My back hurts :(

That just about sums up my day.

How pathetic is that????

Anyway, my mind has been whirring with ideas about organizing the bathroom cabinets (be still my heart!) and about some new knitting projects (hats for Baby Bear and a friend). I am deeply troubled by the thought of grocery prices increasing dramatically over the next few months. Norman and I have been seriously stocking up on things that are on sale, and getting the great deals at Walgreens and CVS, but we haven't really had any way to organize the massive amount of stuff (food, tolietries, etc.) So we are thinking of putting floor to ceiling cabinets somewhere.......maybe in the kitchen, maybe in the living room. So I am pondering that.

Today we had school, I did 4 loads of laundry (compared to yesterday's SEVEN!), fixed spaghetti for lunch (with homemade sauce, yummy!), finished school and the laundry, cleaned the back part of the living room (you know, the place where all the ODD stuff lives LOL), ran the dishwasher twice and comforted a very grumpy baby on and off ALL DAY LONG.

Baby Bear has been out of sorts the past few days. I don't know if he is teething, feeling bad, or getting ready to feel bad. I guess he could be having a growth spurt. He just cries and is difficult to comfort. I look forward to Norman's days off.

I am tired and my back still hurts (amazing that blogging didn't help that :)) so I am going to bed. Tomorrow will be another day :)

P.S. Lest you think that I am ungrateful, I am so very thankful for everything that God has given me today including an aching back, cause that means that I was able to work and snuggle a chubby baby. Good night!

Some more pictures

This is a picture of my older boys.
Greg is on the left and Lee is on the right. They really are best friends.



This is my Sadie. She is a black cocker spaniel....and my only daughter :) She sleeps most of the time so this is a typical picture of how she spends her days.




This is a Bear and a Tiger (Tiger is the cat). I wasn't sure which one is bigger so I laid them side-by-side for a size comparison. I am not sure who the winner is.



Ironically, Tiger doesn't really like people. He is anti-social. He especially doesn't like ME. He is dh's cat. He bites if you rub his tummy. So I don't....EVER. Suprisingly, Tiger loves Bear. Tiger wants to sleep with Bear, wants to rub up against Bear and goes out of his way to check on Bear. So the anti-social cat likes the baby. Who, ironically, will probably spend the next 2 years pulling Tiger's tail. I guess that every good deed doesn't go unpunished. Especially not in this house :)

Contemplation

I have been mulling around ideas for our homeschool in my mind for a week or so now. I tend to embrace change.....even when change isn't need (or in some cases WANTED). I love Sonlight. The kids are enjoying it and even have embraced reading (even my reluctant reader). Sonlight is working for us.

And yet, I am seeking something else.

Although we are solidly in the middle of our 2nd term (we took off a lot of time when Bear was born) we are only starting the 12th week of Sonlight. I am looking at us still working through Core 3 till the end of 2008....at least. That's ok. But part of me says you need to get something else. Why part of me says that, I don't know. I told that part to shut up, but it isn't listening.....got figure.

Sonlight is pretty expensive. However that isn't relative if we are still using it for half of next year also. And that will also let Greg expand his reading skills enough so that he can stay on the same Core as Lee at least for a few more years. I thought that I would have to split them up after Core 4 due to Greg's lower reading ability (he is in 2nd grade now - using Core 3 - and doing fine, I might add). So if we can't start Core 4 until Jan. 2009 then Greg will be halfway through 3rd grade and that wouldn't be working to far ahead. Lee is my reluctant reader so it works great that we are working a little behind his grade level. That keeps the reading right where he needs it to be.

Speaking of reading. Lee is reading the advanced readers for Core 3. He is doing very well. He is reading them faster than they are scheduled. Part of that is because I assign reading based on 30 minutes a day rather than so many chapters a day. So he is ahead. I have started letting him alternate assigned reading books with books of his choosing (after mom's approval of a book). He is pleased with this arrangement and so am I. I started doing this for Greg also so that he can read some for pleasure as well as assigned.

I am trying to integrate notebooking into our curriculum more. We are doing some narrations after reading history assignments. The boys like the science worksheets but I don't think that I will purchase Sonlight science again. The boys love science topics and I would love to be able to follow their interests in this area. So next year we will probably follow a unit study approach when it comes to science. Apologia elementary science looks very interesting to me.

So I am searching for ways to spice up our studies and get us through these mid-winter blues. Any suggestions?

Maybe when Sonlight's 2008 catalog comes out I will be inspired.

Little Bear

This is a picture of Little Bear. He was up on his dad's shoulder and looked so sweet that we snapped a picture. We do that alot.

A Picture of my Boys

I am trying my hand at uploading pictures to my blog. If this works, this will be a picture of my boys. Greg is on the left, Norman in the middle and Lee is holding Sadie on the right.

Quick Post - Homeschool Links

I have ran across several cool homeschool related links in the past few days that I thought that I would share. I am typing quick cause Little Bear is waking up.

The Master Planner



The Chore Busters

Enjoy!

Saturday Savings

I thought that I would post some fantastic deals that Norman and I managed to find this week. For starters, Norman has really become a money saving fanatic. He does great! He goes to IGA after work and walks up and down the aisle looking for the "unadvertised" sales. His great deal this week was frozen bread dough, IGA brand. There were 5 loaves in a bag and they were $1.38. Normally they were $4.85!!!!! And the bread was delicious :)

At Walgreens I finished getting the "free with rebate" items. I also got the general mills cereal (Honey Nut Cheerios and Lucky Charms) that were 3/$7 with a $2 RR. Incidentally, the register also gave us a $1.50 off 3 boxes coupon for next time.

I am new to CVS shopping but I didn't do bad there this week. I had around $14 in ECB's to spend. I got Cascade dishwashing detergent, 2 jumbo packs of Pampers, a Soy Joy bar, a Gilette Fusion razor and a Gatorade G2. I spent my ECB's and $13 out of pocket and got $6.29 in ECB's for next time. I had a lot of coupons to spend on stuff there (2 $1.50 off coupons for Pampers and a $4 off 1 razor) so that helped with my total a lot.

I am interested to see the great deals when I am able to get a hold of more coupons. We have a new printer so now I will be able to access all those wonderful online coupons.

I can't wait to see the sales flyers for next week! And just one week after that till the new Easy Saver Books are out! Woo Hoo!!!!!! Norman says that I am an addict :)

Happy Saving!

Current Reading List

I thought that it would be interesting to post my current reading list. These are all books that are either in my "quiet time" basket or living on the coffee table. I have started them but not finished them at this time :)

Issue #57 An Encouraging Word
Winter 2007-08 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
March 2008 Fitness Magazine

Beautiful In God's Eyes by Elizabeth George (2nd time through)
The Genesis Record by Henry M. Morris
Loving God with All Your Mind by Elizabeth George
Language Arts the Easy Way by Cindy Rushton
Notebooking! Yes, You Can be a Binder Queen by Cindy Rushton
The Ultimate Lap Book Handbook by Tammy Duby and Cyndy Regeling
The Bible - Deuteronomy

So, leave a comment and let me know what you are currently reading~

Icy Day

We had sleet and freezing rain last night.

Everything is under a layer of ice this morning. That means that I get to stay home today. The roads aren't in a good enough condition to justify me getting out with the kids so I juggled my schedule and arranged for us to be home today.

I LOVE staying at home!

We finished school work a few minutes ago. I wrote a letter, made some phone calls (juggling our activities) and am checking email. I will be making pork chops for lunch. We will do afternoon school and maybe I will get some knitting in. Little Bear was so fussy yesterday that I didn't get any knitting done yesterday. And now he is awake again. Guess I had better go!

Have a great day!

Moving Into the Technology Age

Well, with much anticipation we have moved into the technological age :) For Valentine's Day my wonderful husband bought me a new Gateway laptop, a wireless 3-in-1 printer and high speed internet. WOOOHOOOO!
I have done more this afternoon in 1 hour on the internet than I have done in the last 3 weeks combined. I am flabbergasted by how FAST this thing is (I am sure it is a combination between fantastic computer and fabulous internet service).
I imagine that I will be doing a LOT more blogging. I will also try to get some pictures posted of my boys and some of the projects that I have been working on.
This will open up so many creative doors for me :)

Website Links for Submission Post

I am sorry that I forgot to add these at the end of my post on Biblical submission. These are some of the sites that helped to encourage me to seek the Bible and God's will with regard to submission in my marriage. I hope that they will also encourage you!

www.titus2.com
www.yoursacredcalling.blospot.com
www.keepingthehome.com
www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com

Also, here are some book titles that I have also found useful:

The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace
Created to be His HelpMeet by Deb Pearl

Homekeeping Happenings

Things around here have been very quiet. It is a dreary, rainy day...even week around here. The temps have risen to the 50's and the snow is all melted. The boys had to go from snow sledding to mud sledding. Currently, they are wittling sticks on the kitchen floor.

School is going well. We are studying Jamestown and the Pilgrims. I really enjoy this time in American History so that makes the study especially enjoyable for me. I taped some educational shows from that time period off the History Channel and we watched one this afternoon (about the building of the GodSpeed - ship that brought settlers from England to Jamestown). The boys really enjoyed it.

Baby Bear is a little fussy. I think that he may be teething. Shortly I will bathe him and spend some time with a lotion massage. That always seems to calm him down. We watched the first part of a new Baby Einstein video about sign language today. The older boys picked up the signs for baby, mommy, daddy and kiss very quickly. I hope that we will be able to naturally work them into our daily lives so that Baby Bear will pick them up quickly in due time.

I have got to finish cleaning my closet and find the rest of my material. And I am still working on the LONE sock.

I am reading through the Bible and am in Deuteronomy. There is a lot of good stuff in there. I hope to share by the end of the week some of the things that I have learned. If you haven't already noticed, I did manage to finish my article on biblical submission and have posted it below. I will add another post with links to websites that promote biblical submission.

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful week. Spring will be on its way soon enough!

HomeKeeping

Today is a homekeeping day.

I woke up at 5 this a.m. and showered....donned a cute turtleneck with hearts and bears on it and a tan jumper; ate breakfast, fed baby, talked to mom. I spent a few minutes decluttering the hutch countertops in my dinning room. They are next to the door that we all use and tend to pick up lots of clutter. That accomplished and laundry started, I baked chocolate chip cookies. While they were baking I loaded the dishwasher, cleaned out the fridge and got frozen egg rolls out for lunch. The boys have been playing outside in the snow and are now eating warm cookies and hot cocoa. I am taking a break now, sipping tea and reading some wonderful articles that Miss Peggy posted on her blog. Her writing is inspiring me to apply myself as a better hommeaker.

I am gazing out my window.....looking at the snow and thinking of all the possibilities for spring. I am also mentally planning our 3rd annual 4th of July cookout. We always have it on the Saturday following the 4th and invite all of our friends. We have the most wonderful time and I am really looking forward to it this year. Most of all, I am looking forward to warmer weather! And that little groundhog in PA saw his shadow so I guess we get 6 more weeks of winter......I sure hope that they are mild!

Anyway, better get off here and get back to work!

Updates

First, I have updated the Sites I Visit and Homeschool Links on the right-hand sidebar. If you are inclined check out some of my favorite sites. There are many helpful and godly sites out there to glean from!

Now, we have been snowed in. Not really, but we have about 4 inches on the ground. The boys have been sledding all afternoon. Chicken noodle soup and hot cocoa have reigned supreme around here!

We have all been feeling better. That truly is a blessing. We had a windstorm on Tuesday night that wrapped our trampoline around an old light pole. We didn't suffer any other damage though so God was very gracious to us!

I am still working on the lone sock. Hopefully I will get it finished next week. I am having a very dear friend over on Monday. We will have a wonderful day catching up and sipping tea.

Homekeeping duties will keep me busy tomorrow and then on Sunday my grandparents celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. It is a blessing to me to have such a wonderful example of a dedicated marriage in my family. I will be enjoying spending time with my family then. I hope to check back in on Tuesday!