I know, been gone a while.  I have been busy else where. 

School has been very sporatic lately.  We do it a couple times a week.  We have about 5 weeks left in our Little Heart for His Glory book.  We have started subtraction in Math U See and we have started on the Intro to Long Vowels book in Progressive Phonics. 

Jonathan likes the Progressive Phonics since he doesn't have to read the whole book.  He only reads the red words.  It is nice to read together. 

We have been having bi weekly visits to the Library.  We have been reading the "The Adventures of..." series by Thornton W. Burgess.  We all enjoy these as bed time stories. 

At the barn we had our babies and they are almost all weaned.  We  have a set of triplets that are still on the "bottle" for about another week and then we will be "bottle" free.  Yeah, all the milk for us.  LOL.  We are milking 4 goats and with it all mixed together, it is yummy.  We have two that do 1 gallon a day and the other two do about 1/2 gallon each.  Although we have started those last two only once a day so their production will go down but that is fine, we don't need that much milk. 

Have you ever had a milk bath?  WOW.  It is so skin softening.  You should try it sometime.  Of course real and raw milk is best.  It has all that fat in it to soften the skin.  I know, sounds kinda wierd but it sure is nice. 

Life is good on the homeschool home front.  We had a cold weather day today.  It is freezy frosty out there.  It will be tomorrow morning also.  The PS schools closed at 12 and will start late tomorrow. 

Thank goodness we don't have to worry about that.  LOL. 

School is moving along great.  I am pleased with all we are doing. 

We are expecting baby goats soon, like in 2-3 weeks. 

Here are a couple of our milk goats.

I have been knitting on my Knifty Knitters.  Here is what I am working on now:

  Well, J started it and I am finishing it.  It is a hat for him.

I had bought these things a long time ago and just now learned how to use them.  It is a fun craft. 

It is a new year and things are going great. 

It feels good to be "on Track".  We have been doing school 5 days a week for a while now and not taking days off or subjects off except for over the Christmas and New Year holiday. Then, we took two weeks off and it was nice. 

Here is a page from our math workbook.  He is learning to write better.  Math is one of his best subjects.  He seems to fly thru with ease.

We are reading more in our Progressive Phonics books.  He likes them better since he don't have to read the whole thing by himself.  We have read the short vowel books and have just started the starting blends book.  It is a big one and will take a while to go thru it.  We read each one about 3 or 4 times so he can "get" the words.

Right now though, his favorite thing is......

The Wii.  We got one for Christmas and he loves racing the Mario cart.

It is coming so close to Christmas.  Yes, I said CHRISTmas. 

We are taking next week off from schooling.  We will be cleaning around the house and getting it ready.  My family is coming here for Christmas day.  We will all have our Christmas gifting at home and then meet for lunch and then play some games with the kids.  We decided not to do family gifts this year.  

I hope everyone has a wonderful time and doesn't eat too much desserts.  LOL.  I know I will (eat to much).   

I found this at A Day in the Life  .... blog.  Thought I would try it out and share.

You can try it too by clicking the link below.  It is only 12 questions so won't take much time. 

Your Personality is Somewhat Rare (ISFP)

Your personality type is caring, peaceful, artistic, and calm. Only about 7% of all people have your personality, including 8% of all women and 6% of all men You are Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Perceiving.

School is going well.  Here is what we are doing...

This week in Little Hearts for His Glory so far we have read about

• God Sent His Son Jesus
• John Baptizes Jesus
• Jesus turns water to wine

We played a thinking game, did a Dramatic play, and did some art today.  We painted on a white piece of paper with water and then dropped food color on it.  Since we are on the 12th week, we are reviewing the memory verses from the previous 6 weeks. 

We do a rhyme with motions each week.  This week we are doing "Sent from God Above." 

We do a writing activity each day and then read from a story book.  We are reading about Danny Medow Mouse. 

After this we do math using Math U See curriculum.  We are in the Alpha book on Lesson 9, learning adding by 9.  Nine always wants to be a ten.  He is not only suppose to learn how to do it with the blocks but also learn the 9 facts.  This is where he is having trouble so I picked 9 + 2 for today and tomorrow we will do a different one.  So far he knows his:

• 0 Facts
• 1 Facts
• 2 Facts

He can solve for the unknown using the blocks.  We are also doing the clock on Fridays. 

For reading we are using the Progressive Phonics.  We are on the short vowel sound "o".  We have already read the short vowel books "i", "a" and "e".  We are also reading some of the Headsprout books so he don't forget what he learned there.  He still has some trouble sounding out but he is getting better.  When we do some of the puzzles like the word search with the Progressive Phonics it helps him.

For extra we are learning Piano using KinderBach.  Yes, WE are learning.  I have wanted to learn piano for so long and so I will just learn right along with J.    This program so so cool.  I like the way it is teaching.  Right now we are just learning mostly to keep beats. 

We are also using some of the math fact printouts from Homeschooling with Index Cards.

I went to a Health and Wellness Workshop a few weeks ago and then just went again the other day.  WOW.  What an awakening.  They showed a documentry on cleaners we use in our home.  It is amazing the toxins that are in the most common cleaners.  Did you know that makers of cleaning products don't have to list the dangerous ingredients they use.  And they tell us to spray them all around the house around our kids right where they will put their mouths and hands.  Yeah, right.  Did you know that the Cancer Coalition names the top 12 cancer causing products to include Ajax Cleanser, Lysol, VO5 Conditoning Shampoo, Dove Soap,Crest Tarter Control Toothpaste, Johnson and Johnson baby powder w/ talc. That sure isn't mentioned on the packaging.  If it did would you buy it? 

Here is a site that shows what chemicals in our home are toxic.

And here you can watch a video about toxic cleaners in the home and in public.

If you want to make a switch to safer cleaning products go here and request more information.  It is what I now use.

We lost one of our dogs Sunday.  It was a sad day to me.  This dog came up to our house maybe a year ago.  She was sick then but pulled thru.  We think she was an older dog and may had been hit by a car.  My son named her Old Trixie.  We have another dog named Trixie but he started calling her New Trixie and the other Old Trixie.  I thought it was cute.  Anywho, she had been feeling sick for a few days and then we found her down by the goats and she was gone.  I really liked her.  She was sweet and a good watchdog. 

School is going great this year.  We are using the Heart of Dakota for 5-7 years old.  It is nice to have a preplanned curriculum and it is Bible Based.  That makes me feel good about what we are doing.  "J" really likes it also.  Today he was asking to to school.  That is unusual.  :) 

We finished Headsprout Early Reading and are now going back thru the Readers.  I plan to move on to Progressive Phonics soon.  This will give him a better understanding of the long and short vowels that Headsprout didn't offer. 

We have started piano lessons.  We are using the Kinderbach lessons and we are both enjoying it.  This curriculum is so easy to use and I like the way it is presented.

We are still using Math U See for ....  well, Math.  LOL.  He is learning his 2 facts now.  I think he just about has that down.  He knows the 1's and 0's already.  I want to touch on time telling some more.  We did it last season, but I don't see it as an actual lesson in this years book but it is in the Apendix.  I will just have to take some time to refresh his memory on it. 

Ok, I am going to check on everyone else and see what is going on in their world since I have been away.  See ya.

Happy September everybody.  Things have been busy around here.  From Goats to Homeschooling and working I haven't had much time to sit and blog.  I miss it. 

We are getting ready to go to my mom's for Labor Day.  We are having hamburgers and hot dogs. 

School is going ok.  We aren't keeping a schedule very good.  I have started helping my husband put up a storage unit and it is an all day job when we work.  Jonathan did finally finish Headsprout.  Yeah!!  I am currently trying to get all the booklets printed and folded.  I have most done but some of the last ones are missing and need reprinting and folding and stapling. 

I guess I need to go check on the brownies.  I hope everyone is doing well. 

Boy have I been gone or what.  I can't believe I haven't writen.  I use to be so much better.  Of course it is summer and we are busy, busy, busy.  We have goats now and they are having kids and I am doing a little bit of milking.  Boy is it good stuff!  Of course I will be using some in my soap making also.  I hope to get some yogurt made tomorrow. 

As far as school goes, Jonathan has a little less than 30 lessons to go with his Headsprout Early Reading program.  He is doing better with reading and I think even starting to like it a little more. 

A friend from church came over the other day and we ordered our curriculum for this next season.  This will be her first year to homeschool her son.  I am so excited.  He is starting Kindergarden and is about a year older than Jonathan.  Our Math U See came in and we are waiting on Heart of Dakota set. 

Well, it is late and I am tired.  I hope to write more later this week.  We will see.  I want to add some baby goat pictures too.  :)

Whew!!  Where have I been?  I have been pretty busy lately so I have let my blogging get behind. 

We haven't been doing much in the way of school.  J is just doing Headsprout and is still enjoying it.  We reviewed some math today and he still remembers most of the math facts he has learned.  I want to keep working on stuff even thru the summer so he don't forget half of what he has already learned. 

J is really enjoying T-ball.  He is a natural! 

Ok, I think this is all for now.  I will share more pictures later.

I know it has been a few days or more...I am having a hard time thinking what to say so that it doesn't sound dumb.  I think I am having writers block or whatever it is.  LOL.

I don't remember if I blogged about what reading program I had been looking at.  It is www.headsprout.com.  I went ahead and purchased it.  I did the 3 free lesson trial and Jonathan just took right to it, asking to do it.  We finished Episode 5 today so he got to read the first book.  It is pretty simple compared to the "...100 ez Lessons".  And he still don't really have the desire to read it.  I am still working with him on other sounds from the EZ Lessons book and I bought a dry erase board for the fridge and we write words on there.  He had me writing a "story" that he told.  I thought that was good practice too.  He is using his brain at least.  Haha.

I am wanting to do some Sign Laungage lessons with him.  We have been looking stuff up in our SL book.  I think he will enjoy this. 

We are re-reading our Character building book.  We are going to read it more slowly this time and use the Bible to look up the scriptures that are reference. 

Today we planted some sweet banana pepper plants and one tomato plant.  This was enjoyable.  Wish I would have gotten some pictures but I didn't even think about it. 

Oh, we went garage selling over the weekend.  It was city wide and I found several books.  One is "The Pupose Driven Life" .  Another was the "More Natural Cures" by Kevin Tredeau.  I have the first one and thought it would be interesting to look thru this one.  I got another book, the one I am currently reading, it is called "A Mind at a Time" by Mel Levine, M.D.  It talks about the different ways children learn and and how they can success.  I will tell about it later as I read more.

I guess I better go help catch chickens.  They have been roosting on our porch and the rooster has been waking us up too early. 

I found this website, Starfall.  It is a reading program that is free.  Jonathan is enjoying it.  He was reading and even enjoying it.  I think it is a nice change from our regular reading program.  I am trying different things for him to read and see which he enjoys most.  I know he don't like sitting and reading for a long time so we haven't been doing the stories in the "...100 ez lessons" book.  We will go back to them later I guess.  I have been printing the words out on paper and he don't mind reading them that way.  I have put some on the fridge with magnet letters and when he sees them we sound them out and make sentences with the words.  I think he likes that too.  Anything to keep him interested and still learn. 

We are coming to the end of our Math U See Primer book.  We are learning to tell time.  He likes that.  He has been interested in time for a while and so he likes doing these pages and we also look at it on the clock and on a wooden play clock that he has. 

I haven't decided if I really want to take the whole summer off or what.  I really don't want to but don't know if I should continue on with the next book in MUS or just review for a while.  I will have to think on this.  I believe we will continue phonics and reading in a relaxed manner.  I don't want him to forget anything and there is so much to learn.

I am still thinking about using the Heart of Dakota curriculum for next year.  I like that it is biblical based and all planned out for me.  I wish I knew of others to look into but haven't found anything I like yet.  Any ideas?

At the Trade Days this weekend, I talked with the lady I met that homeschools.  She has 5 adopted children and homeschools them all.  She brought some of her books over that she uses.  They were nice but I don't think they are what I want to use.  It was nice talking to her though.  She told me I need to come visit her sometime and I think I will....

When I got home Sunday, I was fixing supper ( I had put soup on that morning) and my mom called.  She asked if I had remembered the Hamberger supper they were having at church.  Of course I had forgotten.  I went ahead and cooked the cornbread and then Jonathan and I went to eat burgers and fellowship.  I am so glad I did.  While there, a lady that I had talked to last year about homeschooling her boy came and talked to me.  She said she had been praying about what to do about starting her son in school.  She wanted to homeschool but just wasn't sure.  She had been praying about what to do.  We talked for a while and she said her burden was lifted and she knew she was going to homeschool.  That is so cool.  Her son is a year older that Jonathan but they will be in the same "grade" since she held her son back from kindergarden last year.  I do hope I can be of more help to her concerning curriculum and such. 

As for our school it has slowed down so much.  We were doing reading the other day and J wasn't doing as I wanted and I got on to him.  I was angry...I have found that we weren't having fun with this reading.  It has been this way since the beginning.  I seems like I am always getting onto him during reading mostly because he don't want to do it.  He is learning and able to read but he doesn't like to.  I decided it wasn't worth the trouble.  I don't want him to hate reading!  We are still going to work on sounds and such but it will be at a much slower pace and not so structured. 

Math:  He still likes math.  Speaking of which, we still need to do our math lesson.  LOL.  I guess I better get off here.

Tomorrow is Friday.  I have been so busy this week getting ready for the Trade Days.  I think I am just about ready.  I could have made a few more lip balms but I just don't have any more time.  Unless I want to stay up till ....well...tomorrow...hahaha.  I have streesed about this weekend more that I ever have.  I don't know why.   Oh well, it is here and the truck is loaded. 

I have some school stuff to talk about but I will wait till I have more time. 

I decided last week that we needed a break.  Since the public schools are out for spring break, we are taking the week off also.  I am getting some cleaning done that has needed doing for a long time.  It feels good too.   I have cleaned Jonathan's room, put up some craft stuff, and today I am working on our room.  We have a "bathroom" that isn't a bathroom yet.  It is a storage room and it was getting so cluttered.  I took most of the stuff out, swept and put up a table so I have room to do some other stuff in there.  I have gotten most of the stuff put back in and it is looking so much better.  I can actually get around in there.  LOL.  Now I need to tackle the actual bedroom.  I moved my computer into the living room since it was so cold in the bedroom and now the computer table in the bedroom is full of stuff.  Haha.  That is just the way I am, if there is an empty spot it don't stay empty for long.  Grrr.  I don't like being that way.  Anywho, I will tackle that later since a lady I help called and asked me to come help her today. 

Now, I guess I better get going and see what is in store for the rest of the day.

I had the week off and thought I would get so much done.  NOT!  I ended up with a migraine for 3 days and have just sit/layed around.  Grrrr.  It is finally subsiding and I am getting some bread made for a dinner at the church.  A lady lost her husband after waiting a LONG time for him to get out of jail.  She got to spend the last 6 months with him.  It is so sad.  Anywho, I am trying to get the house back in order and keep up the school work.  It is hard to stick with a schedule when you don't feel like being on one at all.  Oh, I am not saying all this to feel sorry for myself.  Just blabbering. 

Good news, Good news....uh....yes.  I went to a book study today.  It was based on the book, "Get Out of That Pit, Straight Talk About God's Deliverance",  by Beth Moore.  Interesting.  I haven't read the book but I guess I need to.  It sounded like it would be a good read.

Ok, I need to get back to the kitchen.