I held back $200 because one of the next few weeks it would be low again and we'd need back up. Last week it was $34 over than I had estimated. Ok, fine..I can live with that. Figured this week should be $550. On average it should be $750 ea week but fluctuates so much can't really say that for sure. I was so wrong on both accounts. It was $370. How is a family of 5 to live off of that? We can't.

I just sick and tired. Sick and tired of being in debt, of being on a plan, not getting to have fun, not being able to spend money on things we need, not being able to buy clothes for me because they are cute, not being able to have a freaking life besides worrying about paying our bills on time! Grrrrrrrrrr.....

On of these days I'm gonna come here and yell we are debt free. When I do, you better believe I'm gonna celebrate in style too.

Ok, off my rant. Thanks for listening.

Knitting

Learning how to knit. Thought I could do it by a book. It was hideous, this thing I made. Don't ask, it had issues. My friend Shelby told me to go to this site, http://www.knittinghelp.com/, it has movies to show me how to do each stitch. Ok, but I also have problems with holding the yarn, I'm a crocheter. We hold the yarn with our left hand (if right handed) and knitting says for me to hold the yarn in my right hand. Total foreign feeling for me, just can't do it.

She said to do the continental knitting. Continental knitting is to knit right handed BUT you hold the yarn with your left hand. BINGO! We have a winner. Had to rip out all my stitches of this ting I had made. Poor thing had major issues. Started over with the instructions given via the net, worked a few stitches...oh boy. What a difference. This thing is gonna be pretty now. Making a needle wrap to store my knitting needles. Great practice cause I was bragging to my husband. Yes, I brag. He wants me to make him a black wool sweater for him. Uh huh, ok, I'll get right on that. NOT. Let me practice some more dude. So anyways, I want to say a big thank you to Shelby. Now, onto learning how to read knitting instructions.

Frustrated

So frustrated with the kids and myself. Homeschooling has become a burden with me/us. Its like I can't seem to get them to work, I don't want to sit and hold their hands all the darn day. Why am I feeling this way? Its like the goals we want for our children's schooling don't matter anymore. I just don't want to mess with them anymore. This is such a dis-hearting feeling. I feel like a failure.

Typical day is they get up before me. I can't seem to bring myself out of bed early, shut off the alarm and go back to sleep. Its not like I don't stay up at all hours either. 10:30 is the latest I stay up. I'm tired all the time too. Motivation is out the window with me. The younger boys are watching tv and I plop my butt down to the computer. Its like that thing sucks me in. By 11:30 I'm upset cause they haven't started school and nothing is been done around the house. Is it their fault? NO. Its all mine. So why can't I get organized and motivated?

We were all organized and motivated when school started. Until our "friend's" daughter accused my oldest of grabbing her butt. They made it out to be a sin and crime. It wasn't, my son swears it was an accident. The only person that knows what truly happened is God. I'm leaving that fight up to him. It got so bad that I was talking to a lawyer about it. But because of this, we have our whole schedule thrown out. Never got it back either.

Maybe we need to take a week off and regroup our efforts. I have a program to help keep tabs of our schedule, Homeschool Tracker Plus. Am I making this into a huge undertaking instead of making it simple? Probably. I have a tendency to do that. So, what am I doing wrong? Besides sleeping 10 hrs a day. Taking naps in the afternoon. Wonder if its physical and it can be fixed. Write down on a erase board the kids schedule and tell them this has to be done today. Rewrite it out for the next day each evening? My kids are old enough to be able to work without me sitting with them making sure things get done. So why don't they?

So many questions. Must pray and mediate on this. Any suggestions, please advise.

Hair cuts

Love the look a fresh hair cut. Makes a person look like they take care of themselves. Take a little pride in their looks, as my mother put it. A cut just turns a person into something nice. I see women with the cutest hair styles, you wonder if it take them hours to come up with. I'm sure it doesn't, but you wonder. Like looking in the hair books as you wait. "I want my hair to look like that." In reality it should be, I want to look like that skinny woman in the picture. LOL.

My two oldest boys were in desperate need of them these last 2-3 weeks. Youngest still likes for me to use the clippers and buzz his hair off. To bad the other two want different looks. Guess that's the price to pay as they get older. Today we went to the salon that is a walk in only, no appointment needed. They look so handsome now. While I was waiting, decided that mom needs pampered too. Got mine cut into a cute short do, highlights and a few reddish/brown hints mixed in. LOVE it. Nothing says a homeschooling mom can't look pretty and stylish. I'm gonna keep up with my appearance, that includes my clothing too. Will update later as I go through a style change.

Valentine's Day

Love is in the air. At least that is what the commercial ads tell us today. Heard that Red Velvet Cake is the "traditional" cake for the day. Don't know if they is true or not, but it sounded good to me.

Searched the net for the best one I could find. www.allrecipes.com didn't fail me. :D Red Velvet Cake IV, submitted by Pat in St. Augustine looks to have the moistest one, plus it has be best picture results. What a way to celebrate a holiday than with chocolate.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!