Hi all,

In light of November 4, which was not only election day, but my wedding anniversary (19 years!) I thought I would post something a bit fun.  I think we all could us a bit of comic relief right now.   

 I don't know who to give the credit to on this one, but if you do please let me know!

Enjoy~ 

21 LINES TO MAKE YOU SMILE

1.      I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it. 

2.      I work hard because millions on welfare depend on me! 

3.      Some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them.  (ummm..not funny)

4.      I used to have a handle on life, but it broke.

5.      Don't take life too seriously; No one gets out alive.

6.      I'm not a complete idiot. Some parts are missing.

7.      Out of my mind. Back in five minutes.

8.      Nyquil, the stuffy, sneezy, why-the-heck-is-the-room-spinning medicine.

9.      Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.

10.  Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?

11.  Being "over the hill" is much better than being under it!

12.  Wrinkled was not one of the things I wanted to be when I grew up.

13.  Procrastinate Now!

14.  I have a degree in liberal arts; do you want fries with that?

15.  A hangover is the wrath of grapes.

16.  Stupidity is not a handicap. Park elsewhere!

17.  He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless dead.

18.  A picture is worth a thousand words, but it uses up three thousand times the memory.

19.  Ham and eggs. A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.  (one of my favorites here.  LOL!)

20.  The trouble with life is there's no background music.

21.  I smile because I don't know what is going on.

                         Author Unknown

Blessings!

Nancy

(Hopefully, you can smile because you DO know what is going on.  Praise God, He will never leave us, nor forsake us.)

 God Bless America!

A friend sent this link over.  Great Job Ladies!  I love this video!!!

It's great to see homeschool Moms having fun.  You know, we WILL survive, but there is more to that.  I'm not trying to wax philosophical about a fun parody video, but surviving isn't thriving, and that is what we need to do in all of our endeavors.  But let us not try to be perfectionistic.  Laugh and have fun!  You don't have to do it all, you don't have to be perfect.  You just have to take one day at a time and remember that "This is the day the Lord has made.  Rejoice and be glad in it!"

Be thankful for this day, whatever it may bring.  There is so much to be thankful for.  And yes, I know there is grief and sadness---some days bring those to us and although it is hard to be thankful in the midst of confusion, sorrow, sadness, and weariness but we must remember that it will pass.  You won't necessarily forget, or even get over those hard things in life.  But you will survive, and even thrive in the midst of whatever comes this day.

Blessings to all my homeschooling (or not) friends.  May you acknowledge your Creator each and every moment today. 

Nancy

Can you belive this? 

This is the ultimate.  The Nerve!

Some "people" just think they are SO special, and can get away with this kind of grand standing.  They just put themselves up on a pedistal for all the world to see.....and they gloat.

Sometimes they just sit there all smug and well, they might even purr.

I guess this is what we get for affectionately calling her "Dog Food."

She showed us, didn't she?

Nancy

One more day of celebrating, then it's back to work.  Back to the basics I say, and I have just the lesson plan  for you that will start the year out right!  Feel free to share it, ok?  But wait, Mary Ann, if you are reading this, you need to go to the previous blog entry.....that is the one with the gift I wanted to show you, ok?  So stop reading this one, and look there. 

Now, for the rest of you who are in desperate need of some good lifeskills curriculum to start the new year, Viola~  Here you go!

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Hi everyone.

Since we homeschoolers are learning all the time, I thought it would be a good idea to share a lesson I had with the kids today. You can probably adapt this to fit your family, as it is a life skill that everyone needs.

You have my permission to reprint this, and/or make copies for your students for further study.

Class Title: Toiletpaper Roll Replacement 101.

B. seem to be relatively intellegent.

Objective: Remedial Toilet Roll Replacement, proficiency for all levels.

One (1) roll of new toilet paper.

Lecture notes:

Please customize this for your particular students. It is important to remember that not all T.P. holders are created equal. This lesson is for the spring loaded type only. Other types will not work within the parameters of this lesson plan.

Sample Monologue:

Whoever said that blogs couldn't be self-serving didn't have a clue!  Actually, I don't know that anyone ever said that, but it sounded like a good way to start out this one. 

 I had a pretty sad day yesterday, and I just want to say thank you to all the wonderful people out there in cyberland who took the time to encourage me.  God is Good!

We got off to a great start today, my family took me out to breakfast at a wonderful little restaurant in Green Mountain Falls, called "The Pantry."  We shared two big plates full of biscuits and gravy, fried potatoes and a huge pancake called "the Mother Lode."  Then we headed to the little pond nearby, and it has this lovely gazebo out on an island in the middle of it.  The plaque there says it was built in 1880 (I think) and the only way to get to it was by boat until they built a bridge there in 1930!  It is a beautiful place to go.  There was actually a wedding scheduled there from 2:00 to 4:00 today.......just finished up it it seems......and while we were there I was thinking; What a great day for a wedding!  On my BIRTHDAY!!!  Haha. See, this is a self-serving blog.

There is this tradition at The Old Schoolhouse Magazine (ahem, that everyone seems to have forgotten today,) that whenever there is a birthday celebrated, the lucky celebrant is  inundated with very witty, crazy, silly and downright awful, I mean very well intentioned poetry from fellow staff and volunteers.  Well, today, (since THEY all forgot) I am inlisting the help of YOU my dear blogging buddies.  Now is your chance to shine!  Now is your chance to bless me or annoy me (you choose) with an original poem of you very own. 

So, while I enjoy a few moments of peace here at home, all by myself (waiting for my kids and hubby to come back from the DOLLAR store where they are buying me some priceless little trinkets) I will be anticipating some heartfelt prose coming my way.

C'mon, if you weren't up for a challenge, then WHY are you homeschooling????

See, there you have it, no good excuse accepted.  Write me a poem. 

Haiku is fun.  Or prose is nice---you don't have to rhyme if you don't want to. 

 But please, if you write a limerick, please remember I don't live in Nantucket.  

Waiting very patiently,

Nancy

"May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, my rock, my fortress and my redeemer."

The goose got me.  Now I have to think.  Hmmmm.

Well, should I talk about food?  Or my  husband?  Or cooking?  (I guess that is the same as food.....sorta.)  Or should I talk about homeschooling?  Ooh......maybe I need to do that.......

Top five things you will never hear me say:

5.  "Of course I voted for Clinton, twice!"

4.  People don't kill people, GUNS kill people.

3.  A woman has a right to choose.  It's her body after all.*

2.  Hey kids, lets all go out and get a new peircing!

And the number 1 thing you will never hear me say:

"Wow, check it out!  Gena has posted a new photo on her blog!"

(* at one time, I believed the lie.)

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OK, now, I must do the top 5 things you will never hear me say about homeschooling:

5.  Everybody has to homeschool the same way.

4.  The state aught to have a lot more control over those homeschooling people before they get out of hand.

3.  Every homeschooled child from age 5 up must take standardized tests, twice a year.

2.  You must have a state curriculum or your child won't get an education.

and...."drumroll"

1.  Only those with college degrees are capable of teaching their children at home.

(Look for an upcoming post on "what you think you need in order to homeschool")

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Now, my last list

The Top 5 things I will never say about my husband.

5.  He is the worst cook in the world. 

4.  He never helps with the housework.

3.  He has never helped with the children.

2.  He doesn't love me.

1.  He's a no-good lazy bum.

Well, that was fun!  I believe we have to be very careful about what we say.  A mom should never say anything bad about her husband to her kids.  She should never 'rag' on him to her friends.  I know we are tempted sometimes, but just go talk to the Lord about it!!!

 I am so blessed by the man I married and I thank God for him every day.  He is an excellent cook, helps me tremendously, is brilliant, loves his kids, helped a ton when they were babies. (Probably changed more diapers than I did.)  Is a very hard worker, and loves me for who I am.  He helps with the education and discipline of the kids, and keeps us all laughing.  Sometimes I am grouchy, but he still loves me anyway.

Hope you enjoyed my 5-5-5 deal.  You can just blame Jen and Maggie for their part in it.

Happy Homeschooling,

Nancy

Your IQ Is 100

Your Logical Intelligence is Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Exceptional Your Mathematical Intelligence is Above Average Your General Knowledge is Above Average

Here is a list of all the things I forgot to remember to take on our four day, three night wilderness camp:

Salt and Pepper,(hubby had some though, those little packs you get in the fast food places....)

Skillet,

Oil,

Husbands second pair of jeans,

flour,

sugar,

griddle,

catchup, or ketchup, or however you want to spell that,

coffee cups,

insides of the camp coffee pot,

motion sickness medicine for daughter who doesn't do well on long trips,

um.....think that's all.....

Luckily, someone "else" in the party had some of the things I forgot.(Good thing we brought our friend P.J. along,  He had a well stocked rubbermaid tub or two.)

We were convoying, since it takes two vehicles to haul six of us, plus the dog and all the camping gear---although I forgot to remember a lot of it......and we got about 80 or so miles from home when I realized we forgot to remember to get my son's insulin out of the fridge......I know that sounds pretty serious, although he did have a three day supply with him, we still needed to take the rest "in case."  So, hubby broke rank and headed for a pharmacy......while we headed on up to the mountains along with 80 thousand other people escaping the city.......then my brakes went out on I70----so we had to find a parts store and hubby, bless his heart, did the quickest brake pad change over in history........

Well, then that first night we froze, (I forgot to mention that I forgot to remember several of the comforters I intended to bring......the sleeping bags were just too wimpy to keep us warm) SO, we headed into town the next day and bought really nice sleeping bags.  (Steamboat Springs was right on the way to the camping area we intended to reach the first day, but didn't)

The rest of the trip was wonderful, there were f ields of wildflowers that I had fun identifiying, and we saw several deer, a fox, bald eagles and had a wonderful time.  The tent only leaked a little, and we all survived nicely.

The kids shot arrows, made forts, played in the creek.  We did some target practice, and ate, and ate, and ate.  WHY are we so hungry up there in the mountains?  Seems like we cook all the time.

Hope to post some photos if they turn out! (If I don't forget to remember to!)

N.

AS IF I don't have enough to do already, I came home today and found that I have been tagged. Spunky said I have to do this, and so here goes:

Q. Most books I've ever owned.

Um, well, I have no clue.  But right now, I would say I have the most I have ever had.  Three shelves full in "the Cave" plus piles on the floor, the desk, the tops of the shelves, boxes in my room, a double floor to ceiling shelf in the living room, and a few other piles there......A big book case of all our "Creation" books and resources in the dining room, grouped by "day" and then there are shelves in both kids rooms, boxes in the shed...........Um, just a few I guess


Q. The last book I bought. Today I was at the state homeschool convention in Denver, and I bought Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary! I have been coveting it for about six months or more, and so I decided to save on shipping and handling and picked it up for a great price from the Farewells. (Awesome people!)

I also bought The Worldwide Guide to Homeschooling by by Brian D. Ray Ph.D. and The Enthusiastic Home Schooler, by Mary Hood Ph.D. (I have read two of her books already, The Joyful Homeschooler and The Relaxed Homeschool.~Those are some of my most influencial reads as a homeschool Mom, along with Gatto's Dumbing Us Down,  and Joyce Herzog's Learning In Spite of Labels.)

Well, like most everyone I know, I have several books going at once. I am in the process of The Unprocessed Child  by Valerie Fitzenreiter.  I will let you know what I think when I am all done er, processing my thoughts on it.

 I recently read The Appalachain Trail Reader, by David Emblidge.  (I met a young homeschooled gal who is hiking the trail as we blog, and so I was finding out ALL about it. )


Q. The five books that meant the most to me.

The B-I-B-L-E, yes that's the book for me. Even before I knew there was other versions besides KJV, I knew it was special. Just couldn't understand any of it.....

This is a tough question, because books speak to me in different ways, depending on what I am going through at the time I am reading them.  Shepherding Your Child's Heart by Ted Tripp really spoke to me during a trying time with one of my children, and Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis was a special one when I first came to know the Lord.

The Road To Reality by K.P. Yohannan and Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala both touched my Spirit deeply.

I wish I could dazzle you all with some classics here, but the truth is, I am just beginning to discover some of them, through homeschooling my children!  There are SO many I don't know where to start.

NOW, here is my answer I posted on Spunky's blog, just for fun!

I probably own most of the books in the library district here, with all the fines we have paid :)

This is not exactly what you asked for, Spunk, but here are my most favorite books:

Give Peas a Chance

How To Get Organized Without Resorting To Arson

Garlic Is Life

From Beer To Eternity

The Complete Idiots Guide To Crime Scene Investigation

(ok, ok, I made that one up, but the rest are authentic!)

The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook

Global Grilling

(The obvious result of Global Warming?)

It's About Thyme

Life is Not a Stress Rehearsal

Outwitting Toddlers

and

The In-Law Survival Guide

I've been collecting punny titles when I go to the library, and those are a few I have jotted down.

I will post my REAL answers on my blog. (Just did)

Fun! Thanks for tagging me......haven't played tag in a while, although I did roll down a grassy hill recently.

Nancy