It has been awhile since I have posted but I have a busy homeschoolin' mama!!! The weather is finally nice after a very long winter. The kiddos and I spent about two hours planting seeds today. We planted organic vegetables in one flat and flowers in another. While the seeds are busy sprouting, I will be busy praparing my raised bed for the vegetables in the back yard. I bought organic garden soil, and I need to make a trip to the local nursery in search of earthworms. While on the internet last night looking for a few last minute curriculum choices, I discovered an amazing website dedicated to children and science, mainly plants and animals. It is www.kidsgardeningstore.com  You can buy lady bug larvae and watch it transform. When they have hatched? (or whatever it is ladybugs do - I guess we will find out as soon as they arrive) you can release them into your Garden to go aphid hunting!!! Seeing all of the fun projects that can be done outdoors, I am readjusting my homeschool plan. I have decided to focus on life science for the summer. We will still keep up with reading and do math on rainy days, but everything else is getting shelved for summer! I am even going to focus our Bible reading on creation, and how certain things can be compared to things that can happen in nature - such as a caterpillar's metamorphis can be compared to receiving a new life in Christ when we become Christians. Here in Alaska there is more than enough time during the winter months and even some of the spring and fall months to do everything else.

Lateley, I have also been taking some time to do some spring cleaning of my own. We recently moved, and I have been faithful not to unpack a box without having it have a definite spot. If I can't readily find a spot for it, I put it in the spare bedroom to deal with later. So everything that I am not sure what to do with is all condensed to one place where I can go through it at my leisure. I  am also taking the time to get rid of anything that I do not need anymore, regardless of what I paid for it. This has been extremely difficult in the past because I would rationalize, " But I paid XX amount of dollars for it .I have to keep it." But now I am just focused on going through everything we own with a fine toothed comb. So I am looking at my 8 very large boxes of things to give away and I am disgusted at how much money is sitting there. I didn't even realize I was doing it because it was one item, here and there. Now I am making lists and sticking to them when I go to the store. The one upside is that I am getting the warm fuzzies about dropping my boxes at the Give and Take ministry at the church we used to attend before we moved. At least someone else will be able to be blessed. This has also got me thinking about other things, such as, do my kids really need 15 shirts when there are only 7 days of the week? Do I really need "bathroom cleaner" when the all purpose cleaner works just as well? So I am going through and streamlining the things we use on a regular basis sticking to one cleaner and reducing the amount of clothes each child has. One thing that has helped tremendously in the kids clothing area is that I do all of their shopping at one time, twice a year. When I notice that one child is outgrowing trheir clothes, I take a trip to the mall (by myself) and spend about two hours buying for three children in one store. This has greatly reduced on the amount of clothing they end up with - we have probably all done this "Oh that is such a cute outfit for child 2" and bought it. Even so, I am going to make a list when I go again in the fall so that I don't end up with more than I need.