Monday, November 27, 2006 -
ready for a break?

... Posted in Everyday life

I had great plans for this year. Mostly had to do with being diligent in getting work accomplished, and marked, and not putting off stuff, and just basically having a schedule and sticking to it.

HA! Well, good in theory, anyway.

I am so ready for Christmas break. Like, a month-long Christmas break. I don't think it's gonna happen.

The idea was to have the bulk of our work done before the end of May, when the baby is due, so there wouldn't be this big pile of 2 months left of schoolwork then-- ain't gonna happen.

Oh well... I go on enough about how as homeschoolers we aren't bound by anybody's timetable, and we have all the time in the world.... guess maybe it's time I listened to myself.

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Friday, November 10, 2006 -
Just so you know...

... Posted in Everyday life

OK, so I was over reading Tia's blog and was overcome with sympathy-- and a touch of gross-out-- while reading her post on dogs vs. crystal kitty litter. Then while commenting I realized I had my own story sure to enchant 10-year-old boys everywhere (hey! unit study idea!!!). Grab a barf bag, y'all, if you are thus far uninitiated with the culinary arts of rabbits.

A couple of months ago, we became new owners of a cute little bunny. His name is Cookie (I've tried unsuccessfully to change it to Stew), and he's a mostly albino mini rex (he's white, with the pink eyes, but has grey points like a Himalayan). He is absolutely the funniest animal I've ever owned. This boy has personality-plus, let me tell you. We let him out at night to run in the living room (had to bring back up the baby gate so he won't go hide under our bed), and he zigzags across the couch doing half somersaults. He also doesn't believe that anything belongs on the couch or the back of it, and tries to toss it all off (anything-- books, remotes, toys, jeans, and a 250-lb man). The couch is the ideal place for him, since we have tile floors that cause him to do impressions of Thumper on ice. The worst part of him being on the couch is the habit bunnies have of the "hop-and-drop"... our couch is a dark green, and bunny poop is hard to see. Unless you're a bunny, in which case you can find it pretty easily. Which brings us to the ewwww part.

Shortly after we got Cookie, I had read an article at Answers in Genesis about a debate over whether rabbits actually prove evolution or at the very least, disprove the Bible (let me tell you, it wasn't easy to find this article again to link to it!!! so go read it please, for my trouble). This article gave me the heads up on a process called refection. I somehow forgot to mention this article to my husband --or possibly did and got an "Uh-huh"-- but either way hubby nearly threw up. You see, refection is similar to "chewing the cud" but instead of regurgitating the partially digested food, it's.. ummm... (how to put this delicately)... well, rabbits' digestive systems only work one way, so while this means no hairballs coming up, it also means their partially digested food comes out the other end for reprocessing. So, they eat their poop. There, I said it. Actually, they have two different kinds of it, and they know which one is the snack. And they both stink really bad.

So, now you know why the Bible classes rabbits as unclean.

By the way, you'll notice I put this in the category "Everyday Life"-- I was soooo tempted to put it in "Recipes and Food How-to".... lol

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Tuesday, October 10, 2006 -
I'm still here

... Posted in Everyday life

Yes, I'm still here. Just blending quietly into the background......

Or not... I'm not that quiet at home... lol... just quiet on the 'net. Plodding away with school. Trying to re-train my children. Doing some writing... on paper of all things..! Enjoying the beautiful fall Maritime weather.

Stay tuned for more news....

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Friday, September 15, 2006 -
Sad goodbyes and a sweet hello

... Posted in Everyday life

We said goodbye today to our neighbours of 8 years. Two weeks ago Kenny flew out to British Columbia to get things ready for the rest of his family, yesterday, their two cats took a 10-hour flight out, and today we said goodbye to Kimberly and the 3 kids. It was a lot harder than we thought it was going to be. For the last 8 years, we've spent birthdays and Christmases, ups and downs, with them. They have been the best neighbours anyone could ask for. We had each other's car keys and house keys, computer passwords, and bank cards (at times!). Our older kids have pretty much grown up together, and as far as our 2 little ones are concerned, we've been neighbours their whole lives! So, my dear friends---

May the road rise to meet you, May the wind be always at your back, May the sun shine warm upon your face, May the rains fall soft upon your fields, And, until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.   The sweet hello: we are the proud new owners of a little bunny named Cookie. He's 3 months old, and a mini-rex possibly with some Himalayan thrown in (albino- looking, but with grey tips). Very cuddly, and doesn't poop on the floor. He and I should get along nicely.

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Thursday, September 7, 2006 -
I'ma doin' the Happy Dance!

... Posted in Everyday life

If you've been checking in on me here, you'll know I had  a bit of a problemo with my printer.

I am happy to report that it is now working, and I didn't even need the hammer.

Oh, by the way... coloured pencils aren't meant to be an internal component of an inkjet printer.

And note to self: wear gloves next time when refilling ink cartridges. It doesn't scrub off. I look like I was working on the van.

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Friday, September 1, 2006 -
Nothing a hammer wouldn't fix...

... Posted in Everyday life

My printer and I are at war.

A couple of weeks ago, I got our school books in. I looked through them, drooled a bit, tried to wrap my head around possible scheduling options. During this time, I printed the odd thing off, and it worked fine. It was toying with me.

The other night my husband asked me to print something for him. It looked like the ink was getting kinda low (or maybe a little dry) so I got out the refill kit and did my thing, and then did the print job which came out fine. Thought, oh, maybe I should do an alignment (bad idea, I guess).... things went downhill from there. Every page crumples up and won't feed in. AARRGGHHHH!!!!!! Then the computer told me the print spool service wasn't running (it was). Told me the driver was missing (it wasn't).

Checked the flyers for a cheap printer on sale (no luck).

My Lexmark sits there and mocks me.

It knows that I found schedules aleady made for Streams of Civilization. For Mystery of History, in the files section of the Yahoo group. For Apologia Science. I have downloaded umpteen worksheets/ charts/ booklets just waiting to be printed off. And I need maps!!!

*sigh*

I guess this is what I get for waiting till the last minute.

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Wednesday, July 26, 2006 -
The too small, the too big, and the downright ugly

... Posted in Everyday life

OK. So my books are ordered, the payments are budgeted, and any further scheduling will have to wait until said books arrive (might be awhile- 4 items are backordered). What does a homeschooling mom do in the meantime?

LOOK FOR NEW SHOES. Sandals, actually. My old ones were 1. 5 years old; 2. getting ratty; and 3. thrown out when I tripped in them over a screen-tent tie-down and I went one way (mainly DOWN, and hard) and the shoes went another. This quest is not as easy as it sounds-- in fact, right up there with shopping for a bathing suit or certain, um, foundational garments. I have a some requirements for my new sandals: no impossibly high heels, no flip-floppy-toe-thong-thingy, must be open-toed, not too fancy-schmancy, and have a strap around the back of my heel. Preferrably no velcro or plastic. I don't want to look 16 in them, or 60 either. As I stated, this is not easy. This far into the season, anything that remotely resembles what I'm looking for is only left in sizes 5 and 10 or 11. I'm a 7.  I've looked at 6 different stores. 90% of what I've seen are slip-ons (no back strap) and/or toe-thonged. So..............

For a change of pace, I took my oldest dd today to look for a new... umm... foundation garment... LOL...  Same song, second verse....

Just puleeeese don't make me look for a bathing suit for anybody.

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Thursday, July 20, 2006 -
Long-awaited update! (well, sorta...)

... Posted in Everyday life

Well here I am, finally!!!

The two boys who stayed with us the other weekend were great. Their family has been serving as missionaries to Norway for 31 years, and were home to Canada for a wedding and a wedding anniversary. Out of their 7 kids, we got to meet four of them (the 2 boys who stayed here as well as two of their older sisters-- who really knew how to handle their brothers-- way to go Sonia and Sarah!). The parents were sooo nice, and the stories they can tell!!!!

Last week our church had some other visitors from First Bible Baptist Church in Rochester, NY. They came as a mission trip to help out our tiny little church. We had VBS (and again this week, with a mostly new team, and in a different location), and a teen sports ministry, and a door-to-door campaign. These people can work!!!

My husband and I went to the VBS last week to wrangle kids and give a hand where required, and we so blessed to become friends with a family from Rochester. Ever feel like you've met someone before, like it's more of a "Great to see you again" type of thing? That was what it was like with this family. We all felt like that, too--- if Heaven is like that, I can't wait to get there!!!! Our kids all hit it off, too. No fighting!!! How cool is that?

Tonight at Bible study there was a report of sorts about the door-to-door ministry--- it's absolutely amazing (and at the same time shameful) how much of our city this group covered on behalf of our church (the shameful part being that in 5 years, we as a church haven't done even half of what they've done in 10 days or so). All of Riverview, all but a few streets in Moncton, and an assortment of miscellaneous "outer" areas have been canvassed. As I understand, they weren't quite "brave" enough to tackle Dieppe, which is mostly French!!! LOL  I completely wilt in the heat, which has been fierce here lately, and my husband and 2 of our kids very quickly get "sunsick" (heatstroke maybe, not sure-- migraines and nausea, which last for days afterwards) so we pretty much stuck to doing indoor-type things like VBS and mechanic work. This Sunday is our last service with our guests, and then it's back to our regular location (we'll have had 3 services by this Sunday at a larger [and more expensive] facility). I wonder who all will wind up with a new vision for our church? Who will become more dedicated? How many lives will have been touched? Souls saved?

I have to admit that all these extra people have overwhelmed me a bit. They're so on-fire for God, and I am so mousy. I do ok one-on-one, but crowds kinda scare me. I don't even like the mall. I'm far from being shy, but I am a bit reserved, and I get "peopled-out" pretty quickly.  Lord, help me to overcome it enough to bold for You, like these folks from Rochester, and be able to share the Gospel with those who are in desperate need of it.

There are mission pictures posted on their church website HERE. I am NOT in any of these pictures as of today (the first 4 pages' worth), although that may change if they upload from last week's VBS. The huge German Shepherd is the only name I'll give, because I don't think he cares about 'net safety: his name is Gus, and he doesn't know he's a dog. So don't tell him!!! His interests include donuts, kids, and going for walks. He is currently single.

EDIT: I was wrong. There are more pictures HERE. The Adventures of Moncton Moose (Pastor Gary's daughter sent him along since she couldn't go) and Moncton Missions Trip (2006) albums. I am in some of those pictures, as are my husband and kids. But I'm still not telling which one is me. However..... you are more than welcome to take a look and guess!!! Leave me a comment and I'll let you know if you're right (only counts if you don't know me!!!!)

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Monday, July 10, 2006 -
short and sweet

... Posted in Everyday life

We have had the coolest visitors the last two days-- two sons of missionaries to Norway. It's been a fun and interesting couple of days!!! I'll write more about their family and ministry when I get a chance this week.

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Friday, June 30, 2006 -
NEWS HEADLINE: 10 YEAR OLD BOY GETS PECKED TO DEATH BY CRAZED ROBIN

... Posted in Everyday life

Well, not really. Let me explain:

A few weeks ago we noticed a rather low nest in a nearby tree. Just over the chain-link fence at the back of our backyard (actually, our neighbours' yard). We've had a proliferation of local robins, and have taken great enjoyment in watching them haul worms back. It finally clicked that this nest belonged to a couple we've since named Fuzzy (is it normal for robins to moult?) and Chirpie. One of the neighbour kids discovered eggs in said nest, so yesterday my dear hubby told our son to go climb the fence to see if the eggs had hatched. Now, this boy isn't exactly the bravest knight at the Round Table, and certainly not the most coordinated. But, he does like to climb, despite nearly hanging from the fence by a shoelace once. So, over to the fence he went. Hands on the fence. One foot inserted in the fence... and CHIRRRP! CHIRPCHIRP CHIRP!!! He hollered, and ran back to our yard, with this robin chasing him the whole way, nearly dive-bombing the poor kid. Then sat on the swingset and scolded him. Once things died down, we sent various kids back to try again. Same results. Let me tell you, I nearly died laughing. It was too funny, watching my kids get chased by a robin.

On an endnote, my almost 7yo dd noticed bird poop on the picnic table tonight and declared that Chirpie got even. Robin justice???

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