Hiya everybody! Well, trying my best to accentuate the positive. Homeschooling is really being done in the afternoons now. The mornings carry a full schedule. We are going to be moving soon too:~~~) Yes, we are packing up and will be moving to a smaller home. I don't know about your are, but the cost of living keeps goojg UP UP and of course..AWAY!!!! And so must our little cuddlesome family...the problem is we're not sure where. Uhhhh any ideas???

How do you save money while homeschooling??

I am opening an art studio as soon as we move. I have some ideas on openign a tutoring service as well as this.

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Wow! Here we go... First day of school. Can someone say "accentuate the positive:. Here we go...

Dun Dun Dun Da Dun Dun

 4:00 this morning..

Oh, good morning to you! I have been up since 4:00 this morning. I was in a sound sleep until I heard a dog barking very loudly in our back yard. I searched frantically for my glasses ( like Velma of Scooby-Doo) and hurried to our sliding glass door just off our bedroom. I looked and saw my husband in the back yard, it was still dark and we have security lights all around. Well, I went out front and saw a YOU KNOW WHAT..Yes, :) a dog! My husband had brought him home to feed him. I later found out that our eight toed cat ( polydactyl) wanted to challenge the dog, which in turn, caused him to bark so loudly for so long. He later took him to a local shelter. So here I am 3 hours later...

Our digital camera broke but as soon as we have it fixed, I will post some pictures od Du Bilbo.

Here are our pets:

Du Bilbo: An orange and white short haired polydactyl. Sweet nature but is very territorial.

Sir Brodie Booten Borgen: Our six-week-old baby Schnauzer. FIESTY

Lola Vooten Booten Borgen:

AKA: Voot Boot, Boot Boot, Booten Borg

Lovely Dashund/Schnauzer mis. The smartest dog on the planet I assure you...and it is scary!

See Ya God Bless and have a joyous day!

These fellas are so cutie....

Can someone say "Accentuate the Positive"?

Please...today has been challenging...that is for sure.

 All I know is I need a Calgon bath!

My house is a wreck ( except our homeschooling room). The BlueHouse School House Room is in order simply because I have not allowed anyone in it;) YEAH!!!!

However, every other room looks like we have been playing Jumanji... Hmmm... When Brooke was in school, it was easier for me to get the house straight. Now, it is a constant struggle! I believe she is just bored out of her mind! We do not have cable mand haven't had it for the past six years! YES...I said "No Cable"!....

We are anti cable and cable bill people.. Although, I do miss PBS & The Discovery Channel.

Getting back to today's strifes in life,  oh well...I am tired. See Ya!

Lola

Well today has been verrry interesting to say the least. Brooke and I just back from my friend Ruthie's house and she did an art lesson. Actually, we both did! LOL Ruthie is a gifted artist and has a degree too! She charges us 65.00 a month for a one hour session. Brooke makes jewelry, drawings, paint(oil, acrylic, etc..), clay, you name it! It is a time where she can get some mentoring from another adult. Ruthie and I are entering a contest next week at our local art museum. I have to go out and get the supplies. As soon as I finish it, I will snap a photo and insert it.

I ordered her science book through the mail last week. Nice sturdy hard back book for only 2.00! Yes, went to Amazon.com and looked under "Textbooks". I was looking for a Scott Foresman 2nd grade Science book and I found it for a steal of a dealio! YES...you go there immediately! I try to help when I can. I was discourage at the amount of money that a publisher wanted for a brand new Science book. Science really hasn't changed. Life Science is Life Science..YA KNOW???

Well, I'll write later and I am looking forward to making some bubbies too. Wanna be my friend??? Simply click on the friend button!!!

Okay, here I am again wanting to homeschool. Especially after meeting a couple that told me more stories about p.s. Well, this summer I have been collecting materials as I go. I usually shop at second hand stores, and I can really find some great older and newer learing materials. But, last night I started thinking about my child keeping up with the p.s. I personally want her to maintain this. So I was wondering if anyone knows which school system ranks #1 in the nation or has an "A" rating? I went to our state's supposedly best school site and recieved a wealth of links and information! I was amazed at what I found, but this area takes learning seriously! The area I am currently in does not rank that well. Nationally, our school system ranks "D". I decided to visit because I want to see what links are out there w/out wasting time. So , you are in need of links, just try visiting a good school system that is on top of things. This is the MAIN reason we are homeschooling as of now. Also, if you are just worried ( like I am) you can download a course of study for your state's acceptable standards as a guide. The schools in this area seem to far more concerned with grading behavior than teaching. But that is all behind us now. I am ready to move on and start teaching! Aug. 1st is just around the corner...The only thing left for me to do is...

Buy

1.Chalk

2.Chalkboard

3.Table ( NO DESKS!!!)

4. Math Workbook

5. Calendar (Montessori)

6. Good set of building blocks

Do...

1. HSLDA fee turned in

2. Much more stuff just can't think of it now

See Ya.. BTW If you have any questions regarding English, then please e-mail me. This is what my degree is in. I would be more than happy to try and help.

LOLA...

I just came back from a friend's house who, by the way is an excellent everything. Her gardens are emaculent, her yard is perfect, her house has not a speck of  dust anywhere to be found. It seems like a dream when I visit. Have you ever met anyone like this?

 I love my friend and without her influence, I probably would live in a shameful pig pen! .Well, I drove home and started thinking and reflecting.

 A thought came over me as I walked in and saw the dirty dishes lying around, the clothes hanging out of the dryer, the smell coming from the garbage that had been there for 5 or more days. I usually would get disgusted and start to clean up.

But today, I had a different feeling. A feeling of contentment because I realized a that moment how lucky I was to be able to be "messy" and it really not phase me.

Now this can be good and bad, and by no means am I saying my friend is miserable. But what came to me was a truth about life and even more importanly , about myself.

For some reason I have been weighing homeschool. I have been trying to figure out if it is best for me and my daughter. I am still contemplating the answers.

However, today has given me some interesting questions to ponder on. What is flawed is sometimes considered "wrong" or " not good enough" etc. With that in mind, I had been upset for these past two years because my daughter was coming home with imperfect stories of school. In fact, this last school she had told me quite a bit. And now looking back, I realize that we all seem to loathe imperfection, but in reality this is where the most learning may really come from.

I know this sounds crazy, but here are these questions to which some either refuse to answer or ignore altogether:

a.) Is being in an imperfect enviroment all that bad? If every thing is already put together, then how does one learn by that?

b.) Looking back, my best days of my life were not spent reading "Little House on the Prairie". They were in fact, being with my family and friends. We laughed, cried, and LIVED. All elements had to be there in order to "fully live".

c.) Isn't "perfection" really a way of wanting to be accepted in some form or fashion?

I love who I am. Ten years ago, I probably would have told you that I hated who I was and only because I felt I was not "perfect".

But now, I am impefect and showing it and loving it.

Because what matters to me now is that I accept who I am.

Wish I could give this to my daughter without all the rubbish. Happy 4th....

And yes, I took the trash out....:)

"By and by, I search for a meadow

Its pastures are green and yellow

Its winds soar high and low

I look around and have no place to go

What a meadow indeed will do

If only I could find you"

-SNT

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Yes, I love poetry...It says so much with so little words.

Do you ever just seek a peaceful place and hope to never leave?

I hope your 4th is peaceful and if you are not at peace, just look at the meadow above and picture yourself there. Only you and nature...

Tonight is quiet.

I feel like I am in another dimension. Another place in time... 

Brooke (my daughter), wanted to spend the night at her aunt's house.

So my sister picked her up and my husband went to the shop. Now I am left here all alone with an extremely hard/dry piece of fudge. In fact, this so called fudge is not even worthy of being called such...I made the mistake of trusting a recipe from Betty Crocker from the 70's.

Little did I know one had to be a rocket scientist to figure out how to make it correctly. Yes, it called for 240 degrees then cool to 120. BTW, I burnt the heck out of my thumb trying get the stuff to stay in the pan. No..I used a spoon... The last two days have been really strange. I have attempted this recipe twice already. This time I cooked it too long and ruined a perfectly good pan.

Oh well, this is a reflection of my daily strife in life.

Or better yet, reminds me of the old greek tale of Apollo and the chariot...don't fly to high or low. Well, you can most certainly apply this to none other than: fudge!

Good Nighty Noo to You and Yours...

Don't fly too high or too low next week, in anything that you do:)

I will be writing soon.

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                            LOLA Come back here!!!!!!!!