Here are more pictures of my sweet puppy

 

The garden has been awesome this year! Praise the Lord for all His goodness! He is giving me my fill of fresh veggies and it is SO great.

 

We joined a country club with a pool and work out room. I have been too busy to blog much anymore. Things are going well, I am getting in much better shape and feeling much better.

Daisy is a 4 mo. old Matlese and we adore her

 

We have been blessed to be able to have a garden this year and are we ever excited about it!  We have tomatoes, peppers, onions, green beans, cucumbers planted.  I really will enjoy some garden fresh, vine rippened tomatoes lol.

 

This is one fantastic lapbooking site:  you need to check this out if you want to click and print off prepared lapbooks. We used some recently and I posted pictures on my blog to share with you.

The link: 

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/index_lapbooks_master_list.php

Enjoy!

Money Lapbook

Tiger Lapbook

 

Ireland

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inventor's

 

 

Inventor's

  It seems sometimes that life just gets too "normal" and it can make me feel like I need something new. I think winter sometimes brings these feelings on as well, as you are limited to what you can do.  I am really ready for spring, and ready to get outside in the sunshine.  I want more daylight and warmer weather too. 

 We took the kid's to the nature center this week, that was fun!  We also have been working on lapbooks the last couple of weeks.  Marie did one on Ireland and the periodic table. They turned out beautifully.  Douglas completed one on inventors and money.  I have to say, he learned quite a bit out our financial system.  Michael did his on inventors, and tigers. I think everyone did s superb job!  I will post pictures soon!

 I have been trying new recipes the last couple of weeks, I guess I'm just tired of the same ole, same ole.  The boys just told me that the new crock pot lasagna was delicious!  That is great, I love to try new things.  I know my favorite is the "cola burgers" and the "over the top mac-n-cheese" they are wonderful!

        Blessings and hoping spring arrives sooner than later.... 

I can't not believe how busy we have been since moving. It seems like I never have a spare moment anymore to blog. Things have been pretty wild and crazy with the holidays, babysitting and being sick 3 times. I am finally getting over strep throat as well as all of the others here. The weather has been very icky this week- we have gotten TONS of sleet, freezing rain and snow is on the way later today.  The roads have been just awful around here.  I am looking forward to the upcoming spring with anticiapation... I am excited about having a veg. garden this year (praise the Lord!) I am also excited about planting a hummingbird and butterfly garden outside my kitchen window.  I hope to find time to get back to blogging at least a little bit.  Summer will be busy as I am taking on a newborn baby along with my 3 and the other 2 I keep. I'm happy, but nervous whether or not I can keep up. God is so good, I am praying He will give me all the needed energy and strength to do an excellent job!   

God Bless and Keep Warm,

Well we are back in action with school. The kid's are doing very well and working hard at their studies.  I am PRAYING we will be done with multiplication facts in the VERY near future so we can move on to more interesting things.  The boys just seem to struggle with all those numbers floating around in their brains lol. Oh well, they have come a long ways. I'm very pleased with all their hard work!

I am feeling quite sick in my stomach today- I've had some kind of virus the last few days and my stomach is still hurting this morning.  Marie is sick with something in her lungs- yuck! I really hope we all get to feeling better soon.

Well, that is about all I have time for at this moment- will try to blog more later

Blessings, Dee

OUR NEW  HOME!

WE THANK YOU AND GIVE YOU ALL THE PRAISE O' LORD

This afternoon we were greeted and honored with a dinner made by one of our new neighbors.  I think it was extremely nice of this family to bless us  this way. God shows his love through His people many different ways, and I was really taken back to the old days when people did this sort of thing.  I just think it was wonderful and we really enjoyed the dinner provided.  I am so thankful for our new home, I just can not describe it ( I really can't).  I KNOW we were meant to get THIS house and that God is in it and blessing us through it. I thank Him so much for his unending mercy and grace that He shows to His children.  Lord I pray that you bless the family who gave us dinner tonight- Father,  I ask that you do something special for this family and might we be able to bless their hearts some way in the future. 

Lord, I come to you humbly and on my knees in front of you- to tell you how much I appreciate this house. Lord I haven't had the right words to say to you- I am SO thankful you know my heart and how happy this has made me.   I am just HUMBLED at what you've given to us- it is SO much more than what I ever imagined.  It is so beautiful and the neighborhood is so lovely. The people are just the nicest people I have ever met and have made us feel so welcome. God you are so good! I pray you use this house to minister to people, to children we babysit and their familes and to be welcoming to guests who stay here.  Lord most of all I thank you for the peaceful and restful atmosphere that this house gives. I am resting so well and feel so comfortable- something I haven't felt in a VERY long time.  THANK  YOU!  might this house bring health, happiness, blessing, and service to You! Amen

I am SO excited to announce we are moved into a new house! God was SO good to us. I prayed and prayed that He would provide it for us, and he has answered with more than I ever could have imagined. I just LOVE it! I haven't had any time over the last month to blog.. due to cleaning, packing, painting and then moving !! But eventhough it was exhausting, I am still praising the Lord!

Well, here we are at the library tonight  and me with a sore back and all I can do is blog while the kid's get some new books or play on the computer for a little while.   I am doing okay- I think I have a pinched nerve in my back and it is hurting quite a bit.  I am going to have to go to the dr. to get it looked at I think.  Other than that, we are doing good!

School is coming along pretty well- the boys are keeping up with my pace I have set for them and Marie seems to be enjoying all of her work as well. She doesn't quite get her chemistry teacher though lol . ( I never did either) LOL!  

Until Next Time, Blessings

Well, I recently found out that my class is having a 20 year reunion back home.  I found the site that some of my classmates are hosting and it is SO fun hearing from my old friends.  I wish I could attend the reunion, but at this time it is impossible to do so.  I have been thinking about memories I have from those good ole days.  Some people have disheartening memories, but I on the other hand love the memories I made during those years.  I feel so blessed that my parents moved us back to New Carlisle so I could attend my highschool there.  We lived in the city for awhile, which I really disliked.  When we moved back to New Carlisle I was in the 8th. grade and really behind in my studies.  I had a hard time  getting back to where my other classmates were at the time.  With the help my teachers who cared, and friends who helped me when they could, I managed to stay on the B honor roll my whole high school career.  I was so proud of myself!   I attended all the dances, prom's, played softball,went to the football games,  worked a OWA job, and really had the time of my life.  I made LOTS of friends and really felt like we were a family.  I kept my yearbook, senior newspaper, my senior memory book and my school jacket (that got lost in a move)  I really loved highschool and wouldn't trade my memories for the world. 

 I have often wondered lately if my daughter is missing out, since she is homeschooled. Is she missing out on the opportunities that I had growing up?  I have prayed and asked God to settle it in my mind if we should have taken other roads and put her in school.  I have come to figure out that although her memories will be different ones- they are none the less just as special to her.  She has SO much opportunity to thrive and enjoy her highschool years.  She has different kinds of blessings that God has offered her.  I hope she looks back on her highschool and carries those memories close to her heart as I have done with mine.

Thank you Lord for allowing us to see the blessings you put in front of us.  Lord I pray my reunion goes well, that all arrive and get back safely. Let the joy of reuniting after 20 years be another blessing in each ones hearts!  I thank you for my time at THS and all the memories I carry with me.  I wouldn't be the person I am today without that move back.   Bless my children's life in the same way- keep them close to you and guide them as they continue their education at home.  Help them to also find enjoyment and blessing in their schooling as I did.

Blessings~ Dee

Well we have family in town this week and it has been so fun. We all went out to the golf course to play a round of night time golf under the lights.  It was interesting to say the least haha! I really enjoyed the cooler temperatures and the evening. The bugs well.... What can you say...  there wereTONS of them flying into you haha.  Oh well, it was still fun! 

Logan (our little one we babysit) has made so much progress with his crawling and sitting. He is just about ready to get mobile.  He is so cute and we just love having him around. He starts baby food for lunches this week. That ought to be fun haha!  I imagine we and he will need a bath when we are done.

We will start school full- time again the first full week of August.  Things have been kinda crazy with all the stuff going on this month. I have everything ready to go, just need to get back in the routine of things now.

 I guess that is about it for now- Blessings! Dee

It is July and I have been SO busy with babysitting I've not had time or energy to blog much.  The job is going very well. I love Logan to death, he is one of the cutest babies ever! (mine were too of course lol) He is such fun to have around- he smiles all day long. I have been very busy with him though.  I am starting to get used to him and my body is adjusting somewhat now.  We were also looking into another house to buy.  It seemed to be PERFECT and I really thought it was going to work out.  The sad news came that the appraiser didn't appraise it at what they were wanting. The seller didn't want to lower the price and said they'd just stay. I was  heartbroken and so was everyone else here.  I know the Lord has something in store for us, it just must not be the right time yet.  I fully trust he will provide what we need when we need it.  I "unpacked" the few things I already washed up and put in boxes and got my heart attitude back together where it should be when you are walking with the Lord and trusting  Him.  I know in my heart  it will come- sometimes I am a bit too impatient. I hope to report back a blessing in another year or so on a house that really is the perfect fit for us.

The kid's have had a nice summer break from school this month. It has been nice to take a break and relax a little bit anyway. We will begin full time schooling again August 4.  I wasn't going to give them a month off, but with babysitting, and the house situation... well, it looks like they were blessed lol.

We will have family in town next week- everyone looks forward to seeing Barb and Jim. They are SO fun to have visit. Jim wants to go golfing twice a day for a week lol.  ( I told you they were fun!)  I will still have Logan but we will just include him in our plans each day. 

That's about it for  now- I ordered my curr. for Marie this week- I am excited to see how her Jr. year of highschool goes.  More later

    Blessings~

My daughter and I have decided to sell baby blankets - either crocheted or quilted for your new baby or for a gift. We will custom make them with the colors you'd like. Take a look at some of the examples on my blog and see if your interested... The price for a crocheted blanket will be $15.00 plus shipping. The pieced and hand tied quilts will be $25.00 plus shipping. In the U.S. only please. I will take a check or a money order will be fine. Blessings~ Dee

email me @ dhtrucking@hotmail.com if your interested ~ Thank You!

  We have our baby that we sit. He is adorable and seems to really like being here with us. He is almost 6 mo. old and tries really hard to sit up. He loves to play with my kid's as they really entertain him. I have forgotten how much work a little guy is though. I have to say he will give me some of my strength and flexability back. I keep him from 8:00-5:30 Monday-Friday. I really am enjoying him and his toothless, slobbery smiles LOL!

Blessings to all~  

  Well, It is time for a garage sale!  We will be taking our things over to Marie's piano teachers house tomorrow for a sale this weekend.  We tore our basement apart and went though almost every bin and box down there. I have a 1/2 basement full LOL. I am praying the Lord will give us good weather, not too hot or rainy!  I was really going to do this in the fall, but Anne said she wanted to do it sooner so I decided to go ahead and get it done.  I am trying to sell a bunch of my school curr. and things.  If I don't sell it at the garage sale I might put it on my blog to see if anyone wants to buy it. My prices are very cheap, so I am guessing I will sell most of it. (I hope anyway) My school room was overflowing with things I really don't need anymore.  Other than that, the weather has been hot or rainy this past week.  I will be glad to have a few weeks off from school now to HOPEFULLY relax.  I will only be taking about 2-3 weeks off this summer before we begin our new school year.  I am in the process of making up the portfolio's and transcripts.  Looks like Marie will have a 4.0 this year!!! (GREAT JOB MARIE!!!)  She works so hard in all she does and makes me a very pleased mama!  The boys also will have an A average this year, they also worked extremely hard. I am SO pleased with their efforts. 

  Be Blessed~

  Saturday afternoon we took a field trip to the battlefield in our town, It was really interesting!  I think it sparked some interest in history (praise the Lord).  I know when you see things like artifacts or houses that have a story to them it really does make a difference in the understanding.  Michael said he thought that the war would be boring, but said he changed his mind. I really learned alot myself about how hard it was for the soldiers to walk so far, fight out in the open field, and how they had to make their way across massive amounts of brush and tree's in the 100 deg. temperatures. We saw an old uniform, swords, supplies, medicines etc.  It was all in all a very interesting time. 

Blessings~

Here are more blankets that my daughter and I made for the baby ministry at church....

 

This Mother's Day was very special... Michael my youngest son (the baby) was baptized.  Michael accepted Jesus at VBS in 2004, but because we were waiting on the Lord's guidance on wether or not my DH would be pastoring a church, we figured we'd wait and see if ole dad could do his baptism. Well, we in the mean time decided to join the church we were attending and that meant Michael would need to go ahead and get his baptism taken care of.  The interesting part was that the pastor knew our situation and why we waited and asked my DH if he'd like to do it.  We were SO thrilled with this special opportunity. SO, on Mother's Day my DH got to baptism Michael, and what a beautiful event it was.  I just REJOICE at how God is SO good to us and how He just how he KNOWS our hearts exactly and so perfectly. Thank You Lord for that awesome opportunity!  Michael will always remember the day he was baptized and thanks to YOU- so will his daddy!  God is SO good! Let's focus on his goodness this week.

     Blessings~ Dee

Here is a picture of how our herb garden is coming along...

Well, here I sit waiting on pizza and it is smelling pretty great!  We finished cleaning house today and getting the last piano practice in before the recital Sunday. I do hope the meeting with the prospective parents for my babysitting job goes well tomorrow.  Marie is going to bake cookies and make some iced tea for a special treat for them.  I taught her about being hospitable to guest who come over this week. We will give it a try and see how it all goes with our guests.  The boys helped so much today- they are just as excited as I am on the possibility of little Logan coming. 

I am praying that the Lord blesses our new decisions! The job, The house, The education of the children, and my health!                

In Him, Dee

 Well after only 1 day of putting up my flyer and lots of prayer I got a call.  I am excited to have an opportunity to bless a family by watching one or two of their children.   I believe it will be their son who is 5 and half months old.  I am hoping to set up a meeting with the family Saturday at our home.  I feel like God answered my prayers really quickly.  I do hope I can keep up with a 50 hr. week job though. I do have some worry about my strength. ( but I know if it is of God, He will provide what I need)  Either way I am excited about it!

 The kid's are doing well, finishing up their studies for the year. I didn't plan on much of a summer break for them, but they have earned a small one I think.  The boys MUST master their times tables before moving to the next grade though.   ;-)

 Marie is almost done with her geometry- she has some science and history yet to read and get finished.  I am happy to say she is getting a break from piano and babysitting over the summer. She is glad about that.  Her volunteer job will continue on though. 

 

 We are still making baby blankets- I finished my first one and Marie took her's and mine to church sunday. They were lovely.  We are planning a garage sale also the middle of June.  We are busy, busy , busy.   Whew! 

 That is about all for now-  Blessings, Dee

  We got our early this morning and headed to the library.  We began with a biscuit with bacon, egg and cheese this morning from Hardee's (my favorite).  It sure made my stomach feel better!   I decided to get out early even though it is threating rain so we could beat the trafffic at the library.   The boys are wanting to play on the computers a little bit, so I am giving them a few minutes.   I found a few good video's and a new homeschooling magazine to check out.  (yipee!) 

  Our herb garden is coming along really well.  We have many sprouts and they all look fantastic! Pretty soon I will be using them for cooking, and I can't wait. 

       Have a great day!

 We have sprouts in our new herb window garden! It's been exactly 5 days and I already see "basil" I think coming up!  I'm so excited and so were the kid's today.  Pictures to come...

   Waking up to sunshine this morning I knew I wanted to get up and shower and get school started a bit early.  The boys were up and chipper as always at 6:30am.  On my way to the shower I woke up Sunny (parakeet).  Marie was already up and said she'd braid my hair for the day.  We ate an egg sandwich and oatmeal and off to school.  Douglas worked more on his WWI study and read about a family member who served in the war.  We tried to email him but his email came back void. Ah well,  we tried.  He also read how the flu in 1918 killed  around 20-40 million people during that time period.  More than WWI itself.  I thought that was amazing! 

  Michael worked more on the underground railroad unit today.  He didn't waste any time doing his required work so he could go out and enjoy the sunshine.   Marie again did her usual lessons.  She put the finishing touches on her newest baby quilt, and went to do her volunteer job this afternoon.  She had fun pulling damaged books, and cleaning desks. 

  I am making Violia for supper- its smells heavenly!  I'm feeling awfully tired being on this new schedule, it is wearing me out.  I know it is good for everyone else though, so I will try to tough it out.  I will read a chapter of "Pocketfull of Pinecones" to the children tonight before bed.  I LOVE that book!

                  Blessings~

  I am listening to the sound of the humm of the fridge... Ah! all is quiet.  I figured I'd take advantage of it and get my journal updated.  Today we got up and fixed some french toast and sausage for breakfast. It tasted SO good! Marie made some orange juice to go with it. 

 Today Douglas studied about World War I and II.  We began a new unit study. He is very interested in wars- so I figured we'd go ahead and go through those two.  We did some reading in the DK WWI book today and discussed mainly the "trenches" that the soldiers built.  I sat down and put together a unit study from internet pages last night, I did it all in 3 hours. (not too shabby!)   I am not going to discuss the graphics as I think he is too young still.  I think he can get the biggest portion of it by what I plan to teach. Of course Douglas did his regular math, spelling, reading and penmanship practice.  Douglas and Michael want to begin working with leather. They want to make wallets, key rings, belts, and another other item that would be fun.  They would like to make Christmas presents to give away also.  The kid's and I will also be planting an Herb window garden this week.   I hope it grows well and we can use them for cooking.

 Michael is working on his "Civil War and Underground Railroad" unit. He began it last year but really needed to add more too it.  I have Dover coloring books to corelate with those units.  I read some to him about what exactly the underground railroad was today.  He worked on cursive writing, multiplication tables, reading and spelling also.   Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglas were a topic of discussion. Michael is trying to learn piano (sister teaching him). He doesn't like it too much, but knows its good for  him. He wants to try his hand at cooking more often also.  He and brother Douglas are going to make me a birdhouse (maybe) for my flower garden.  

  Marie finished her "Circut Riders" lapbook.  It turned out fantastic!  She included Modern Evangelism into her study.  She Put  missionary letters, prayer cards, and even mentioned Raceway Ministries in it.  I thought it was really cool how she combined her information together.  Her writing ability has improved very much.  In school today she did her norm- English, Geometry, Biology, History and Spanish.  She finished her Spanish today for the year and will do review for the remaining school year.  She is about done with her Geometry course as well.  I plan on doing the DVD Algebra II next year. That worked out great! English, Biology and History will be done in about 2 and half months.   She's done SO good this year.  I can't wait to put her portfolio and transcript together.   I will be adding her communinty service of being a "weather watcher" for our local news channel, and her volunteer job at the library.  She also babysits one day a week, takes piano, teaches piano, practices guitar, makes baby blankets for a church ministry, and loves to paint and make cards and scrapbooks.  She's a busy girl!

  Other than that, "Sunny" is doing well. He lets the kid's pet his belly and feathers on  his wings.  He is the cutest and sweetest birdy ever!  He sits up on their fingers to eat his treat also.  They really are enjoying him.  He sleeps on his swing and knows when its bedtime. 

 I guess that is about all I have time for . It is almost lunch time and I need to figure out what that will consist of.               Have  a blessed week~

 How exciting, Marie is gone for her first day of volunteer work at the college library.  I am so excited for her!  She will get to work 1 day a week for 3 hours that day.  I am hoping to stretch it out for about 2-3 months.  I was told they have a plan together to allow her to shadow and learn from each person up there, from the director to the janitor.  I am so thrilled God has blessed her with this opportunity.  I want all the kids when they turn 16 to volunteer for 2 summers before getting a "real" job.  Next year we are hoping to set up something in the church office.  I do hope that goes well also.  

  Marie wants to attend this college in 2 years, so this will get her more comfortable being up there.  She will also get to see students, professors and books that are most used.  She might be able to get a part-time job in the library when she is ready.  I do pray that she finds enjoyment and lots of valuable information while she trains.

 

 

Everyone Welcome (SUNNY)  he is our newest addition to the family.... We think he's pretty wonderful!

 

  I am sad to report that today my beloved parakeet of 11 years passed away.  Cowboy was an amazing full of spunk friend to us all.  He enjoyed singing along to Marie's piano music and saying prayers with her at night.  He would always chime in!   He was a spoiled and very loved bird.  I was told that him living to 11 was amazing in itself.  I call it blessed!   We will all miss him greatly. 

  Marie is just about to celebrate her "16th" birthday on the 29th.  We are planning a party for her. I have put her 2 brother's in charge of decorating and planning.  They are doing a superb job of it!  Her theme will be "Western".  The boys know LOTS about that LOL. We have a checked table cloth (red) for the table, bandana's (red) for the napkins, balloons, streamers in red, white, and black.  They are going to make saloon doors out of cardboard for the kitchen entrance and make a HUGE cactus to hang on the patio door.  I have daisy's for the centerpiece with american flags.  For the games- horseshoes, target practice with squirt guns and plastic bottles, and lasso the stuffed animals. I bought these cute paper old fashioned popcorn containers 1.47 at Hobby Lobby to hold the kettle corn treats for game winners!  We will be grilling out hamburgers (cow patties), Hot dogs (little doggies), Chips, Veggie tray (fresh Pickins'), baked beans (chuck wagon beans), potato salad (tater salad) I am making a menu "western style" to give everyone who comes.  I am also putting together some old timey birthday invitations- we are going to burn the edges of the cards and ink them in antique brown to make them look old.  I found vintage photo's to add also.

I want her birthday to be something she will always remember.  We are going to get her cake with a picture of her on it and it will say "Happy Birthday Sweet "16" Little Darlin' "  lol.   I hope she enjoyes herself. 

Monday- Douglas has his basketball award night at church.  I am preparing  7 layer bean dip to take for the covered dish dinner, and I purchased a sheet cake with congratulations to the Rhino's! 

I think we are having too much fun! We are having  Spring Break from the 24th.-30th. yipee!  company coming for Marie's party so I need time to clean and decorate etc.  Kid's need a break to play.

Blessings until next time 

Here is my Valentine present....

 

Okay just call me "Michael Jordan Jr." lol!  You should have seen me slidding, running backwards, defending the goal and blocking out today hahahaha!  WHOHOO!!! Go mom!!!  That was the most exercise I've had in a long time.  We took the kids up to the church to play in the gym this morning. We wanted to play and get exercise but most of all do some teaching on how to do some things better today.  Dad had a very sore back, so that left me "MOM" to bump it up a notch HAHA!  I have to say I think I did pretty good considering... The kid's worked up a sweat and had red cheeks after the practice. I think they did fantastic! We had a blast!

I went to Walmart supercenter for some groceries afterwards and then we came home, had a nice lunch, and did some Bible memory verses and had a chapter in our Boxcar book.  The nap that followed felt WONDERFUL and everyone slept good ( I wore the kid's out) haha! 

They are watching "I Dream of Jeanie" DVD's and relaxing right now. It will be a night of relaxation and calm activities.  The boys will have regular B-Ball practice with the team tomorrow night.  Marie and I did some crocheting today- she is almost done with baby blanket #2.  I am still working on mine.  Her's are SO beautiful!

Blessings~

I feel like writing about what all we did today...

I woke up to a dream at 4:30 am. I talked to DH for about an hour and then went back to sleep.  I got up at 8:30am this morning, Marie came in to tell me what time it was. I got dressed and drove her to piano.  After dropping her off, I went to the bank to get some cash and then to McDonald's for a Dlx. Breakfast for everyone. I felt like a little treat today and I was hungry.  I took the food home and me and the boys ate and saved Marie's.  Then we all piled in the van and went to pick Marie up from piano.  After leaving there we went to the Dollar store in search of jump ropes. The boys told me this morning they had a desire to work out using jump ropes. I thought to myself, that's a great idea!  Unfortunately they didn't have any out today.  It must be too early in the season for them yet.  So, we came back home and I assigned jobs for each child. Marie is to Wash, Dry and Put away 2 loads of laundry.  Douglas is to clean the little half bath.  Michael is to dust and vacuum the living room.  I am going to try to upload pictures and send an email to my mother today.  After struggling with the computer for an hour I decided to give it one more try and finally it is working.  Marie gave Douglas a guitar lesson, Michael did some typing practice, and now Marie is playing guitar and the boys are playing with lincoln logs building a fort.

 It is about time for me to get dh up and have some lunch.  I am just making him lunch as I am still full from breakfast. I am wanting to read a chapter of our boxcar book then take a nap.  I will make grilled cheese sandwiches w/ pickles on the side and veg. soup. 

 After resting a bit I made supper (omlets and toast) and then chatted with my dad via web cam for about an hour.  Me and the kids watched "I Dream of Jeanie" later on.  Oh yes, I forgot to mention I cleaned the kitchen before I went to bed tonight.   I guess a did a few productive things today!

 Blessings~

Marie's Experiment:  5.3 Apologia Biology - (you must use fresh pineapple)

"The Fragility of an Enzyme"

Pineapple contains an enzyme that stops the reaction which causes Jello to gel. 

 When pineapple at room temperature was added to Jello it caused the Jello not to set.   When pineapple was heated and added to Jello it gelled fine.  The heat destroyed the enzyme in the pineapple and allowed  the Jello to gel normally.  This proves that enzymes are fragile, in fact  enzymes are so fragile that most food processing destroys them.

(Lesson)

(Reading and Gathering Materials)

(Cut Pineapple, Cooking Pineapple)

(End Products)

  I have been teaching the boys all about fractions this week. I have made them into a unit study and they are having fun learning about them.  Today they mainly focused on how different  fractions equal the same.  Yesterday they studied how to convert mixed numbers into improper fractions and also how to take improper fractions and convert them into proper fractions.  FUN FUN!  We have added them, subtracted them and  now we're getting ready to multiply them.   They also got some typing practice today and learned about the parts of the computer (some of which they already knew).   Marie made a spreadsheet from a monthly budget and did all the figures. She used the computer program "works" to accomplish this goal.  ITomorrow she will make a  couple graph's using her budget figures. I want  all the kid's to be VERY familiar with the computer and all it can do. 

 Marie has finished all of her assigned school work for today- she is now playing "The Amazon Trail" computer game. The boys are playing "Golf" on the TV game.  I am going to do some blogging, laundry, cleaning and then maybe crochet some later.  Me and Harry are catching a cold- I've been trying to fight it, but I think being out last night in the cold 17 deg. and icy it is about to win the battle over me.  I had to take Douglas to B-Ball practice last night- it was SO cold and windy~  The parking lot in the church was a SOLID sheet of ICE!  I slid through a stop sign- thankfully no one hit me! Okay, I'm ready for spring!!!

                 Blessings~

 

Here are some of the sand castle's being built by some of the world's best sand sculpture artists... While in Ft. Myers they had their annual contest.  It was awesome to see them work and what they created.    Just Beautiful!

Amazing Walter 

 

Dancing Waters!

November 2007 (Vacation)~Michael~ Marie~Douglas ~ Hunting for Shark Teeth at The Shark Tooth Capital of the World (Venice Beach Fl.)   We drove from Ft. Myers up to Venice for this special field trip. We found 3 small teeth in about an hour!   The waters were rough and extremely cold compared to Ft. Myers Beach.  We had a GRAND time!!!

 

  I don't have a lot going on as I am not feeling so great today. The kid's got up early and stuck to their schedules today which I am happy about.  They got all their school work done without much of my help and finished it in a good time.  I decided to go ahead and take  them to the library afterwards.  It was busy, busy as usual. I am getting really tired of all the craziness and noise that is there anymore.  We made it through without spending too much time and managed to bring the library home with us once again lol.  I met my limit of 60 items AGAIN! how can one person get so many things lol! My daughter is as bad as I am, we take our rolling book bag and fill it to the brim.  Oh well, we read most everything we bring home- since we homeschool I guess that would explain it lol!  I did get a few extra video's this week also... Most educational - I like the Inventor's series, I got Monet' and Watt's video.  I also got one on decimals, and test taking stradegies. I am currently reading- Charlotte Masons Companion by Karen Andreola, Devotions for Homeschooling Mom's, and Keep It Simple by: Emilie Barnes!  I am enjoying them all VERY much.               

  For dinner me and Marie are cooking- Seasoned Tuna Patties, Homemade Mac-n-Cheese with extra sprinkles of cheese on top, Oven Roasted Potatoes with Olive Oil and Paprika, along with some Angel Eggs. (Deviled Eggs) I prefer "Angel" instead lol.  We will enjoy tropical fruit salad for dessert. 

  Well that is about it for today the boys are out playing basketball- trying to get some extra practice in before the games Saturday.  Both are doing very good- Michael scores on average 12-14 pts a game. Douglas is the #1 rebounder. His scoring will pick up as he gets more comfortable. 

                Have  a great week~  Blessings

 Well I braved the rain and thunder to go get my haircut today.  I didn't get too much cut off only about an inch or so off the ends.  I got long layers with the "V" put back into the back for DH.  It has been raining most of the day today. We are having severe weather (tornado's) south of us AGAIN!   Marie and I babysat Imani and Josiah today also.  Imani really didn't want to take her nap (she is 7 weeks old) so we tried to keep her sleeping, but she had other idea's lol.  She is so adorable!  Josiah slept the whole time, he must have been worn out.  

 I am making stuffed baked potatoes for dinner- I am putting cooked broc., fried ham, and cheddar cheese with sour cream and a bit of butter. I will put a side of tomatoes and some corn with this dish.  I LOVE stuffed potatoes!  They are one of my favorites!!!  Sometimes I use chili, broc., and cheddar cheese instead of the ham... YUMMY!   *I wish I had made a loaf of homemade bread to go with it!* (sigh!) 

  Anyway- we had a good day of school, and things to do. I want to relax tonight and enjoy the rain showers.  I do hope we don't get enough bad weather that we will have to hang out in the basement.

             That's it for today- Count Your Blessings~ 

It wouldn't be too hard to get used to this now would it?