HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

I have some really great FREE resources for you.  I am going to get these up quick because I have a fishing trip & a picnic to plan for so please forgive the spelling mistakes. Be sure to also pray for our country. If things do not turn around soon, what made this country so great will be gone.

First up is a free lapbook lesson. You can go to the link by clicking here and scrolling down to the bottom of the page. Please note: you will have to sign up for the FREE membership in order to download this.  It is well worth it.  There are a lot of great, free lapbook lessons.

For a patriotic pinwheel, click here.  For a cute firecracker, click here.   To make a liberty star featuring the Statue of Liberty, click here.

This next link has a ton of resources from lesson plans, activities, recipes, clipart, games, crafts, even music. you can click here. There is just a wealth of resources here.

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Sorry I have not posted much this week. We have had VBS going on at our church.  We set new records this year with the amount of kids and workers! YEAH! We are happy but oh so tired. (My bed has not been made in a week) Anyway, to make it up to you I have a great marinade for use on really any kind of meat that I thought would be great for the upcoming 4th of July holiday weekend..  I am getting ready to make some up.  My father made his up yesterday.

Now this recipe is actually for steak but if you are like us and do not have the budget for steaks very often, this works great on hambugers.  We will get steaks about once every other year as a special treat.  It is alright to treat your self every so often.  We have used this on all sorts of meats so go ahead and try something new.

Like the other recipes I share with you, this is not expensive and uses ingredients you likely have on hand already.

Romanian NY Steak Marinade

1/2 c. A-1 sauce (add more if you have big steaks)

1 to 2 T. Grey Poupon Mustard (let your tastebuds decide how much)

2 T. honey

2 T. Soy Sauce

For a tougher meat I add about a Tablespoon of orange juice.

I usually save aside a little bit and brush it on the meat before the cooking time is almost done.

For steaks or chicken - Throw in a ziploc bag and turn every so often to coat.  Let set for an hour or two or better yet overnight.

Or with burgers, just mix it into the meat as you are making the patties. For ready made burgers, just brush on and let soak in the fridge for an hour or two.

Special note: I will put up some Free 4th of July resources this evening or tomorrow morning.

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By now, everyone has heard what our Governor of the State of South Carolina has done; run off with some woman to have an affair.  I have to say with confidence, that no one in this state saw that one coming. Even my father, a die hard democrat was in shock. Gov Sanford always seemed to be a good man. He worked hard for the people of this state; never backing down to the politicians.  He would save money for us by not having the annual big balls that past governors would have because he said it was a wasteful and irresponsible because so many in our state were suffering. When he took office, he used up the old stationary letterhead and envelopes with the former Governor’s name because he thought it would be a waste of money & paper. He slept in his office to save the tax payers money when the Governor’s house was being treated with mold.  Even his family shopped at Wal-mart to save money.

He fought to help the elderly by stopping the raise in property tax.  People that had lived on a now popular lake for over 30 years were losing their homes due to raising taxes; families on the coast who were the descendents of former slaves who bought the land when they were freed were losing their land because the taxes shot up because the land became a poplar vacation spot.  He tried to get legislation passed to cap the taxes so these people would not loose their homes.

Yes, he did a lot of unpopular things, but he always seem to work hard for the people of SC.

But now, the man I admired, respected, supported and voted for need to resign. He has shown himself untrustworthy.  He was irresponsible and showed no regard for his State….the people he was elected to represent. He took off without leaving anyone in control. He did not turn the reigns of power over to our Lieutenant Governor :of course our Lieutenant Governor would have used his first 5 min in power to go speeding down Assembly street out running the state troopers again (those of us in SC get that joke)    If there had been a state-wide emergency (i.e. flood, tornado, fire, Red-neck Revolt) there would have been no one that could have called out our National Guard.  If ANYONE else in the real world had taken off like that they would not have had a job to come back to.

Governor Sanford, I supported you and your policies (which I think are still right on) but as a supporter and a citizen of the state of South Carolina , I believe you should step down! Grant you that would mean Andre Bauer would be our Governor (God help us! No really, God would have to help us! Every citizen of the state is cringing with that thought).  For the good of our state and hopefully the saving of your family, you should devote your time to repairing the mistakes you have made.

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This is a spelling banner that you can personalize.  The kids will love this!!!!!!! You can download the pdf files by clicking here. PS Like with most things on the web, I would download these to your computer.  One never knows how long a link stays up.

Also, you can laminate these (my cheapo instructions are here) and reuse this soooo many times and different ways.

Plus, this makes a great banner (Happy Birthday, Happy Homeschool Day, Happy Canning the tomatoes Day, Whatever occasion)  for anything you want. There are so many great ways to use these.

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Its loss has been felt heavy by the children.  Now forced to use the dreaded cheap pencil sharpener; they have many time mussed over the good times as they stand over a trash can turning the pencil round and round in order to achieve that sharpened point; though it never seems to get as sharp as the electric pencil sharpener got it.

The artists in the family have really felt the loss because their colored pencils are down to the wood and they hate having to continually stop drawing to sharpen their tools.

But perhaps the one who feels the loss most is the Mom.  Because no matter how many pencils she leaves out or where, someone always comes along and takes them so that when Mom needs one, none is to be found.  She could always count on grabbing a new one from the pile and have the trusty pencil sharpener ready in a snap.

So we mourn the loss of our pencil sharpener. A most used and overlooked friend. Sigh.

 Now if you will excuse me, today was payday so I have to get dressed and get out to Wal-mart to get a new one.

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I have a wonderful site that I have told you about before.   These can be printed up on your computer for free!!! There are some wonderful pinwheels, sun catchers, beautiful fairy furniture for outside, all kinds of great fun! What is really nice is once they get torn up, you can just print some more!  You can access the site by clicking here.

If you want just an old fashioned pinwheel, click here.  or some spinners here.

There is cute wind boat printable here.

I really love this site! There are gift boxes, cards, bookmarks, all kinds of great things. There is something for all year long.

PS if you want them to last longer, you can see my tip for cheap laminating by clicking here.

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DEAR ABBY: I am embarrassing my 7-year-old son. I make him come into the women's restroom with me if no family bathroom is available. He can use the bathroom by himself, of course, but I worry about who might be lurking in the men's room while he is out of my sight. Other mothers say they agree that a "bad man" could be loitering in public restrooms these days. Is it more traumatic for him to come into the ladies' room or have me stand outside the men's room yelling, "Is everything all right in there?" -- LISA IN PHOENIX

DEAR LISA: If your son is old enough to be embarrassed by having to come into the women's restroom, then he should not be forced into it. It is not necessary to stand outside the men's room yelling, "Is everything all right in there?" Simply announce loudly when your son enters that you will be "waiting right here," so anyone inside will know he is not alone. Then, if your son isn't out in a reasonable period of time, ask if everything is all right. And if he doesn't respond, check on him.

It is apparent to me that either Dear Abby has no small children or she keeps her head in the sand.  I sent this answer.

Dear Abby, By giving Lisa in Phoenix the advice you have given her a false sense of security and put her child in danger. A molester will not be deterred when he hears a mother at the door saying loudly she will be right there.  A child can be hurt in a matter of seconds with the parents right there! It has happened in the play areas of fast food restaurants before!  Better advice would have been 1) make sure your child uses the bathroom at home before you go out and 2) if you must use a restroom, do what I do with my nephews.  Knock on the door, if no one answers, open and call in to see if anyone is there.  (if you are too scared to do this, get an employee. I have yet to have one tell me no) go in and make sure no one is in there.  Then stand outside the door and if any man comes up explain the situation to them and ask them to wait.  I have never had a man mind waiting a minute or two. NEVER trust that  you standing guard at a door will deter someone from harming a child.

It never ceases to amaze me how people will put their own discomfort before the safety & protection of children. What do you think? Or better yet, what do you do?

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I have a great website I found just the other day. This is great the budding little engineers in your life or if your kids asks how the dvd player works and you do not know exactly how to explain it.  If you have ever read and like any of the How Stuff Works books, you will love this site.

You can go to http://www.howstuffworks.com/ This site has too much to even beging to list.  If you want to know how something works or is built, this is the site to go to!!! The search feature on the site is awsome!   I may be adding a quick link to this on my side bar.

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Homeschool Convention season is coming up!  YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!  I love conventions.

I love seeing new and old products, talking, talking, and ...oh yeah, talking to other mothers and venders.  I also love getting on mailing lists and entering the give away contests.  This always seems to be a hassle.  You are talking to someone and feel like you are being rude trying to fill out those mailing lists or you are standing in a crowded aisle with your rear end sticking out(in my case, way out) trying to write down your information.

Here is a quick tip.  I get A LOT of free address labels from various companies as samples trying to get me to buy their products or donate to their cause (please note: I have never requested any of them so I do not feel bad using them without paying for them).  Carry a sheet with you and stick it on the mailing lists.  It is quick, easy and you do not have to wonder later on if you wrote the address correctly because you were busy talking.  If you do not have any, just run some off your computer.   If you do not have the label sheets, run off the info and carry a roll of tape with you.  All you have to do is tape on the slip of paper.  And you can add your email address before hand so you can sign up for email updates easily.

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First, my example; My buddy Crys and I were at Lowes’ Home Improvement Store a few weeks ago.  We came across some strawberry plants that were $2.50 each.  Now these had obviously been there for some time.  They were completely dead….or so we thought. Lifting the dead leaves we found each had at least one green leaf.  I went to the cashiers and ask them to get the manager.  When she came up, I showed her the plants, told her I was willing to take a chance and to make me a deal.  Then I SHUT UP ! I was willing to pay 75 cents for each plant. The manager paused and offered all plants for 50 cents each!  I took them home, planted them and they are now bigger than both of my hands together and producing berries. 

Another time I was up at the store when they were getting rid of the perennials.  (annuals do NOT come back each year, perennials come back every year)  They were putting plants that looked dead on a rack for a quarter each!! Now I may not enjoy them this year but next spring they will come up! As a matter of fact, several of them have come back to life again after planting as we speak!

Some tips:

Shop after holidays.  You can get great deals on potted flowers after Mother’s Day.

Try to buy several plants. You are more likely to get a deal on 10 plants rather than one but chances are you will be able to get all ten cheaper than the one at normal price.

Smile Be nice, but firm

Keep your mouth shut. Make an offer and then say nothing.  As my husband always says, he who speaks first, loses.

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Yeah!!! Summer is here.  Time for warm weather and snow cones.  I got a snow cone machine on clearance for only $10. If you do not have one, use the ice crushing setting on your blender or food processor.  I have two recipes both prepared the same way. One is for a really sour one.  MMMMMMM.  My Grandmother gave me these.  I think she found them in a Southern Living Magazine.  What is nice about this is it is easy, cheap, uses what is in your kitchen already, and if you have a family member with diabetes, like I do, you can replace the sugar with Splenda. 

To make slushes, all you have to do is fill the glass with shaved ice and fill until there is just a little more syrup than ice.

You can also use soda (or as I call it carbonated sugar) or fruit juice or any combination of juices or syrup flavors.  I have a buddy who likes to make the cherry syrup and add it to her coke.

Snow Cone syrup

2 c. sugar

1 1/4 c. water

1 envelope unsweetened kool-aid, any flavor

Or

Super-Sour Snow Cone Syrup

2 c. sugar

1 1/4c. water

2 envelopes unsweetened lemonade kool-aid

1 envelope unsweetened cherry kool-aid

Regardless of the flavor: here is what you do.

1. bring sugar & water to boil in medium saucepan

2. remove from heat & stir in drink mixes

3. cover & chill until ready to serve

4. befor using, let stand at room temp. for 20 min.

makes 2 1/2 cups

Please do not email me and fuss at me for sharing this treat so full of sugar and devoid of nutrients.  This is once and a while treat not an every day thing. 

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For those of you who follow my blog on a regular basis; yes, I know I re-post this every year about this time.   The message put forth seems to never grow old. I always get such lovely emails thanking me for posting it. 

Oh NO!!!!! Summer is here and we have not finished our book lessons! What are we going to do?

So What?

SO WHAT?!!! What do you mean so what?  We haven't learned everything we are suppose to!  We did not finish all the lessons!!!

Wasn't it your kids who freaked out their aunts and uncles at Thanksgiving dinner because your 7 & 5 year olds proceeded to explain the digestive system from mouth to anus, and how the kidneys produced pee?  And didn't your kids make a model kid with bones using Q-tips to explain how bones work, not to mention describe in some detail the workings of the heart to the amazement of your doctor?

Big Deal!!!! So what if their Aunt turned an interesting shade of green and there were a lot more leftovers than normal, we have not finished all of our worksheets.  Oh the worksheets!!!! I have a few dozen left!!!  They are not even filled out!!!!!

So?

SO!!???!!!!??!  We paid money for them.  They show how much my kids have learned!

Did you get the idea for frog day from them?  You remember.  That was the day you found tadpoles in a pond.  So you went out and researched how  to care for them.  You got an aquarium and spent  a day studing how they would become frogs and didn't you come up with tadpole math?  Isnt that how your youngest finally got the concept of subtraction?

WEREN'T YOU LISTENING?  We did not finish all the lessons in the book!

Yes, but didnt you go to homeschool classes once a month at your local zoo?  Wasn't it your kids who while watching Curious George with some other kids began to explain how George was drawn incorrectly because he doesn't have a tail and monkeys have tails where apes do not.  And isn't your kids who can tell all about birds.  And isn't your oldest who when they asked for a child to come up on stage at an outdoorman's show to hold a snake RAN up to the stage and told the "expert" all about snakes?

What does that have to do with anything?   What if someone demands to see my lesson book?  I have only 150 out of 170 lessons done!!! What willl they think?  We will not reach the legal requirement for 180 days of instructions!

Now wait, did you count all the days at the zoo classes? and what about the days you devoted to unit studies?  Remember, you devoted three whole days to doing nothing but studing about magnets. And what about the days you devoted to learning about a single animal that the kids showed interest in?  And what about the days you spent cooking to teach the kids about fractions? And really, what other 1st grader knows all about the Bill of Rights because you spent  a day or two on American history, which all brings up how many other kids looked at a picture of the pilgrims and proceeded to explain how almost everything in a traditional picture of the pilgrims from the clothing to the food served is incorrect? And what about those horrid ladybug and butterfly houses you ordered and has to cancel the exterminator because it would kill all the experiments.  And what about all those plant experiments you did?  The kids did not understand how a plant transports water and food up its stem from a book, they learned it by putting white carnations in colored water.  And wasn't your sister, the public school fourth grade teacher, lamenting that her students couldn't write as well in cursive as your 1st grader, as a matter of fact her students could barely READ cursive writing?  And what about the mornings before dental appointments that you read all about teeth, what they were made of and how they worked and downloaded that model of teeth that the kids made and took to the dentist so he could show them where they needed to brush better?

BUT WE DIDNT FINISH THE BOOKS OR THE WORKSHEETS!!! OH WHAT ARE WE TO DO?

But don't your kids have a great love of learning and didnt they learn a lot? and enjoy it?

THAT IS NOT THE POINT. We ... didnt finish .......... err ............... hhmmmm...... wait................ that is the point ......mmmmmmmmmmmm.   Yeah! Summer is here!  We had a great year and learned alot. 

Next year, I  need to remember to not get so caught up in making sure the lessons are done that it interferes with learning.  Homeschoolers tend to do that every so often.    We do not want to end up more concerned with lessons and worksheets or we will be just schooling at home. Let's not loose sight of what homeschooling is and why we are doing it... and enjoy our summer break.

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No, that is not a typo. I did indeed mean to type 61 years.  The people who survived raising my siblings and myself are celebrating 61 years of marriage together today.  These two incredible examples to us all have weathered the Great Depression, WWII, traveling the country, watching their children be born and eventually called home by the Lord, they have rejoiced at Weddings and births, and mourned at funerals, gained a great deal of gray hair raising their Grandchildren and wept with untold joy at the birth of their Great-Grandchildren. There are few today who can even claim 50 years (half the people I know can not even make it to 10 years!), but my parents have been together 61 years!

I thought I would share each of their secrets for a long and happy marriage.  

First, from my Grandmother: Never criticize your husband in public, not even around good friends; wait until you get in private to tell him he sounds like the biggest horse’s butt on the planet.

Next, from my Grandfather who took my husband aside and told him this before I walked down the isle.  No matter what, any time she asks you whether you like a new paint color, dress, curtains, I do not care what it is you answer, “If it makes you happy dear, it tickles the crap out of me.”

 If I can make it just half the time they did, I will truly be a blessed woman.  

Happy 61st Anniversary

Granmother & Gran  !!!!

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According to a news report, a certain private school in Washington was
 recently faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls were
 beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom.

 That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick, they wou ld press
 their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little
lip prints. Every night the maintenance man would remove them, and the
next day the girls would put them back.
 Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. She called
 all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man.
 She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for 
the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night (you can just 
imagine the yawns from the little princesses).
 To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she
 asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required. 
He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned 
the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the 
mirror.

He he, admit it, you were laughing!

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When you are digging in the dirt, it is of course hard to get that dirt out later on.  Two things.  First, invest in a nail brush. They are only a $1 (you can even get them at the auto parts store).  Second, dig your finger nails in a bar of soap before going outside. Wipe off your finger tips if you are concerned about getting the soap on the plants.   When you come in and wash your hands, there will be some dirt underneath your nails but not much. It will make clean up so much quicker and easier.

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Most home improvement stores have a small magazine they put out each month or every other month.  They are full of some great ideas; decorating, repair, and organizational.  The stores of course publish these with the anticipation that people will buy the supplies necessary to complete the project from the store.   It works!   But many times, in the case of Lowe’s about twice a year, they will put gift cards in these magazines. 

Either ask at your local store or go to their website and get on the mailing list. Some stores have magazines, while others have newsletters.  Regardless, sign up!  Even without the coupons these free magazines have some great do-it-yourself ideas.

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Yes, you did indeed read the title of this post correctly. Not sure where to even start on this story. 

Kids Told to Shout Obscenities in 'Swearing Lesson'

for link to orginal story, click here

A British school was blasted Friday after kids as young as 11 were told to shout obscenities during a lesson in swearing.

Expletives like the f-word and c-word were written on a blackboard before a teacher explained their meaning to 30 seventh graders.

S.t Laurence School in Bradford on Avon, Wilts, claims it was part of a sex and relationship education program to "dispel" the myths of swear words.

But parents say they were not consulted by head James Colquhoun about the class and say kids were left "deeply upset."

One parent said: "This is a total disgrace. Our children go to school to gain an education, not qualifications in swear words. Most kids had no idea what the words meant and were forced to grow up faster than their parents want. Heads should roll for this."

Some pupils claim the teacher told them not to tell parents about the lesson.

Deputy head Richard Clutterbuck said Friday night: "This lesson should not have focused on the slang terms. I must apologize for any distress caused."

Wilts County Council said it is the governors’ responsibility to decide specifics of sex education lessons.

In February The Sun reported on 10-year-olds at a church primary school who were told to write the crudest words they knew to "analyze bullying insults." 

Now before anyone states the obvious, I am sure these seventh graders have heard these words from their buddies before.  That is not the point.  They were encouraged to swear as part of a lesson plan to  …and I quote…”part of a sex and relationship education program to "dispel" the myths of swear words. “  This was part of a sex education  program.  What was the point of the lesson? Learn how to be disrespectful or turn something beautiful into something ugly?   

What REALLY got me was the kids were told by the teachers not to tell their parents.  Yeah, I believe it.   I had teachers tell me things in school and told me not to pass the information on.

Oh, and the response from one of the higher ups, "This lesson should not have focused on the slang terms."  Excuse me?  The lesson should not have focused on SLANG words? Regular cuss words are ok, but we mustn’t use slang.  What do you even say to this attitude?  First they punish kids for swearing (all the while teachers swear all the time from the blackboard) then they encourage them to shout out cuss words, they had better not write any kid up now.  All the kids have to do is claim they were discussing what happened in class.   Of course if a Muslim had been in the class they would not have dared because that would be insulting to their religion.  A Christian? Well, we need to expose them to the “real world” would have been the attitude.

I was raised by my Grandmother where truly educated people do not have to lower themselves to cuss words to get their ideas across.  All the while I had teachers using the same words, while standing at the blackboard, that they wrote the kids up for saying.  I don’t know, maybe, just maybe their time would be better spent….I don’t…know learning arithmetic, or perhaps history…oh, that’s right. They can not study certain historical events in Britain because they have found it offends Muslims.  (kid you not.)

And they wonder why people like homeschoolers have lost all faith in the school sysem.  Go figure!

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How many of us have those old, green turtle (now they also come in a red crab) sandboxes?  Almost every hand in America went up.  If you are like my family, the kids have gotten too big for the sandbox and it is in too bad a shape to sell.  I hated to throw it away but I really had no use to it. 

My Grandmother came up with this idea.  We turned it into a flower box!  Drill holes in the bottom for drainage and fill with dirt.  Plant flowers or vegetables.  We use the top for experiments.  It really is beautiful.  I would put up a pic but my digital camera is not working right. 

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I have a really great website for you.  For the US you can go to either http://www.pickyourown.org/statelist.htm#statelist and scroll down to your state, or for US and Canada (as well as a few other countries like Japan) you can go tohttp://www.pickyourown.org/index.htm#states and scroll down.  This site also has some really nice canning, freezing, picking & recipe tips.  Plus, if you have a family farm there is a place for you to add your farm!!!! (Oh, how I wish I had one) They also have corn mazes, Christmas tree and pumpkin farms listed.

A quick word of warning. Some of these farms are not open every day due to weather damaging the crops. You have to call the night before or that day to find out if they are open.

This is great for those who just do not have the room for a garden or just do not have the time.   We hit the strawberry one near us with another family yesterday. We have been busy canning (and eating) them.  The berry batch I put in this year will of course not produce berries for at least two years so this was really a great blessing for us. 

Plus, this makes a great field trip!

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 Several friends of mine have had difficulty finding jars and pectin and other preserving spices. They are selling out not long after they are on the shelves.

 So if you can, you may want to start gathering your supplies now instead of in July or August.  A little, or just one thing, each shopping trip wont get into your budget too heavy.

 I know I am going ahead early and gathering any lids or jars I will need. 

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 As you are getting ready to plant your tomatoes, drop a whole, un-cracked egg into the hole you are digging. Put the tomato plant right on top and finish planting it normally. Supposedly, the sulfur from the egg and the calcium from the shell are suppose to help your plant.  Makes sense to me; anyway I can not seeing it hurt.  Whether or not this is true remains to be seen. I am doing an experiment as we speak.  If you do this or know about it, let me know in the comment section

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Ok, not exactly.  I told you in my last post that I was taking two weeks off to get the garden in (you can read thathere) It took a lot longer than we thought.  We had an injured shoulder and time to deal us some set backs.  At one point, we had our cars lined up with their headlights on because we ran out of daylight.  I know the neighbors think we are nuts.  If they say anything, I will just tell them we are studying the nocturnal habits of worms or something. 

Plus, we had to do our spring cleaning.  You all know how that goes.  Hit the youngest kids's clothes. Clean out what they can no longer wear and donate. Then hit the next to youngest kid's closet, clean out what they can not wear and either put it in the youngest kid's dresser or find a place to store it until they can wear it.  And down, or rather up the line you go.  Whew!  We were so blessed this year with friends giving us clothes that the kids just could not possibly wear them all so we had to go through and donate several bags to our church pantry and other families.  I told the children what a blessing it is to have too many clothes to wear where in other parts of the world they have barely one article of clothing.

Anyway, we have the garden in, plants are coming up, a tree house started for the kids, and spring cleaning done.!!!!! YEAH!  I also have some interesting and neat tips for you this week.  See you later.

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Hello everyone. Sorry I was scarce last week.  I am afraid I will be a little busy the next two weeks.   We are having to spend every spare second (like I have a lot of those) getting our plant beds ready for planting.

I know several of you are yelling,"What!?  That's it! I knew that woman was putting something other than creamer in her coffee! It is still winter!!!!! Why we still have snow on the ground!"

Well, here in the South we are starting to hit 70 degree weather in the afternoons. And while we are not past the dangers of frost, it is good weather to get the soil tilled.   Plus, we have a boat repair buisness. And as April hits, we become too busy to do anything else. So we know we better get the really hard labor done before customers start calling.  I have to get the food planted so I can get it canned this fall. 

I have noticed a lot more people planting gardens this year and a lot of gardeners I know are starting early getting their supplies. 

I will be back in about two weeks.  We should have the land tilled and the swing set repaired by then.  Take care and see you soon!

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A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired.

During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot coffee, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When they all had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:"Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the coffee.

In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups ... and then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Life is the coffee; your job, money, and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change, the quality of life that you have.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot coffee God has provided us. God makes the coffee, man chooses the cups.

The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have.

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

And enjoy your coffee.

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 Crispy Chicken Strips

 8 (8oz) boneless, chicken breasts, each cut into at least 4 strips (I cut them into 8 for smaller hands)

vegetable oil

1 c. parmesan cheese

1 c. panko crumbs (or some other bread crumbs) 

1 t. seasoned salt (Lowry’s is what I use)

1 t garlic powder

½ t. paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 Coat a baking sheet with nonstick coating (if you lucky enough like me to have stoneware, you can skip this step)

Mix all spices, cheese & crumbs in a shallow bowl.

Using a basting brush, brush the oil onto the strips. (My youngest loves to paint the chicken)

Then coat heavily in the crumb mixture.

Place in a single layer on the baking sheet and bake 20-25 min. or until thoroughly cooked.

 Peanut Dipping Sauce

Makes 1 cup

 ½ c. peanut butter

½ c. water

2 T brown sugar

1 T soy sauce

1 t garlic powder

1 t ground ginger (I never seem to have this on hand. I made it without this spice and it was just fine)

Whisk all together and serve.  Refrigerate leftovers

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Well, we have the virus going around our house and one kid (the dancer) with a sprained ankle.  But I have some great free resources on Astronomy that you do not have to leave the comfort of your home (or pjs) to enjoy.

The first is the Hubble Spacecraft's offical website at http://hubblesite.org/explore_astronomy/.  Wow, this site has it all! You can watch the videos sent back to Earth, explore the history of telescopes, star charts, interactive sky guides, stuff about black holes, just too much to mention.  Ooohh, they also have a reference guide (great for you lapbook & notebookers out there) a guide to museums, and guides to explore astronomy.

The next site is also from NASA. You can click here and be taken to a site that gives all the info you could ever need about spacewalks and spacesuits.

But of course, you can also go to the Gov agency that has always been a reliable source of info. The official NASA site is at http://www.nasa.gov/

There are other resources but to be honest, too much of a good thing is too much of a good thing. You can get overwelmed.  Trust me, I know. These are the best I have found so far. If you know of some good ones, please share.

Take care & stay well!

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  Real Mothers

Real Mothers don't eat quiche;

they don't have time to make it.
 

 Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils

are probably in the sandbox.
 

 Real Mothers often have sticky floors,

filthy ovens and happy kids.
 

 Real Mothers know that dried play dough

doesn't come out of carpets.
 

 Real Mothers don't want to know what

the vacuum just sucked up.
 

 Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?'

and get their answer when a little
 voice says, 'Because I love you best.'

 
 Real Mothers know that a child's growth

is not measured by height or years or grade...

It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother...
 

To all of my fellow mothers (current, to be or past) have a blessed day and do not forget what is really important!

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My Grandmother and I discovered this a couple of years a go.  I use to subscribe to National Geographic Magazine.  My Grandmother started it when I was in high school and I kept it up in college & when I got married.  Well, about 4 years ago,  the price went up to $48 a year and I really got sick of the condescending attitude of the writers.  You know, if you do not see what we are telling you, you are stupid.  Plus, they were moving far away from geography, using bad language more and more, presenting junk science as proven, slow to admit when a reporter was caught lying or making up information in an article, you name it.  So I canceled the subscription.  A week later, they sent me a letter offering the magazine at $35 a year.  A month later; $25 a year. I now get letters offering me the magazine at $15 a year!!!!!!!!

My Grandmother loves Southern Living Magazine.  But she knows if she lets her subscription run out, within two months they will send a letter begging her to renew her subscription at half price!! The hubby loves BassMaster (ok, so do I )  The magazine runs around $40 a year.  No, don’t think so.  But we got an offering the other day for $10!!!! Guess what the hubby is getting for his birthday?

All magazines are like this for the most part.  So if you invest money in these, wait a month or two and let your subscription run out and see what kind of deals they offer you.

Do not worry about missing a month or two.  The next time you are at the doctors’ waiting room, you will be able to read an issue of a magazine you have never seen before.  Of course, that will be the day there will be no waiting.  Ha ha, what am I saying!? Like THAT would ever happen!!!

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I found a really great freebie the other day.  Our family is getting into the Lapbooks ( Stay tuned: I will do a post on free resources for that another day). We did one on giraffes to get ready to go to our local zoo that just had a surprise birth of a new baby giraffe.  I found a great page with coloring sheets on dozens of animals; from whales to wolves, butterflies to Boas, birds to animals I have never heard of.  These are great printables that you can use in so many ways. They are great if you have younger kids and need to keep them busy while the older ones are working on lessons.  Or print them all out and make a book to go to the zoo with.

The link is at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/coloringbook/archive/ 

a little side note about the surprise baby giraffe: according to the press release the reason why it was a surprise is 1) they are watched none stop and no one saw them mate and 2) the males & females are kept in seperate barns at night.  The zoo keeper said sometimes the giraffes sneak off to the back of the exhibit behind the trees and stuff. He he. I just thought that was cute.

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I have a really neat freebie for you today.  These are free downloadable (PDF files) book plates that you can either print up on labels from the store or just print up and you can put these in your books with clear contact paper or packaging tape.  There are several, beautiful designs; click on the one you want. Their size is 3 1/2 " x 2 1/8 ".

Damask Bookplate

Patterened Bookplate

Striped Bookplate

These are really beautiful.  Like I said they are in PDF files and you can easily print them up or if you like them I highly suggest you save them to your computer (I did) because one never knows how long links stay live.  If you do not have Adobe Acrobat, hon, it is time to download this for free by clicking here (Its free and there is so much you are missing out on printing up for your kids.  Its free. Its easy.  Its one or two clicks. Its time.) Hint : uncheck the download free Google Toolbar. You don't need that.

The main page that these are on is www.goodhousekeeping.com/bookplates

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