Here we all are!

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Let's celebrate
It's alright....

Yeah, I know, I'm weird!  What do you expect?  I grew up with four brothers, and now have FIVE boys of my own!  Yes, FIVE!!  And they are all wonderful, God-fearing, handsome young men.  (I almost wrote young me!  That would be a scary thought!)  I also have one beautiful young lady.  She is six.  She is my little shadow and my little helper.

Welcome!  We are a Reformed Christian Alaskan homeschooling family.  We live on six acres of the 23,000 square miles available in the beautiful Matanuska Valley.  My dh and I grew up looking at Mt. McKinley, the highest mountain in North America, in our "backyard' in the little village of Talkeetna.  We also raised our family there for six years.  We are now living farther south, but still in the Valley.

We enjoy snowmachining (what you all call snowmobiling), Boy Scouts, gymnastics, playing instruments, and watching educational movies.  Recently we have watched Planet Earth, James Cameron's Expedition: Bismarck, 2002 and To the Moon: Nova.  We HIGHLY recommend Planet Earth!  It is a BBC film, and you have to overlook some of the environmentalist information that they say, but it is very little, and the cinematography is BEAUTIFUL!!  Definitely worth the watch!  I would like to purchase the set at some point!!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this little glimpse into our lives.  Sit back and relax with a bowl of homemade tomato soup and grab some yummy Tortellini, Tomato and Salmon Salad too!

I hope you enjoy your time here!  Please let me know you stopped by, and feel free to ask anything you would like about Alaska!  Oh, and if you would like to exchange postcards with my kids, just email me your address!  We are trying to collect postcards from all over the world!

Party on, dude!!!

Grace

P.S. There are SO many prizes!  The ones I would LOVE to win are:

#48 — Story Package
Provided by: Cherish Bound
Prize details: Cherish Bound is offering a story package that will include: 1 Family Yearbook Story Starter, 1 Deck of Family Chat Cards, a coupon for a $68 hardbound 8.5 x 11 Family Yearbook and personal services and assistance to walk you through the process. A retail value of $90.

#91 — Burt’s Bees Naturally Ageless skin care line
Provided by: Geggie
Prize details: Geggie from So, What Else? What Else? What Else? is donating Burt’s Bees Naturally Ageless skin care line includes full size product of Line Diminishing Day Lotion, Skin Firming Night Crème, Line Smoothing Eye Crème and Intensive Repairing Serum valued at $100.

#100 — 3 books
Provided by: Jill Norwood
Prize details: Jill Norwood from Who Could Ask for Anything More is giving away three cooking and entertaining books bundled together in a fun striped tote bag, perfect for taking on an overnight stay or to the pool or beach. I’ll also be filling the bag with some goodies geared especially toward the winner’s taste (coffee lover, tennis player, scrapbooker, etc.) Jill’s Book Bag is a regular feature on my blog, so, if you don’t win this time, I hope you visit me regularly to enter another time.

#113 — Arbonne Pampering Basket
Provided by: The Truest Thing
Prize Details: Get ready to enjoy a Mommy-version Easter basket filled with lots of pampering goodies from Arbonne International!

#103 — 7 Pink Brick Box Play Sets (for my one daughter out of six children!)
Provided by: LEGO
Prize details: LEGO will give away 7 Pink Brick Box play sets, in honor of the 7 day long Ultimate Blog Party!

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We love thrift store shopping.  We don't get to go too often as we don't spend a lot of time in town, but we usually get good deals when we do.  One of the second hand stores is kind of pricey, and it's hard to get just what you want, so I frequent the clearance racks too.  Just the other day, Fred Meyer had additional 70% off the already marked down clearance price.  I bought my daughter several tops for less then I usually pay at the second hand shop.  They were about $4-5/item.  They were modest long tops too which are getting more difficult to find since they aren't as in-style.  I guess that's why they wound up on the clearance rack!

I also bought several long sleeve OshKosh shirts for the little boys.  I don't have to buy too much for my 2nd and 3rd boys, as all of my oldest's clothes just get handed down, but by the time they have gone through three boys, things are getting a little worn and stained.  So, when I can find good brand name clothing on big clearance sales, I pick them up.

I do find pants at a large used-stuff store in Anchorage, but I so rarely get in there anymore.  I tend to buy my boys pants at Sears, because they have the Kid Vantage program that allows you to exchange the pants if when the knees blow out.  That way, they last all of the way through all of my boys!  I have a rubbermaid tote full of jeans, just waiting for the next one in line.  The only problem I have run into is that my oldest fits a regular size, and my next two boys are more on the slim side.  Guess that's what belts are for, eh?

Off to get school started for the day.  We have violin lessons and Boy Scouts today.  Fortunately, the violin lessons are now here at home!  I tell ya, that's the way to do music lessons!  I LOVE not having to go out!

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I have jury duty this month.  Most people don't want jury duty.  They will try everything to get out of it.  Many people have told me that they were sure I could get out of it because I am a homeschooling mom, but I told my dh that I thought someone with a conscience should be on the jury sometime!  I got called in the first day.  I had to be there at 8am.  You have to go through security, like at the airport.  Several people had nail files thrown away.  I had taken one of the kids' backpacks so I inadvertantly took a fork in with me.  She didn't make me throw it away, but told me to leave it home next time.  I had to tear that backpack apart to find it!

Anyway, after you check in with the jury clerk, you have to fill out a juror questionairre.  It aske questions like your occupation, associations/groups you are a part of, how many kids you have, what ages they are, have you ever been part of a lawsuit, your list of employment, and lastly if you think police officers are more likely to tell the truth.  I thought that last question was interesting.  I answered it "Generally."

They also give you an "Alaska Trial Jury Handbook," which is a 25 page booklet which tries to answer any question you could possibly have about being a Juror.  There are five parts; General Information, Selecting Juries for Trials, The Trial, Deciding on a Verdict, and a Glossary.  It is very interesting!  I asked the jury clerk if I could take it home to my kids, and she said I could take as many as I wanted.  She also said that if they had any questions, they could call and ask her anything.  She also recommended that I bring the older ones in to watch a trial!  She suggested bringing them in for a DUI trial.  Her reason was, "They will never drink and drive if they sit through one of these!"  The judge also reiterated to us later that he likes it when people come watch the trials because it is so educational.  I am hoping to find a unit study that covers the court or justice system as my kids were very fascinated about it.  If anyone can recommend one, please let me know!

To make a long story short, I was selected to be on the jury, but the first morning before we were able to hear anything, the defendants pleaded to a lesser charge, thereby canceling the trial.  I learned so much through this experience, so I am hoping to post more of my experience in the next few days.  I have to be on-call all month though, so I could get called in again!

Oh, and things went great at home!  Dh was able to work from home, but the kids got their school done and did their chores before I got home!  The next day, I got home around noon, and they were already almost done with their school!  I told dh that maybe I should get a job, since they seem to do so much better when I am not there.  LOL!  He said emphatically, "No."  My second son said he liked it when I was gone, because he liked the responsibility.  That is just like him!

Off to try to find a unit study....

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Yet another reason to keep our children HOME!  I found this on Dr. Laura's blog.  I don't read it very often, but this one caught my eye in my email.  What are these administrators thinking?!?!  Grrrr....I have neices that go to these...hmmm...I better stop writing before I say something I shouldn't.

Cover-up in Oregon - viewer discretion advised

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I remember when my daughter was born I thought, "Oh my goodness!  I am going to have to be careful about what I say and do, because she is going to be watching every move I make, and emulating every thing I do and say.  I can tell where my strengths are...she adores her daddy and her two little brothers!  Lately I have been noticing that she is being more lazy in her chores.  It used to be that she was so cheerful to set the table, unload the dishwasher, straighten up her room, etc. but now she dwaddles, wanders, or disappears.  Am I looking into a mirror?  Hmmm....

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I have often thought about why God has seen fit to give me so many boys.  As an only girl myself with four brothers, I longed to have a little girl.  When, after three boys, He saw fit to bless me with a daughter (maybe because I finally got my attitude right!) I have wanted her to have the little sister I never got, but so far we have had two more boys.

My brothers have several girls.  One brother has three girls and two boys, another brother has two girls.  Where are MY girls!  Then I realized, that someone had to raise the heads of the households!  There is a reason that God has my wonderful husband and I raising FIVE boys!

I am learning to be content with the place that God has seen fit to place me.  May I be a good example, and train them in the way they should go.

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I just got this in my email.  Fortunately I don't buy much bleach.

PRODUCT RECALL: Everyday Living Bleach

Dear Valued Customer,

In case you missed the following information in the news, we just wanted to make sure you heard about this important recall and its special instructions.

Fred Meyer is recalling bottles of bleach that were sold exclusively at Fred Meyer and QFC stores that could potentially burst out of the bottle when opened.

The Everyday Living Bleach involved in the recall was on the shelves beginning January 17. It includes 96 oz. bottles of the regular, citrus and mountain blend bleaches as well as 128 oz. bottles of the regular bleach.

If you purchased the product, you should put the bleach in a garbage bag, and place it in a second bag if the container looks bulged.

Please don't attempt to take this item back to a store. Instead, move the item to an area where it won't cause damage and contact the manufacturer, KIK Customer Product, at 800-479-6603 ext. 656.

Please be ready to provide the UPC number, description, size and sell-by date on the bottle.

Arrangements will be made for the manufacturer to come and pick up the bagged bleach.

If the UPC number or the sell-by date cannot be viewed without touching the bottle, but was purchased after January 17, simply bag the product and call the manufacturer.

Thank you.

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I can't believe this! I thought it must have been a fluke on Valentine's Day, as it was 40 degrees here that day.  The next day is was the normal 10 degrees again, but since Sunday, it has been raining and 40 degrees again!  Our temperature today was within a few degrees of what my grandparents in Utah had!  I am SO getting spring fever too because of this.

Speaking of doing things, my wonderful, handsome, sweet, dear husband got me cabinets for my laundry  room  for Valentine's Day!  I was/am SO excited!  For those of you who don't know me well, I don't even have KITCHEN cabinets, so ANY cabinets is TOTALLY awesome!  I have had one cabinet in my launry room/pantry where I kept literally ALL of the chemical compounds, so they were out of reach ofthe babies, since again, I don't have kitchen cabinets.  Everything from laundry to kitchen to cleaning to home building to camping and baseball, you name it, if there is a chemical solution for it, it was shoved into that one tiny cabinet!  Also, all of my hand towels, placemats, cloth napkins, rags, bibs, faceclothes, dishtowels, etc.  were all neatly (usually!) stacked on top of the washer.  ALL of that is now neatly tucked away INSIDE of my new cabinets!!!  YEAH!!!  Oh, except for the home building, camping, and baseball chemicals.  They are all going to stay in the old cabinet which is making it's way  downstairs to the utility room!

Ok, so picture time, eh?!  I kind of got excited and forgot to take a before picture, so I found this so you can kind of see what it was like.  The white thing there is the old cabinet.  The walls were the same color. The  cream thing has been gone since we moved it down the road,  and the washer and dryer have also been unstacked since then. Anyway, you kind of get the idea....

And now for the AFTER picture....

Isn't it beautiful!  The color isn't quite that green.  It is more like a deep sage green, really pretty.  Anyway, I am MORE than happy with it!

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