Posted in Home Education

I love a good planner.  I have to tell you that the TOS Planner for 2009-2010 is so much more than a good planner.  I was so pleasantly surprised when I paged through this planner to find all of the wonderful extras.  The 2009 Schoolhouse Planner goes way beyond a series of calendars.  Before you even get to the planning forms, you are treated to a wealth of information.

For each month, from June 2009 to June 2010, there is a unit article concerning a potential unit study for that month.  These subjects can range from, multiplication tables, to weather, to letter writing.  What I loved about these mini-unit studies was that in each month there was a list or chart concerning that subject.  In the multiplication tables section, there is, of course a sheet with a multiplication table going to 12x12.  In the weather section there is a page on cloud-types. These charts can easily be printed for a quick reference or used in a lapbook or notebook.  They are a great notebook page all on their own.  Finally, there is a list of resources available at The Old Schoolhouse Store on the subject for the month.  Using this list, you could build a unit study on the monthly subject with ease.

Still in the month section, we get to my favorite part.  Each month has two recipes for new dinners to try.  So that’s 24 new recipes as part of your planner!  I loved that little added bonus.

If the charts found in the monthly section weren’t enough there is a section called “Educational Information.”  Here you will find all the forms that weren’t in the monthly section.  There is a chart listing US Presidents AND their wives.  There are timeline lists, composers, and important historical documents.  Again, these lists would be great additions to notebooks or lapbooks.  It’s a great resource!

And then we get to the forms.  Oh, the forms.  If you have something to plan, there is a form for it in the 2009 Schoolhouse Planner.  I was so impressed by the forms.  If used thoroughly, this could mean an entirely different year for our little homeschool.  I was drooling over all the lovely printable forms when I accidentally clicked on the middle of one of the pages.  To my surprise, my mouse turned into the flashing line that would allow me to type into the form.  I can’t believe it!  I can type my information right into the forms and print them.  I have visions of a beautifully organized homeschool planner with all of our information typed neatly.  I can print these lovely pages and place them neatly in a binder instead of hastily printing something and scribbling my plans as I go along.  Not only can you plan your year, but there are forms in this section to use throughout the school year to record your days, keep a journal, or log test scores.  This may be my most organized homeschool year ever!

And if you love the sound of the homeschool forms, wait until you get to the household forms.  Our home will never be the same.  Using the forms in this section you can organize everything from groceries to gifts.  And again, all the forms can be printed and written or you can type into the form and then print it.

I realize that this review might seem a bit effusive.  But, please understand, that I love planners.  Up until being given the opportunity to review the 2009 Schoolhouse Planner I have tried to design pages to fit my needs, or adjust pages that I received via other vendors.  This is the first time that I have seen a planner that is so complete.  I loved the extras that you don’t expect to receive from a planner.  The units, the recipes, and the charts were an added bonus to a beautiful planner.  I would highly encourage you to check out the 2009 Schoolhouse Planner.  If you want to read more reviews about this product, go to the TOS Homeschool Crew blog entry here.   And, once again, check out the planner here.   It is very reasonablly priced at $39.00, well worth the investment.  You will definitely find so much to meet your needs and help you organize your homeschool and your home.

Posted in inspirational

In the past few years, we have been praying about moving our little family from our home in Central Pennsylvania to Northern Minnesota.  My husband was raised in a small town about an hour south of the Canadian border.  We have talked about the move for quite some time and I am at peace with however God leads us.  We recently returned from spending 8 days with family who live there.  It was truly relaxing.  Our trip to Minnesota, however, had God’s hand all over it.  He made points in several places to show me that He was there.

 (Main Street, Park Rapids, MN)

(The Park Theater in Park Rapids)

I did have one troubled night.  After spending the evening visiting relatives I could not shake an anxious feeling.  I was exhausted and when my husband and I went to bed I slept fitfully.  I was awake several times that night with anxious feelings.  I would wake from a dead-sleep with butterflies in my stomach and my heart racing.  Some of it was related to the visit earlier in the evening.  There was some tension and I had a bad feeling about the location.  But laying awake in the dark with my heart racing, it was very difficult to not visit a very fearful place in my mind.  When I awoke in the morning I felt as though I had hardly slept at all.  My stomach was upset, my head ached and I was very emotional.  I found myself alone for a little while and as I did, I cried out to God.  As I began to cry in earnest, I told God, “I can’t move here.  I just can’t live here.”  It really grieved me to say that.  My husband and I had talked about moving to Minnesota and I knew that he was really desiring to be “home” once again.

It was then that I opened the bible we had brought with us.  It usually doesn’t work out very well for me to just open up my bible and have it fall on a passage I need.  But this day was an exception.  I grabbed the bible and peeled in open.  As I did, my eyes fell on Psalm 61.

 ¹ Hear my cry, O God;
       listen to my prayer.

 ² From the ends of the earth I call to you,
       I call as my heart grows faint;
       lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

 ³ For you have been my refuge,
       a strong tower against the foe.

 ⁴ I long to dwell in your tent forever
       and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
       Selah

 ⁵ For you have heard my vows, O God;
       you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

 ⁶ Increase the days of the king's life,
       his years for many generations.

 ⁷ May he be enthroned in God's presence forever;
       appoint your love and faithfulness to protect him.

 ⁸ Then will I ever sing praise to your name
       and fulfill my vows day after day.

It was as though David was praying for me in this Psalm.  I was crying out to God to “hear me!”  When I read “from the ends of the earth I call to you” I almost laughed.  At that moment, Northern Minnesota seemed like the ends of the earth to me.  And my heart was definitely “growing faint.”  But when I read this Psalm I was lead “to the Rock that is higher than I.”  I felt, once again, fortified.

Later that same day, I was out to lunch with my mother-in-love.  While there I noted a large table of women.  They were obviously celebrating one of the women’s birthdays as there was a decorated cake and some presents in the middle of the table.  Before they were served their lunch, every one at the table bowed their heads and one woman lead the group in prayer.  I felt like God was laying His hand on my shoulder and whispering, “I’m here.”

My sleep patterns returned to normal as the week progressed.  I was grateful for no more anxiety attacks.  But I was noting as we drove through town that there weren’t any large developed evangelical-style churches on the roads we were driving.  I was looking ahead to a time when we would be living there.  Where would we worship?  We took our boys to the McDonald’s in town so that I could use their WiFi and check email.  As we sat there sipping sodas, a polite young man walked up to my husband and introduced himself.  He said he was the new youth pastor at the church down the road.  Todd explained that we were currently not living in the state, but this young man took the time to visit with us anyway.  He told us about his heart for the youth of the area.  He spoke of the size of his current youth group and his desire to save the kids in the area from the “bad stuff” happening among them.  He was a lovely young man.  I wonder if he knew that God was using him to say, “I’m here.”

All too soon, our time with our family in Northern Minnesota came to a close.  We all cried as we drove down the highway toward home.  Although the tears ended, we are all still a bit homesick for Minnesota and the family we left behind.  I know that if He sends us, He will be there.  He showed me that already. 

(The Big Dog and his dad with our boys)

Posted in Home Education

I think I've written in the past about our game day tradition.  The boys get to select one day each month where all we do is play games.  There are no other structured lessons that day.  What we learn, we learn from games.  Usually, each of us pick two games.  It takes us several hours to play all six games.  Sometimes, we don't even get to all of the games because we run out of time.  Sometimes, we save a game for when Daddy gets home and we all play around the supper table.

Because my boys are young, they don't save their game days.  So we usually have a game day early in the month, usually one of the first couple days.  This month was no exception.  Game day was on the 4th of the month, which was only the second weekday we had this month.

The games we selected were:  scrabble sentences, racko, sorry, don't break the ice, splash and yatzee.  This month, we had lots of math games and only one game to reinforce language arts.  But what a language arts game it was!  I want to tell you about Scrabble Sentences. 

I picked up this game at a thrift store over a year ago.  Recently while shopping at one of my favorite yard sales, I saw another copy of this game.  My husband actually picked it up and brought it to my attention because it looked like such a good game.  I quickly told him that we already have that game.  This is a fun game made up of 21 dice, a dice shaker, timere, and a scorepad...that's it!  Each of the dice has six words written on them.  When it's your turn, you shake the dice onto the table and try to make sentences out of the words that roll face-up onto the table.  The sentences must cross each other like words on a scrabble board would.  For every sentence that uses seven words or more, you score 50 points.  If your sentences are below 7 words, you multiply the number of words by that number to get your score.  For instance,  a four-word sentence scores 16 points (4 x 4). 

The timer is short, just three minutes.  And we have yet to use all of our dice to build inter-locking sentences before the timer was finished.  As you are building sentences, the rest of the players look on.  Our boys like to read as you go.  As you may imagine, we come up with some pretty silly sentences.

This game could easily be made at home.  Get some small wooden blocks at the craft store and use a permanent marker to write various words onto the blocks.  Be sure to use a good mixture of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, but don't forget the articles!  If you need some help making your dice permanent, check out my blog entry about making dice.

I highly recommend scrabble sentences.  It reinforces grammar for the boys, and it's just plain fun!

Posted in Family

Yesterday we celebrated my father's 76th birthday.  I'm so gratefule for how active and healthy my parents are.  My mom still walks 4-5 miles a day.  My dad still works as an EMT!  We joined two of my siblings on my parents sun-porch to have an ice cream cake in Dad's honor.  Enjoy the pictures!

Three of Poppy's THIRTEEN grandchildren joined him for his party.  That's Big Mac on the left, T-bone is standing above Poppy and the boys' cousin (my neice) Little Fish is on the right.  No, we didn't put 76 candles on the cake!

Seventy-six looks pretty good!  This is a close-up picture that Big Mac took with our camera.  He's getting to be a good little photographer!  When he finished taking the picture, Poppy said, "Did you really take my picture?"  And he showed it to him on the screen.  He was standing so close, Poppy didn't believe that he was really taking it!

It was a great day.  A great celebration!

Posted in Family

The Big Dog was planning a turkey hunting excursion last week and he announced that we would all take a walk in the woods to set up his hunting area, called the blind.  So on a Thursday evening after supper we all marched across the field behind our house and into the woods.

I love a walk in the woods.  I took the camera and practiced my close-up shots.  This is the best one:

While walking we saw what changes were made in the woods over the Winter months. This tree didn't fare so well:

We walked up to where The Big Dog wanted to hunt and the boys helped him to set up his blind.  Then we headed back to the edge of the woods.  When we reached a clearing I just had to get a picture of my three guys.  Here's Big Mac, the Big Dog and T-bone after an exhilarating walk in the woods!

Posted in Home Education

If you were approaced by a government agent who told you that you were required by law to hand your children over to the government for the bulk of the daylight hours, would you do it?  Would you willingly call your children to the door, place your hands on your son's or daughter's back and push them toward this stranger?  Would you send them off, not knowing what the children would learn, or be told?

It sounds like a scary situation right?  And yet, there are millions of families doing it every day.  Our schools are run by our government.  Nothing is taught that is not first legislated.  But even greater than the government is the peer group into which children are being sent.  From a young impressionable age, children are learning what they know of the world from other children their age and older. 

It is this perspective that Mrs. Suarez tackles in her essay, "I Was Raised By Wolves" which has been published by The Old Schoolhouse as part of their WeE-book line.  Without going into detail, she tells of the years of her public education and the thoughts implanted into her brain forever by her peers.  Mrs. Suarez reminds us that our children are a gift from God and are set-apart by Him.  Sending them into the public arena where they learn all the heinous things children from unGodly homes can teach them is simply not good enough for children of the King.

If you are happily homeschooling, pick up a copy of "I Was Raised By Wolves" for the ney-sayers in your life.  If you are struggling to homeschool, pick up a copy of "I Was Raised By Wolves" for yourself.  You will be uplifted and encouraged to continue this journey!

Posted in Home Education

You know, there's just something about the Spring that gets me thinking.  Usually I fast forward to the summer months.  Although we consider ourselves to be a year-round homeschooling family, our summers are much more relaxed.  We participate in the library summer-story-hour.  We spend long days at the pool.  We take walks through the cool wooded trails at the state park near our home.

I recently received a copy of "Beating the Summertime Blues"

This little 5-page treasure is part of The Old Schoolhouse's WeE-book line.  This book-line has a bunch of quick reads with great content.

This summer, we will, once again, be watching one of our boys' friends.  We tried this for the first time last summer.  We also watched another one of their friends one day a week.  As the summer progressed, I was constantly searching for new and fun activities to engage these boys.  I wanted our boys to learn but still have fun.

The ebook, "Beating the Summertime Blues" tackled summertime boredom with lots of great ideas for the idle months.  It was a very fast read, but chock-full of great advice, not only for activities to entertain your children, but also reminders to mom about taking some time for yourself this summer. 

Reading "Beating the Summertime Blues"  makes me eager to meet this summer head-on!  I've got big plans for the months of June, July and August!  Now, does anyone know where I can get a few 10-pound blocks of ice?

Posted in Home Education

Two things you should know:

1.  God has been leading me toward a home-based business.

2.  I'm a TERRIBLE non-fiction reader.

Before our boys were born, I had a small business in a field related to my career at the time (computer training).  After our first son was born, I lost all interest in being an entrepreneur.  For the most part, I have remained strictly a homemaker since then.  It has been a very quick 12+ years cooking, cleaning, and educating two yound minds.  I really wasn't looking to do anything outside of the home to earn money.  My husband always said that I was "busy enough" and didn't need to take a part-time job or seek other ways to  bring money into the family.  Then a few weeks ago, a girlfriend and I took a course  on how to take old sweaters apart for the yarn.  As I was taking the class my mind was filled with ideas about a recycled yarn shop on-line.  I began to wonder if God wasn't using something I'm passionate about, knit and crochet, to spur me on to business.

THEN I received a copy of "HomeWork: Juggling Home, Work, and School Without Losing Your Balance"  an e-book by TOS.  Ugh...non-fiction!  Remember point number 2?  I'm a terrible non-fiction reader.  I usually think I want to read something to learn more about a subject, but then I get a few chapters into the book and I never finish!  I just can't keep my concentration on non-fiction.  But, I printed a copy of the book and dove into it.

My first thought, "This isn't your typical non-fiction!"  HomeWork is a series of testimonies given by homeschooling mother's who also run home businesses.  Each mom's story is 3-9 pages long.  If you, like me, have a problem concentrating, this book will not be a problem.  You can read one mom's story at a time, or you can read an entire section.  Each story was so interesting that I found myself reading entire sections at a time!

The book is broken down into the following sections:

HomeWork:  A Labor of Love

HomeWork:  Computer Based

HoweWork: Creative Writing

HomeWork: Business Support

HomeWork:  Tricks of the Trade

Although I was familiar with two of the contributing mom's, (Martha Greene wrote the prologue and I am familiar with Rebekah Wilson's "Hope Chest Legacy" as well as Jill Novak's products on writing and nature journalling) most of the mom's were unknown to me.  Their stories covered many areas of home business.  Some worked for others out of their homes.  Some supported other businesses out of their homes.  Some had started their own businesses and some were contractors for other businesses.  Each story was unique and presented me with a different aspect of home-based business to consider.

Another thing that I loved was their perspectives on home schooling while conducting a home-based business.  Most, but not all, of the authors considered their businesses to be a family outreach.  Their children were involved in the business even it if was to help with shipping product or answer the phones.  Running the business is an extention of homeschooling for most of the families represented in this book.  But they also talked about their homeschool days and how they do manage to get homeschooling, home-based business, and home making into one day.  If you enjoy reading those articles in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine where a family tells about one of their homeschooling days, you will enjoy HomeWork.  It is 16 stories from moms just like you and I.  They tell us how they get through their days and do as much as God has lead them to do.  Please note, I did not say they "do it all."  They don't.  And they told me, in the pages of "HomeWork", why they don't do it all and how they manage to do ANYTHING at all.  It was a great read and very interesting.

I want to leave you with my favorite quote from "HomeWork: Juggling Home, Work, and School Without Losing Your Balance"  This was in the Creative Writing section of the book.  One of the four articles in this section was by Jill Novak of Remembrance press.  She wrote:

"What are you passionate about?  Is there something that you just have to share with others or you'll burst?  What creative discoveries or time-saving methods have you made while homeschooling your children that could help other homeschool parents on their journey?  Those are the kinds of questions you should ask yourself if you are thinking of writing a book or publishing any kind of homeschool curriculum.  Your products should be an outflow of the work that the Lord is doing in your life and the lives of your family members."

If you want to hear the stories, advice, pitfalls, and triumphs of homemaking, homeschooling, home working moms, get a copy of "HomeWork" today.

Posted in Family

Tonight I tried a new recipe called Cheater's Potato Soup.  (It was bangin'!)  So what game did we play while we ate supper?  Why Liar's Dice of course!

What else would you play when you eat "Cheater's Potato Soup" but "Liar's Dice?"

Posted in Home Education

I am not a great sleeper.   I can lay in bed for hours before falling asleep!  Let me tell you, there is nothing as frustrating as NOT falling asleep.  Lately, I have started reading for a few minutes before falling to sleep.  I climb into bed, turn on my reading lamp and read a few pages to quiet my mind.  One flaw with this plan, however, is when you have a curious mind.  Reading a chapter of an interesting book, leads to another chapter, then another, and another.  Before you know it, it's midnight and you've got a busy homeschool/homemaking day ahead, with a lot less sleep than is usual!

My solution to this problem?

Have you seen these books from TOS?  They are short, usually around 10 pages.  This keeps me from reading too much and staying up too late.  The subjects offered in the WeE-book line are vast and varied!  I have downloaded several and found them all very interesting.  It's difficult to narrow-down which book or books to download!

Last night, I read "Writer's Workshop" by Maggie Hogan.  I've read articles by Maggie Hogan in the past and, as usual, this e-book does not disappoint!

In this WeE-book, Mrs. Hogan describes her experience running a writer's workshop for her children and several other families in her area over several years.  There is even a quote in the book from her college-age son declaring the importance of those writer's workshops in his educational career. 

After reading this book, I am anxious to find a few families to include in our writer's workshop.  Having only boys, writing has never been our strong-suit due to their lack of interest.  But now, the boys are getting to an age where they are expressing themselves with the written word a little more enthusiastically.  How much more appealling would writing become if they worked among other students of all ages to craft a story of their own that would be presented formally at the end of the semester?  Mrs. Hogan gives all the information you need to begin your own writer's workshop.  Although she equips you with plenty of ideas for writing activities and lessons to use with your group, she also gives advice on how to keep the group organized, on time, and encouraging to your young authors.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.   Now my problem is, how do I get to sleep when my mind is racing through the writer's workshop I want to lead in the Fall?  Oh, well maybe I'll just go read "Writer's Workshop" again!

Posted in inspirational

I love Grace Livingston Hill.  I began to read her when I was nursing our oldest son, Big Mac.  I would exit our church service to nurse him outside the church library.  While walking through the library I picked up a book to read.  It was Grace Livingston Hill's "Christmas Bride."  Since that day I've read many of her books, she wrote more than 90.

Her books can be formulaic.  There is usually a hero and a damsel in distress.  Sometimes the roles are reversed.  Usually one of the main characters is a Christian and the other is not, or is back-slidden.  The wealthy rescue the poor, and the saved lead the un-saved to Christ.  They are always uplifting and encouraging to me.

I don't feed on a steady diet of Mrs. Hill, but I do return to her every few months for a bit of a respite from other books that may not encourage me as much as she always does.

Last week was no exception when I read "Sunrise."  This was the story of a few families in a small town.  A scandal rocked the town and the crime was pinned on two young men who were innocent.  The families were struggling to believe in their boys, and the women who loved them were on their knees on the young-men's behalf.  God brought these boys to the middle of the ocean to get their attention and bring them to Him.  It was a great read!

Here are some quotes I've copied from the book.  They spoke to me as I was reading.  If you haven't read any of Grace Livingston Hill's books, pick one up.  Be encouraged!

All quotes are from Sunrise by Grace Livingston Hill, Grosset & Dunlap 1937:

'I'll find a way to stop it or I'll disown him!'

'Father!  You know you wouldn't do that!  Even God doesn't do that! Not to His real own children!'

p. 9

"Over across the pastures Hannah Parsons got out the hardest task she could find and sat down to work late.  She always did that when there was hard sailing ahead-something to fear or something to bear--she looked for the hardest task she could find and worked at it with all her might.  it seemed to make the time go faster.

p. 41

She longed with all her heart that her son should be a true knight and go on the right kinds of errands, but he was young enough and eager enough to mistake values, and to think a matter of vindicating his own or some friend's rights a sufficient cause for sacrifice.

p. 42

What would he have wanted her to say about his departure?  Oh! she must rather ask herself, what would God want her to say?  And she could trust God to teach her waht to say.

P. 58

'Father in heaven, I'm putting my trust in you!' breathed Hannah softly in her heart, and turned her quiet eyes on the man who questioned her.

p. 59

She brought him white bread of her own baking, and butter of her own making that smelled of the clover from which it was brewed.  She brought a comb of honey from their own hives, and a dish of her yellow tomato preserve, a foaming glass of milk from their own cow, a piece of custard pie and some cottage cheese to which their own hens and cow had contributed, and contentedly he drew up his chair and ate, slowly, deliberately.

p. 89-90

Our Father knows just how we feel, and He's putting every one of those tears down in His book, and the time will come when He'll have them in remembrance and make it all right!

p. 96

The night might be dark now, but Day was prmised and their Guide could see in the dark as well as in the day, and 'He knowethe the end from the beginning.'

p. 97

What a leveler death was!  How it suddenly took the power from villains and brought their evil machinations to an end!

p. 37

Her tenderness was more like the overshadowing of a bride for her beloved, than the fussing of an elderly married woman over a sick husband.

p. 231

The captain was a man who used oaths as crutches to get him from one word to another...

p. 259

When once a man takes Jesus Christ as his Savior the personal relationship must be kept close and vital at all costs or that man is going to show a mighty inconsistant Christan life to the world...

p. 267

How careful parents ought to be to teach their children not to have fellowship with unbelievers, not to choose their intimate friends from among them, not to marry them!

p. 296

...weeping over disappointments and not looking up for God's way, and God's appointments.

p. 296

Posted in Family

Today was "Kite Day" at church.  After a ROCKIN' worhip and sermon, we all headed outside.  We munched on hotdogs and french fries in the gorgeous sunshine and then we hit the fields.  There were a lot of kites available.  Of course, our boys gravitated to the stunt kites.

Here's Big Mac flying a stunt kite that was cylinder-shaped.  It spun as it flew and it was SO COOL!

And here's T-bone flying a traditional kite.  It was so powerful it almost pulled you off the ground!

And, finally, look how the Big Dog flew his kite!

Although it was unseasonably warm, we saw 90 degree temps in April, it was a beautiful-beautiful day.  God gave us quite a gift to be outdoors and together flying kites after worship.

Posted in Family

Last night was the home opener of our AAA baseball team.  It's been sort of a tradition in our little family to go to the first home game of the season each year.  We missed last year because we were all sick.  But this year, we made our annual trip!  I packed a picnic lunch.  Big Dog bought the tickets in our favorite spot.  Take me out to the ballgame!

The weather was gorgeous!  Temperature was in the high 60's until the sun went down.  The ballpark has undergone some rennovations since last season, so everything was sparkling!  For this game, the Harrisburg Senators (our team) played the Reading Phillies.

Here's the Big Dog all ready for the game!

As you can see, our seats give us a really great view of the field and home plate!  This is the pitcher bunting.  But, he did have a nice base hit later in the game.  The Senators won 8-2!  We missed the end of the game, however, because we had an almost 1-hour drive home and the Big Dog gets up at 4:30 AM for work.

And here are our boys.  They loved the game.  We've been taking them to these games since our oldest, Big Mac, was 2 years-old.  This was the first year (they are 12 and 10) that they REALLY were into the baseball part of the game.  Going to these games is a blast because there's some sort of entertainment, game, or contest between every inning.  That has always kept the boys interest while the Big Dog and I are there for the baseball.  But this year, our two boys were very "into" the baseball game.  It was a lot of fun for all of us.

Posted in Family

If you've followed this blog for the past few months you know that we broke our digital camera several months ago.  We can still take pictures, but you can't see what you've taken.  So we take bunches and bunches of pictures, download them to the PC and get surprised to see what we've taken!  For Big Dog's birthday we have pictures that cut his head off, but have all of the cake; pictures with all of his head but cut off the cake; but NONE of the Big Dog AND the cake!  It's fun.

Well, on Monday, OfficeMax sent out a notice for a great deal on a Kodak digital camera, and we bought it!  I was so amazed, but it arrived yesterday.  And this time, I actually read the manual.  So I'm hoping to take some fabulous pictures.  I'm in the process of crocheting and felting a case for it.  Watch my other blog for more info on that!

Here's the second picture I took.  I have to admit I'm pretty proud of it.

Posted in Homemaking

The other day I was talking to the Big Dog and I said, "You'd be amazed by the number of things I get done in a day."  Then he said something revolutionary.  He said, "You should write down everything you do for one day.  It would be great to see." 

First, I was thinking about how long that list would be if I really went into detail.  Instead of "Made lunch."  I could write, "Boiled hot dogs.  Dished potato salad.  Poured 3 glasses of milk."  This would be quite a long and detailed list.

But, the more I thought about this list of things I've done, the more I realized there would be a much deeper reward to listing the things I've done in a day.  Are you ever overwhelmed by your To Do list?  I am.  I pray over what I need to do and I make a list, but invariably, that list is rarely completed by the time I lay down at night.  So, I start the next day with a list already started that I add to as the day progresses.  In other words, I begin the day "behind the eightball" many days.  This can be overwhelming.  I also have a master "to do" list that I keep in my organizer.  It seems that no matter how much I do in a day, I rarely cross very much off that list.  All of these To Do lists can leave me feeling as though I don't accomplish much.  As I mentioned earlier, it's overwhelming.

So, as I thought about the "Did List"  I realized that every now and then, it would be nice to look at a list of the things I DID accomplish.  This list would be an encourager, not a discourager.  Writing a did list could give me the sense of accomplishment I seek from crossing off items on my To do list.

So, below is my "Did List" for today.  Why don't you try one of your own?

Completed a chapter of my bible study.

Made breakfast.

Did two loads of laundry.

Played Monopoly, Scrabble, two games of Scrabble Scramble, Mancala, Mr. Big Mouth, WWE board game, and two games of ASAP.

Made popcorn for afternoon snack.

Made lunch.

Made supper.

Swiffered the kitchen.

Made the bed.

Straightened the bedroom.

Emtied the filing cabinet.

Answered emails.

Left a facebook birthday greeting for my neice.

Talked to my mother on the telephone.

Wrote a note to a sick friend.

Wrote a letter to my neice in MN.

Wrote a letter to my MIL in MN.

Wrote this blog.

checked the moneysavingmom blog.

Scooped icecream.

Showered.

Did my hair.

Got dressed.

Got out steaks to defrost for supper.

Wound some blue jersey strips into a ball.

Loaded the dishwasher.

Finished a magazine.

Read a magazine article to my boys about decluttering.

Sorted the mail.

Posted in Family

In just under an hour, we are off the The Farm Show in Central PA for the state indoor archery shooting competition.  But before I go, I wanted to share some pictures of our birthday boy from yesterday.  Yesterday was my husband's, the Big Dog, 45th birthday.  We showered him with presents, one first thing in the morning, one a few hours later, one after lunch and the final present just before supper.  We had his favorites for breakfast lunch and supper.  AND there was pineapple upside down cake (again, his favorite) for dessert with a 4 and a 5 candle lit in it.  Enjoy the pics!

Big Mac brought him his cake as we sang, "Happy Birthday!"

We have to laugh because we can't see the picture we're taking in our camera.  So we take lots of pictures and hope for a few good ones!

We call this the blow-fish picture.

How cute is the birthday boy?  Don't answer that!

I just blogged about my freebies at Wal*Mart and CVS but I forgot to tell you about Target!  I stopped there yesterday because they had a great deal.  If you buy 5 boxes of Quaker products you get a $5 target card!  I used my coupons and got 5 granola bar boxes.  It cost me $7.50.  Then they gave me a $5 target gift card to use on my next purchase.  So, if you subtract my Target card, I got 5 boxes of granola bars for $2.50!  That's $.50 a box!

Now, to me, that's exciting.

Posted in Homemaking

On Wednesday, we had our yearly homeschool evaluations and our youngest, T-bone, was tested. (required in the state of PA at 3rd, 5th, and 8th grade)  So, to celebrate, we took Thursday and Friday off of lessons.  On Thursday, I spent the day clipping and organizing coupons.  When that tast was complete, I scoured the sale papers and any notices on www.moneysavingmom.com to find the best bargains.  Thursday night the Big Dog and I did the shopping at our local grocery stores. (and squeezed in a mini-date of a cup of coffee at McDonald's!)  I did pretty well, spending about $120 and saving more than $40 with coupons.

Then, on Friday the boys and I headed out of town to hit Wal*Mart, Target and CVS.  Here is a picture of everything I got for free.

You are looking at two bags of IAM's kitten food ($4.97 each at Wal*Mart, I used 2-$5 coupons); four Johnson's buddies soaps ($.97 each, I used 2-$1 off any Johnson's products and 1-$2 off any Johnson's Buddies product); 2 bags of Shick disposable razors ($1.97 at Wal*Mart, I used 2-$2 off coupons) 2 packages of Reach floss ($1 each, used 2-$1 off coupons); 2 zone bars (I had 2 buy one get one free coupons); and one bottle of cascade rinse agent for the dishwasher (I had a free coupon from the Homemade Simple coupon book).

Not bad right?  But wait!  There's more!

THIS is what I got at CVS for free!  The Colgate toothpaste cost $2.99 but you got $2.99 in ECBs at the end of the transaction.  The razor was $6.99, I had a $2 coupon, bringing it down to $4.99.  The deodorant was $2.99 each and I had a coupon for $1 off of 2.  SO, I went to the checkout with my coupons and my merchandise.  I checked out and used $13 in ECBs from prior purchases.  My total bill?  $0.00!  Woo Hoo!  But that's not the best part.  The best part is that everything I purchased gave me more ECBs.  So when I go back to CVS, I'll use the $10 ECBs that I earned today towards another purchase.

It was a pretty good day.  And then we got home and I found two samples and a free magazine in the mail.  In the "every little bit helps" category, these will come in handy.  Also, the popcorn sample came with a coupon book.  Nothing better than more savings!  I use www.moneysavingmom.com to find many of the freebies and samples I request.  Check them out today!

Here's a tag my son, big mac, just sent me:

1. What is your favorite type of candy?  Reese's Peanutbutter Cups

2. Which food do you despise? Peas and Liver

3. What is your favorite animal? currently it's a beagle named, Favor

4. Who is your favorite celebrity? Bing Crosby

5. Which would you rather have: ten dogs in a one story house, or 10 stinky men in a one story?   10 dogs, definitely.  It's bad enough having one stinky man and two stinky boys in a little green cottage!

6. Have you ever changed a diaper? Yes. Just ask my sons.

7. If you had one ten thousand pounds of anything, what would it be?   Yarn, of course.

8. Would you rather stand outside in winter apparel when it is 100 degrees outside, or stand in a swimsuit outside in 1 degree weather?     It depends how long I'd have to stand.  If it's quick, then I'll do the swim suit in 1 degrees, If I have to stand a long time, then I guess I'd have to go with my winter coat in 100 degrees.

Posted in Family

My dog thinks he's a cat!

This is our Favor, laying on the back of the love seat just like a kitty!  I think he likes it there because he can see when Daddy and the boys coming through the door from archery.  But, let me tell you, it looks funny to see a full-grown beagle stretched out on the top of the back of the love seat!