Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise: The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home
Diane Flynn Keith: Carschooling
Carol Topp: Homeschool Co-ops: How to Start Them, Run Them and Not Burn Out
~Fall Pumpkin Harvest~

Nov. 3, 2009
2010 Olympic Torch Relay

Oct. 29, 2009
Sausage & Bean Soup ~ Recipe

Aug. 26, 2009
A Special 6th Birthday Party

Aug. 24, 2009
Great Giveaway Blog ~ Loaded with tons of kids gear to win!

Aug. 24, 2009
Chocolate Zucchini Cake Recipe ~ Delicious!!

Aug. 21, 2009
SIGG Water Bottles : The Shameful Truth...They Knew They Contained BPA
Posted in Family
Okay, so I had a nice warm and fuzzy post all ready to be typed up about our week and my chocolate zucchini cake recipe but I had to set it aside momentarily to share some shocking news about SIGG water bottles and the fact that they had been using BPA (Bisphenol A) a hormone disrupting chemical in the liner of their bottles!
When BPA first became big headlines alerting everyone to the unsafe amounts of it that were leaching into our children's plastic baby bottles, water cups and more I went on a quest to find a safer alternative to the regular plastic drink cups for all three of my children.
The Swiss company SIGG was one of the front runners as a safe choice for children's drink bottles so of course I bought one. I was concerned that they were made of aluminum but was assured that they were completely safe as they had a protective coating which would keep the liquids from coming in contact with the aluminum and it was BPA FREE.
It now turns out that all of those SIGG water bottles that we all snapped up prior to August 2008 did in fact contain a water‐based epoxy liner which contained BPA!!
But that's not the real kicker...
Why have they been sitting on this knowledge since August 2008 which was when Sigg quietly changed the formulation last year to their new "next generation 'EcoCare' liner," which is "100% free of BPA, phthalates, BADGE, BFDGE, and NOGE"? Shouldn't this have been made public knowledge right away so that we could have stopped purchasing the older bottles that were still being sold with the BPA liners or at least made an informed descision as to which liner we really wanted to trust our children's beverages to be served in?? I sure think it should have been!
If you're not sure what bottle liner your SIGG bottle has there is a really handy photo over at Z-Recommends illustrating the older liner that is shiny and brassy looking versus the new EcoCare liner that is a creamy color. Unfortunately ours is definitely an older model :( You can also read more of the nitty gritty details behind all of this contraversy there.
Now to be fair SIGG claims that these liners have been tested and that they do not actually leach any BPA but if you were buying new bottles to avoid BPA entirely why in the world would you take a chance and purchase anything with it?!
Sorry SIGG....
Fool me once, shame on you; Fool me twice, shame on me. I just don't think I can trust you anymore.


Aug. 20, 2009
Fun Quiz Time
Posted in Fun Stuff
I haven't done a quiz in quite some time so when I saw it over at eclecticeducation's blog I just had to try it out *grin*. Turns out I have quite an eclectic way of speaking to! Only half of the words that come out of my mouth are normal and the others are slightly wacky since I'm not even American. LOL
Let me know how your turns out!
| You Speak General American English! |
50% General American English
25% Yankee
20% Dixie
5% Upper Midwestern
0% Midwestern |

Aug. 10, 2009
Blueberry Zucchini Muffins ~ Recipe
Posted in Kitchen and Recipes
Everyone knows that you only need one zucchini plant to provide you and usually your neighbor with a non stop supply of the delicious veggie for cakes, muffins, and baked or fried treats! This is the case for my mom and we are reaping the benefits with an abundance of delicious zucchini to eat :)
So far we've had chocolate zucchini cake, stir fried zucchini, zucchini sticks with dip, zucchini breaded & fried with dill dipping sauce and now delicious muffins. I don't know what it is but we never seem to tire of it *grin*.
While blog hopping the other night I came across this great recipe for zucchini muffins with blueberries and a delicious hint of lemon :) The kids LOVED them! I must say though it seemed to take me a good 15 minutes longer though to get mine to cook right through the middle. Just to much blueberry juice in there. LOL.
In all the hub bub of the kids watching them cook and come out of the oven I forgot to take a photo of them finished and there wasn't one left either. Oh well, next time :)
I've got another package of zucchini in the freezer that I'm going to pull out for cake tomorrow. We couldn't keep up with the last lot of them and a great way to keep your zucchini for baking at a later date is to grate it up and freeze it in ziploc bags :) Works perfectly!
How about you, do you have a favorite zucchini recipe?


Aug. 8, 2009
Hairstyle Fun ~ Coronet or Crown Braiding
Posted in Fun Stuff
L's hair is now past her waist and it can't be left down anymore. It's either in her food or flying in her eyes and just generally in the way *grin*. So with all of this hot weather we have been having I've been playing around with it and practicing my french braiding :)
Normally I just do a plain french braid straight down her back but I adore the old fashioned crown or coronet french braiding that braids the hair in a circle on top of the head. At first I didn't realize that there was a trick to getting a perfect circle around the top of her head so I french braided it like normal, taking hair from both sides of the braid and just making sure that I continued around the perimeter of her head to keep it pretty circular like in the top photo.


Aug. 4, 2009
Storing Dill for Pickling

Jul. 31, 2009
Amazing FREE Preview of 45 Sylvan Dell Children's Books
Posted in Book and Curriculum Reviews
I just LOVE books and what's equally exciting is when books & free are combined together *grin*.
Sylvan Dell Publishing has an amazing assortment of fantastic children's books for the elementary aged crowd! They're beautifully illustrated and at the end of each book is a little Q&A or information section where you can delve deeper into some of the topics that were covered while reading :)
So when I heard that they were offering to let the public preview them in their new interactive ebook format I couldn't wait to check them out!! You have access to 45 great titles, you can view them in either manual mode or auto-flip, and you have the choice to listen to them in either English or Spanish (more languages on the way later).
I just have to say that I am totally crazy about the auto-flip mode *grin*. You select the book you want, the language you want it read in and click on auto-flip and it reads the book to your child! Not that I think it's great that I don't have to read anymore *wink* but from a multi-tasking perspective when you have different aged children learning at home this could be a wonderful tool to use during times when you need to do a little one on one work with a different child. You can set the little ones up with the story book to listen to while you tackle some hard math equations with another child :)
Another perk to ebooks is that they are so much more economical than purchasing the real thing. For me that's a hard one because most of the time I really love to have the book in my hands opposed to sitting at the computer but this is definitely a cost cutter and makes it more accessible to more families and the language choices could be a fun way to practice language skills as you learn a second language :)
Okay enough babbling LOL. I'm sure you're thinking where's the link already!! Pop on over the the LOG IN page and you'll find the code already typed in. All you need to do is hit the 'validate access code' button and you're in :) And don't worry, you have plenty of time to get there and check them out as many of you are probably on summer holidays right now :) You've got until October 31st, 2009 to take advantage of this great trial!


Jul. 30, 2009
A Visit To Daddy's Tug
Posted in Family
Well it's another scorcher of a day here and I don't know if I can make it another week at these temperatures!! We checked the thermometer outside a moment ago and it's 35 degrees in the shade. YIKES! We are so not used to this weather here :( It's normally around 23 degrees so this is a bit of a body shock LOL.
I had to make a trip to the post office this morning so we decided to make good use of the cooler morning air and loaded into the car nice and early, and since Hubby was heading down to his tug to finish his tow plan and fax in log sheets we thought we'd tag along with him to :)
The kids just love going onto the tug and as soon as we hit the deck they were scrambling into the wheel house! You might have thought they would be interested in checking out the radios, watching other boats or spinning the giant ship's wheel.... nope, the first place they went to was the snack cupboard! LOL
It was so funny. There was M & L with their heads nearly right inside the cupboard looking for something good to eat :)
We weren't there very long before it started to get noticeably warmer and it was time to head home again. As L was making the trek up the steep ramp from the docks I noticed that she was wearing rubber boots!! Crazy kid. Here she's trying to dress cool and then she sticks hot boots on her feet :)
How about you, how are you beating the heat today? We love to eat frozen grapes & blueberries and tons of icy fruit smoothies. As I type this I think I'm going to head off and make one now *grin*.

Jul. 29, 2009
Check Out My New Blog Template!!
Posted in Fun Stuff
I'm so excited... I finally completed my blog makeover that I started last year *grin* I know that some of you only read your favorite blogs through RSS feeds or Google Reader so I thought I'd write a little entry and invite you to pop over to my blog and let me know how you like it :)

Jul. 27, 2009
Popsicle Binoculars ~ Craft

Jul. 26, 2009
A Devine Wedding
Posted in Family
On Friday my mom and I traveled to the Sunshine Coast to attend my cousin's wedding :) I was really excited to go because she is so very special to me. We used to spend our summer's together when we were little either at her house or mine which were an absolute riot, and there were oh so many family get togethers! Over the years though as we grew older, graduated school and moved onto adulthood our visits began to grow more sparse and we hadn't actually seen each other in quite some time but I was thrilled to hear that she had met someone really special :)
While she was living in Korea with friends teaching English as a second language she met Mr. Devine. Yes, that really is his last name *grin*, and I guess the rest is history! It was the nicest ceremony that I have ever been to. The pastor that married them was a long time family friend and he made it extra personal and touching as he spoke to them and letting them know what special gifts from the Lord that they were to each other :) Both of the mothers read from the bible to them, the bride even sang a song as the groom played the guitar and they had written special vows to read to each other with the groom ending his by saying he'd lay down his life for her. Awww... how romantic :)
Her dad had surprised her with a vintage car that would take them along with the rest of the bridal party for their photos. It was so cute to see them all in it cruising slowly down the street with their parasols up *grin*.
When they returned from all of the photo taking there was a small gathering with all of their closest friends and family for lunch, speeches & toasts, fun trivia games and even some Irish dancing as the groom is Irish :) They couldn't have asked for a lovlier day as it was all held in her mom and dad's backyard which made a lovely backdrop for the celebration.
The following quote was shared at the wedding and it was so perfect that I wanted to share it with all of you as well :)
Love....
Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing. There are many things below it, but there are also things above it. You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling… Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last; but feelings come and go… But, of course, ceasing to be “in love” need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense — love as distinct from “being in love” — is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by the grace which both partners ask, and receive, from God… “Being in love” first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it.
-CS Lewis
Joined as one.... God's special gift to one another. How beautiful :)



Jul. 22, 2009
We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Program.....
Posted in Homeschooling
...... to bring you this super exciting announcement. I'm back!! *grin* After my not quite intentional blogging hiatus I'm going to start updating my HSB blog again. Woohoo! LOL
I have really missed catching up with all of my great HSB friends plus all of you other fantastic visitors that frequent my blog and sharing what we've been up to. You might have already noticed but if not I've added a handful of new entries today below this one to help bring everyone up to speed on some of the activities we've been doing for the last couple of months and I have a new blog look in the works behind the scenes to :)
Our days have been chocked full of nature outings, weekly museum field trips, mass amounts of camping and generally silliness *grin*. On top of all that I've also decided to start my own home based business called 'RosyUndPosy' and have been selling eco friendly reusable cotton bags for lunches, the market, produce and more! I'm really passionate about creating everyday items that will help reduce all of the plastic waste we throw into our landfills everyday :)
Keep an eye on my blog as I'm planning to share some of my bags with all of you next month!!! I just love to share eco-goodness *grin*.
Phew! My blogging skills are a bit rusty but I'm ready to go full steam ahead and I'm really looking forward to the start of the upcoming school year. I've been flipping through my homeschool catgalogues and I've picked some good old favorites and we're trying some new stuff this year to which will be fun to share with all of you :)
How about you... have you started to think about September yet or is swimming and sunbathing the main priority still? LOL.


Jul. 5, 2009
Art in the Park ~ Chainsaw Carvings
Posted in Art Appreciation
Today was the annual Art in the Park event in our hometown and it's always lots of fun :) There is live music, face painting, lunch, craft vendors and of course the main highlight... the chainsaw carvers!! There were three of them this weekend and when we arrived just after lunch they were in full swing. I just loved the carving above with its big rock cod fish swimming around the mountain of rocks. It's amazing that this carving started with a giant cedar log and was transformed into a fantastic statue all with the use of a chainsaw!
Bears are a very popular animal to carve and this one is looking really great.
There's much more to it than just wildly carving away at a log to! This fellow is actually consulting a book with a photo of a bear and using it to mark his next chainsaw cuts :)
Another amazing carving of a river otter.
Just look at the detail in the work. He's using his chainsaw to define the otter's fur. You've got to be awful careful, one slip of those spinning teeth and you might cut off a vital part of your sculpture!
This mother wolf and her pups was one of many carvings that were on site today and available for purchase. They cost a pretty penny but wouldn't you just love one of them in your yard?!
This is one of the chainsaw carvings done in previous years. We love to wander through the park and check out all of the older carvings :) Campbell River also has a really great chainsaw carving competition that takes place around Canada Day and there are TONS of carvers to watch work. After it is all finished the carvings are placed around the city. It's fun to come across them in different spots throughout the year :)

Jul. 2, 2009
Happy Canada Day!

Jun. 30, 2009
Whale Watching ~ Telegraph Cove (Tons of Photos)
Posted in Nature Journaling and Notebooking
A little over a month ago I was presented with the opportunity to go on a complimentary whale watching excursion with Stubbs Island Whale Watching that operates out of Telegraph Cove and you can bet your bottom I was jumping for joy. Well the day finally arrived and on Sunday I made the trek north along with my dad :)
We arrived an hour before our departure time of 1pm which gave us plenty of time to enjoy lunch at the Killer Whale Cafe which is located at the end of the boardwalk and overlooking the marina.
The food was amazing! With a hot plate of halibut and chips and great coffee we were set :)
Check out the boarding pass they give you. Great way to conserve on wasted paper to! The laminated card is about the size of your drivers license and has all of the specs on the boat they use for the tour. When you go to get on you hand it to the captain and everyone shares where they are from. It's a great way to find out where everyone is visiting from :)
There were tons of harbour seals sunning themselves on the rocks. Some of them had pups with them as well which was fun to see the babies :)
Not to far out of Telegraph Cove we got to see a Minke Whale. They are the 2nd smallest baleen cetacean in the world, extremely fast and make long irregular dives so it was hard to keep track of him.
Above you can see what the Minke Whale would look like if we'd had a chance to see more of him out of the water, but we got to smell his horrible bad breath!! Nicknamed Stinky Minke, this one definitely lived up to his name and fouled the air around us *grin*.
I took this photo after we left Telegraph Cove and headed towards Blackfish Sound. It is absolutely gorgeous through the Plumper Islands!! I get to see some of it from time to time when I go on Dh's tugboat or little excursions like this whale watching trip but I could be here every day!
On one of the rocky beaches some of the onlookers observed this great and well fed Black Bear. Just look at the size of his legs! The captain of the boat took us in closer and cut the engines so that we could drift quietly nearby and watch.
We get to see lots of black bears in our backyard at home all year long, but what was so interesting about this particular bear was the way it was rolling over huge bolders to get at the crabs and little fish left behind after the tide had gone out. You can see, he climbed right over top of it and then rolled it backwards! It was treating itself to a little seafood buffet :)
Nest we came upon a group of 4 Killer Whales heading towards the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve. They were identified as being part of the A Pod and it was so cute to see because there was a mother and her calf in the group!
Again when we had caught up to them while keeping a safe distance from them, the captain cut the engines to the boat so that we could drift silently and revel in their magnificent beauty. We also got to listen to them talking with the use of a hydrophone which is an underwater microphone.
As a child we used to go fishing in a little 12 foot aluminum boat out of Kelsey Bay and we were always guaranteed to come across the orcas. I remember being terrified and thrilled at the same time as they would swim close to our boat so it was fantastic to be so close to them again :)
The calf was quite
rambunctious and did quite a bit of playing around with its mother :) After we watched them for while we turned around and started heading back again.
This is one of the Orca Lab volunteer run research stations located on Cracroft Point where the Johnstone Strait and Blackney Passage merge. Orca Lab was founded by Dr. Paul Spong in 1970 and they monitor the killer whale (orca) movements and habits by microphone and visuals.
It was absolutely gorgeous when the sun came out. At this point the blue sky was reflecting on the ocean surface turning it a beautiful blue :) I'm pretty sure when I took this photo we were in Blackfish Sound looking towards Blackney Passage.
Just as we were heading back to Telegraph Cove we spotted a Humpback whale over by Malcolm Island!!! Amazing giant creatures. It moved so slowly as it humped up and down through the water. We watched it for a bit and then it seemed to disapear. A couple of minutes later though we heard a loud whoosh of air and a spray of misted water blowing out of the ocean surface as it started to surface again :)
As we followed along behind the Humpback Whale we were really hoping that it would raise its tail out of the water as they have massive tails! It never did but when I returned home and looked at my photos I realized that I had caught a photo of its blowhole. Look at it, isn't it amazing?! Did you know that these behemoths can take in 20,000 litres of water into their mouths at one time when they are feeding? So cool!
More great scenery!
There were tons of Bald Eagles all over to, so of course I had to snap some photos of them to *grin*.
Four hours later we were heading back to the Telegraph Cove marina. Our whale watching excursion was ending and it had been so much fun :) What a fantastic afternoon!! If you ever get a chance to visit Telegraph Cove I highly recommend taking a trip whale watching with Stubbs. It's something you definitely won't forget :) Me, well I'm trying to talk hubby into buying a great little house I saw for sale out in Blackfish Sound. I would definitely pick up and move there if I had the chance!
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~About Me~
Hello from Canada! I am a homeschooling mom to 3 very rambunctious children ages 10, 6 & 3 years old while holding down the fort as tug boat captain 'Dad' sails the seven seas *grin*. We're located on 40 acres in a tiny rural community in beautiful British Columbia and this is my quirky journal about our homeschool journey, running my home based business 'RosyUndPosy' making 'Eco Friendly Bags 4 Green Living', and everyday life home on the farm. Hope you enjoy your visit :)

Want to have a peak at what the weather looks like here today? Here's a cam showing the lovely scenic view looking east down Johnstone Strait past Helmcken & Hardwicke Islands.

And this one is looking north across Johnstone Strait towards Hardwicke Island. Hit the refresh button on your browser to update the picture and make sure you stop by during daylight hours :)
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