July update

I seem to be so very bad about updating lately. I do apologize. The baby is taking up some of my time, plus the garden, school preps, housework.....Oh My! I am hoping to get into the swing of things soon :)

I hope to shortly share our curriculum choices for the year and some review stuff that I have been working on. Also, this week is the last week to sign up for the Ultimate Homeschool Expo at the discounted rate! Those speakers are such a blessing to me as I walk in the morning.

Our garden is finally growing! So many of our neighbors have been harvesting and we have been jealous, but yesterday I picked 4 green beans and we have little tiny cucumbers, zucchini and spaghetti squash on the vines. We also have several green tomatoes! And a little tiny pepper I think. I ordered some seed for fall planting. I hope it gets here in time!

I have been decluttering school stuff. I sold some stuff on ebay, but ended up not making hardly anything after shipping. I think that shipping rates have went up recently. I know everything else has. I ordered flours, popcorn, honey, and oatmeal from our local food co-op and was surprised at how much the prices had increased. I am going to have to be more creative with our food budget I think. I am also trying to store some food for emergencies. I have been very blessed by a website HERE with a bunch of ladies (and some gentleman) that are helping me in my long term preparations. No matter what the future holds for each of us, it doesn't hurt to be ready for it!

Little Bear is almost 9 months old! I can't hardly believe it! He has started to take a few steps alone at a time.....6 is the most so far. We have some little kitties as well and they all entertain each other with chasing and stuff. The little kitties aren't smart enough to stay away from the baby though and he tries to squeeze the stuffing out of them.....or drops them when he is done......grabs them by the tail, etc. I spent an hour yesterday saying "be nice to the kitty, love the kitty, don't throw the kitty, don't drop the kitty, don't strangle the kitty, love the kitty". I was beginning to sound like a broken record! Luckily enough the older boys came home from grandmas and helped and Little Bear had to go to bed. Right now Bear and the grey kitty (with no name - we are hoping to find it a good home) are sleeping on the couch. Sleeping they seem to get along pretty well..........with very little stress for momma!

Well, I need to finish my chores and get lunch started before Bear wakes. I am going to be trying a sourdough english muffin recipe tomorrow. I will let you know how that goes!

Let's Get Organized for a New School Year!

Cindy Rushton is hosting a wonderful seminar this weekend; Let's Get Organized for a New School Year! I know that I need all the help that I can get! If you want to join us visit HERE for a ticket. Happy planning!

Later today or tomorrow I will post about our curriculum choices for the year. We have a lot of fantastic stuff planned!

Summertime and the Living is Easy

We are embracing summer here :) And having a wonderful time too!

The boys were at church camp last week and they are attending VBS this week. We love taekwondo, but I was so grateful to have a break from the constant running. Bear and I have stayed home most of the week. I have been cleaning, cooking, gardening and just enjoying my home and the people in it.

We have replanted our garden. Dh is probably finishing the planting right now :) Baby is napping so I am inside. I think that we may have a nice harvest in spite of the horrible spring weather. What a blessing that will be this fall!

I have laundry on the line right now and I am finishing the downloads from the Ultimate Homeschool Expo. The speakers are great!!!!! My little pink Ipod (thanks sweetie) that I received for my birthday has been a constant companion during housework and walks.

I am walking 2 miles a day most days. I am on week 3 of a low carb diet (South Beach). So far I have lost 13 pounds, 12 of which during the first 2 "hard" weeks. Boy, am I glad to be done with those! I know that with God's help and constant diligence on my part that I can lose this weight and be relieved of this burden. My knee is already feeling better!

Teach magazine (see sidebar for link) is running a special Homemakers set if you are interested in some encouragement in that area. The sale is until Friday night. I am hoping to get mine ordered sometime tomorrow. I could really use some encouragment in that area!

God has really worked on my heart about my attitude. I am so pleased to say that with HIS help I have been able to have a peaceful, joyful attitude all week this week. And there have been events that could have been stressful!

My little dog Sadie got out of the van at the park Tuesday without the boys noticing when they got in. We didn't realize until 15 mins. later that she wasn't with us. We went back to the park and called and called and called. A woman sitting on a park bench said that she had followed our van as we drove out of the park. That was bad news because we had left the park via the highway. Sadie is blind in one eye, almost deaf and isn't the brightest bulb in the bunch anyway....crossing a highway is not in her skillset. We called and called and called along the edge of the park and Greg was in tears because Sadie was all alone with no one to take care of her when we noticed a man across the highway with a black dog on a leash. Sadie! She had made it across the highway and to his place of business and he was looking for her owner! We were so blessed to have her with us again.

God takes care of the big things and the little things!
Have a wonderful day!

Time is Flying

I had no intention of letting this much time pass between blog updates. We have been so very busy.

Little Bear has become an accomplished crawler and he can pull up to furniture and "cruise" around the coffee table and couch. He has become very attached to Momma. He cries as soon as I leave a room! As part of my exercise routine we are walking 2 miles every morning and he really enjoys the stroller.

My birthday was Sunday. I turned 31. I just don't feel that old though :) Dh and the boys got me a cute little Ipod Nano, 8 GB....in pink. I am happily downloading audios from the Ultimate Homeschool Expo. It truly makes the morning walks more interesting.

Dh's cousin's daughter (this cousin is like a brother to Dh) got married 2 weekends ago. Dh and I made a lot of the food for the reception. We did dinner rolls for 200 people (240 Bavarian dinner rolls). What was I thinking when I volunteered???? But we got it done and the couple is happily married. The bride was our flower girl 12.5 years ago.

Lee is at camp this week. Greg and I rented Alvin and the Chipmunks from PPV this evening. It is such a cute movie.

I am working on my schedule and school stuff for next year. August will be here before you know it. We are bummed that the heavy rains cost us our sweet corn, green beans and other stuff. I really need to get out there and weed what is left. So much for stocking up! We will make do with what we get and be thankful for it. I feel blessed that our area only experienced temporary flooding. So many others are facing the loss of their crops and their homes. God will provide for us!

I hope to be back more frequently! If you are looking for some interesting reading, you can check out Candy's blog. She has been posting about have a joyful attitude no matter what your circumstances.

Have a good night!

Computer Woes

I love my new laptop.
Really, I do.
Except this past week.
My hard drive crashed.
I lost EVERYTHING.
I hadn't gotten around to backing stuff up.
So I lost all my mp3 downloads, my audio books, my homeschool ebook purchases.
I lost all my favorites list with all of my favorite resources and places to visit.
EVERYTHING

We have a new hard drive now.
I am attempting to pick up the pieces.

If you can think of any places that I would like to visit please leave me a comment. I am so sad to have lost many of my friends. I am so grateful that I have some of thing linked from here, but there were many, many more that weren't :(

I will try to post again when I have some happy stuff to report............like my little Bear's first 2 teeth.......or that he has started to crawl. We have been very busy even without an internet connection :)

Blessings to all!!!!

The Simple Woman Daybook

If you would like to participate in today's Daybook please go HERE for rules and guidelines.
FOR TODAY May 12, 2008...
Outside My Window...sunshine!!!!
I am thinking...of dh and problems with our business co-owner
I am thankful for...God's grace every day
From the kitchen...chicken and stuffing casserole
I am wearing...jeans and a sweatshirt (its cool here!)
I am creating...not really anything today
I am going...to town this evening, library, walgreens, mcDonalds and taekwondo
I am reading...just finished Ephesians
I am hoping...problems with our friend will settle down
I am hearing...kitties rustling about
Around the house...baby has his first tooth!
One of my favorite things...spring flowers
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: housecleaning, loving my family

2nd Degree Black Belt

This afternoon, at approximately 5:00 p.m., my oldest son Leland will be testing for his 2nd degree black belt. This is a huge accomplishment and I am terribly proud of him :)

Way to go Lee!!!!!