My Mother's Day was going great ... ds1 and I went to church then stopped by the natural foods market we shop (the same one that's closing).  They were having a Mother's Day Tea that ds1 and I attended.  We came home, changed clothes, and then headed out on a little shopping trip.  That's when my day went horribly wrong.  The lady in front of me when checking out was saying something about a huge wildfire.  She wasn't making sense about where it was so I asked.  Turns out it was more than one fire (they believe at this time 8 separate fires were set just in my area) and one was on my road and another was behind my house.

This is what we we were greeted with...

Horses being evacuated just north of us.  Unfortunately, I got to experience our sheriff's dept. at its finest (I mean that in the most sarcastic way).  The officer who had the road blocked off would not move her vehicle so the trailers could get around her.  People were screaming at her to move and she ignored them.  Finally someone shouted at her that they were going to move her vehicle, like it or not....

The fire helicopter was using the river to fill the drop bucket with water, but switched to getting water from a neighbor's pond to make quicker work....

More scariness from the skies...

A couple of the horses that dh helped round up to get in trailers for evacuation...

Out of control...

The view from across the road from my house last night as I was finishing loading my vehicle...

These were taken while standing in a neighbor's backyard last night.  It looked like a home and barn on this land were going to burn, but they were saved!  This just kept creeping closer and closer to my neighbor's (and my house!).  Dh stayed out until 1:40am this morning helping this neighbor keep things watered down....

When dh came in at 1:40am this morning, all appeared to be okay.  His clothing and hair smelled horrible so he went to take a shower.  Not five minutes later I saw flashing lights everywhere in front of my house.  I threw open the front door and saw my neighbor across the road's backyard engulfed in flames.  The wind had shifted and that quickly it all went up in flames.  Embers were flying into our yard and further.  Dh and I ran around for a good while stomping them out with our shoes.  One of the firefighters came and asked if we were ready to go if necessary.  I told him my vehicle was packed, but I did have two children and a dog I had to load so I had to have enough notification to take care of that (ds1 was wide awake on the sofa by the front door and ds2 was sleeping beside him).  He said if the fire made it to the road at our neighbor's that it would jump the road into our yard.  He said we would not be able to get out if that happened.  At 2:40am things were so bad that he gave dh the nod that it was time for us to leave.  Dh chose to stay and help so the kids, dog, and I went to a grocery store parking lot (we had nowhere else to go) to wait it out.  Thankfully, ds2 stayed asleep, but ds1 was restless so I passed the time praying aloud and reading aloud from Psalms.  At 4:10am dh called and told me they said things were okay around us and I could come home.    It was definitely a long night with extremely little sleep.

We are aware of two homes that have been destroyed - there may be more.  So many roads are blocked off right now that it's hard to know for sure.  This is what's left (nothing) of one of those homes...

This is what's left of my neighbor across the road's backyard...

Ash is covering my entire yard front and back...

Please keep our area of Florida in your prayers.  Things are still smoldering and could ignite again.  Two fires are burning around us still.  More fires are going in other areas and others have just started in the last couple of hours.  I'm watching a house burn on tv right now.  So sad.  The winds are blowing fiercely.  We haven't had rain since the beginning of April so things are extremely dry.

More notes from a seminar I attended at my state homeschool convention a few years ago.......

The Organized Homeschooler

** Start by writing down your greatest organizational need.

** Five categories of organization we're all struggling with:

1.) Time

2.) Papers (paperwork)

3.) Supplies & materials

4.) Space (rooms and how to store things)

5.) Family

(The Organized Homeschooler deals with this.  It's not a step-by-step system, however, because every family is different.  It's about the heart of the matter ... do you really want to impove?)

** Why do you want to become more organized?  CHAOS possibly? ... Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome

** Where do you fit?...

- The organizationally challenged person (tries, but it doesn't work).

- Wannabes (people at home amongst chaos but feel they shouldn't be).

- Well-intentioned organized (life got in the way).

- Already well organized (always on the hunt for a better way to do things)

** The first thing you need to do is set goals (before you even buy a bookcase, closet system, etc.).

** 3 Kinds of Goals...

1.) Academic

2.) Process (goals that talk about how we do what we do ... use adverbs in this statement ... example: Doing schoolwork neatly.  In a timely manner.)

3.) Personal or Spiritual (character issues you're going to work on)

Set these for each of your children, but do it with them.  If you enlist your children in this, it becomes their vision too.  Then, do it for yourself!  Where do you need to improve?  Let your children see you do this because you are modeling it for them.

** Everything you do should have something to do with meeting your goals or you are wasting your time.

** Don't let schedules control you.  You are supposed to control them.

** Be smart about what you buy and why you buy it.

** Be intentional and think about what you believe.  Are you doing what you believe?  Everything is our choice.  You have to do what is right for your family.  Our time is precious.

** Our children need to learn responsibility.  They need to work and help around the house.  They need to know this for raising their own families.  You need to take care of your home as a family.

Seminar presented by Vicki Caruana.

Again, I apologize for all this being run together.  I don't know why my entries are posting this way.  Very frustrating.......

Visit Angela to join in Tuesday Review!

Product: Wallaby organic yogurt

My Rating: Huge, huge, huge *thumbs UP*

I've never been a huge fan of yougurt, but Wallaby has won me over!  My personal favorites are Key Lime (it tastes like Key Lime pie!) and strawberry banana, hubby loves orange passionfruit and maple, and the kids eat pretty much any flavor we set in front of them.  Check out the faq's to learn how Wallaby is different from other yogurts, how it's made, etc.

Just for fun ... wallaby facts (the animal, not the yogurt!)

I had a great response to my Teaching Tidbits entry last Friday when I shared notes from a past seminar I attended at my state homeschool convention.  Thank you for all your wonderful comments that it was just what you needed to hear ... I needed it myself as well!

I'm sharing my notes from another great seminar today.......

Secrets Teachers Never Tell

** You can't come back in the fall expecting your children to remember everything from the prior school year.  You have to start off with a review.  If you take a summer break, you should probably plan on a couple of weeks of review.  You can adjust the length of review according to the needs of your child(ren).

** Think about why you do what you do.  Example: Why do you take a summer break?  Take some time and think about why or if you need to do something.  Don't do it just because someone else does.  When you establish new ways and new thoughts, please tell your children why you are doing it that way.  Each one of us is unique.  One of the problems for those of us that attended public school is that is what we know (as far as how to teach).

** Some months are better than others.  December is usually a very hard month to teach.  Make your school tie together with your life in December and schooling will be easier ... do math while baking cookies, have your children write notes to relatives and address Christmas cards.  Adjust your schedule to fit your needs.  If you live in a warm climate, you may find it works better for you to school during the summer when it's too hot to enjoy the outdoors and take time off during the winter months.  You are the administrator of your homeschool and make your school schedule.  Make it fit your family.

** Children learn in spurts and plateaus.  Our goal is to transport the child ... educate the child ... teach the child.  Take all the time you child needs to master a skill!  You can't do what the book (teacher's manual for any given subject) says day by day if your child isn't learning the material.  Reading through a textbook chapter by chapter and taking a test doesn't necessarily teach your children.

** Assimilation takes time.  You have to have a period of "brainless activity" to compute the things you've learned.  Children need this!  Let them play and climb trees.  They need "mindless" time to assimilate the concepts we're teaching.

** You don't have to grade every paper.  Keep one paper per subject, per child, per week and you can get a good idea if they are grasping the material.  It's okay to be good in some things and not so good in others!

** Learning involves doing.  Do what you and your children enjoy.  If they aren't laughing and giggling on a daily basis, they aren't learning as much as you think.  Make it fun! 

** Shame on you if you think you must finish the text each year.  You don't even have to follow the text in order - there is no rule that says you must do day on on day one and day two on day two.  Know your child!  Knowing your child's heart and skills plus their weaknesses is prime to teaching them.

** On days when "the natives are restless" ... do all the wonderful projects you wanted to do but didn't have time for or spend time on unfinished projects.  Play educational games - children learn from games and need games.

** Children can't learn in an atmosphere of fear, anxiety, depression, etc.

** Ever have those days when you just want to pull your hair out?  Do something to win your heart back to your children ... have a picnic or make some popcorn and watch a good movie.

Seminar presented by Joyce Herzog.

I apologize that all this is run together rather than separated in paragraph fashion.  I typed it out that way, but it won't post that way.  I had this problem with yesterday's entry as well.

Visit Tiany for more Wordless Wednesday photos.

Join in the Tuesday Review fun by visiting Angela.

Product: Applegate Farms organic chicken & apple sausage

My Rating:  A huge *thumbs DOWN*.

We've always been pleased with Applegate's Natural Sunday Bacon, so I took a leap of faith with the brand and shelled out $6.99 for a pack of organic chicken & apple sausage.  As a one income family, that took a big bite out of our grocery budget, but dh and I had been craving something like this for a couple of years after being well pleased with a similar product made by a different company (a product no longer carried by the natural foods market we shop). 

The taste was okay - nothing to get excited about.  The horror was me biting into a piece of very hard bone about 1 cm long and .5 cm wide in one of the sausages.  The noise from my teeth and the bone crunching together was so loud that my 9yo exclaimed "What was THAT?"  I was immediately and thoroughly grossed out.  Unfortunately, it did chip my tooth.  *sigh*

I emailed the company with my concerns/complaint (leaving out the part about my chipped tooth - didn't want them to think I was trying to take advantage of them) a week ago and I have not heard from them yet!  I provided all the information they requested from the packaging and I fully expected a reply by now, even if it was just a lame "We're so sorry this happened.  Please accept our apologies."  Their lack of response has me even madder.  Customer service is really going down the tubes these days.  As a result of both finding the bone in the food and their lack of response, they need not count on us to purchase any of their products ever again. 

Last weekend dh headed out to the garage and would only say he was making a surprise for all of us.  What did he construct?  Two bird feeders!  They need to be a bit more stable so we'll be repositioning them, but this has been such a wonderful week to sit excitedly by the windows to see who drops by for a snack.  Ds2 alerts us by yelling "Bird!  Bird!" or "Bue Jay!  Blue Jay!" (every bird as far as his 2yo mind is concerned is a blue jay - LOL).  We have had a blue jay stopping by, but it's more interested in eating our cat's food on the porch than anything we have to offer in the feeders.  Ds1 loves the cardinals that come many times each day.  The biggest thrill for me, however, was the day that ds1 started yelling "Mom, there's a weird bird in the feeder!"  It was not a weird bird at all - it was a red-bellied woodpecker.  It was the first we've seen this year and so beautiful.

Mrs. Cardinal.......

Mr. Cardinal (ds1 says it looks like he is bowing to us and thanking us for the food).......

Red-bellied woodpecker.......

I really wish I could get wonderful up-close shots like I have seen on other blogs, but the feeders are a good distance away from our windows and zooming in any further than I did only results in a horribly blurry photo. 

Some fun online resources to go along with these birds.......

Cardinal coloring page (pdf file)

Cardinal fact page at National Geographic

Cardinal coloring page

All About Birds: Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinal Photo Gallery

Northern Cardinal at BioKids

Northern Cardinal species overview

Red-bellied woodpecker profile

All About Birds: Red-bellied woodpecker

Printable bird coloring book/workbook (pdf file)

I'm pleased to announce the winner of my bloggy giveaway a few entries below.  I used a random # generator and the winner is #20, Annabelle!  Congratulations and enjoy your new book!!!

Thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway and for making this such a fun experience for me!

Today I'm sharing my notes from a seminar I attended a few years ago at my state homeschool convention.......

Myths And Realities of Homeschooling

The Myths

1.  We can all be "supermoms".

** We don't think of homeschooling as a job - it's so much more than that.

** We need to lighten up about everything.  Sometimes we get too serious about it.  Laugh at yourself.  You don't have to do it all - you have to make choices and let some things go by the wayside.

2.  We can keep our homes just as clean and beautiful with kids at home all day as when they are gone.

** Housework can't be a mom only job.  Dad and the kids have to help!

** It's important that we train our children from the time they are very young.  Our children need to feel they have an important purpose in the family.  How they grow up forms who they are as an adult.

3.  When we choose to homeschool, our family relationships will automatically be wonderful.

** We need to replace contempt with love and understanding.

** You don't solve problems by pushing them away.

** Family relationships might be tough during the younger years, but it really pays off during the teen years.

4.  All homeschooled children are above average.

** We all have normal children - some are struggling.

** Our egos are wrapped up in our kids.  We have a hard time accepting their limitations.

** We don't need to compare our kids with other kids (test scores, grades, etc.).

** All of our children have strengths and weaknesses.

5.  Homeschooling is automatically going to make our children Spiritual giants.

** We cannot guarantee that the absence of evil will produce good behavior or Spiritual growth.

** We have to give them a strong foundation.

** The Old Testament is full of stories of parents being honored for their faithfulness.

** Help your children spend time walking with the wise instead of the foolish.

** Have your kids hang out with older and younger kids rather than peers all the time.

** Homeschooling won't guarantee freedom from peer pressure.

** It's important to spend time with families/people who have the same values as you.

6.  Homeschooling dads should be active participants in all aspects of homeschooling.

** Time: Dads have limited time and priorities.

** Interest: Moms eat and breathe homeschooling - dads don't.  Dads have other concerns.

** It's great when dads can be involved, but just don't "count" on it.

** Dads should be the Spiritual leaders in the home.

** Dad's can read with the kids.  This is great for bonding.

** Dads can do special classes and activities with the kids.

** One of the best things dads can do is give moms time off.

7.  There's some magic formula as to the best way to home educate.

** You think you have it all figured out and then something happens and you have to shift gears to go in another direction.

** Don't let someone who sounds "authoritative" put pressure on you.  Make your own choices and decisions!  No one else knows your children the way you do.

** One of the best things you can do is pray for inspiration.

When you get rid of all these myths, what do you have left?

** You understand that you have limitations.

** You understand that you can't do everything perfectly.

** You gain in some areas and lose in others.

** You understand that a lot of homeschooled children don't fit in very well with peer groups, but they do extremely well with older and younger people.

** You understand that you have to let go of the things that don't matter.

** You understand that you need to set realistic goals for yourself and your family.

Seminar presented by Cathy Duffy

Vist the home of Thankful Thursday at Sting My Heart.

While watching a Christian television program last night, I was overwhelmed by God's goodness and knew just what I was supposed to express a loud thanks for on today's Thankful Thursday.  A couple of weeks ago I was blessed with 11 books at a yard sale for a grand total of $.55 - yep, that's FIVE cents per book.  One is a textbook that's just a few years old all about the state of Florida.  Guess what ... we're studying Florida this coming school year!  I also got a couple of older ABeka science workbooks ... not the science curriculum we use, but some great, casual summer reading nonetheless.  I could go on and on about every item individually but the point is, God blessed us with fantastic learning resources at a price that didn't make my wallet scream.  Instead it made me scream with joy! 

I am also so thankful that our/my gardening efforts are going well so far.  My picky eater, ds1, couldn't get enough of the green beans we enjoyed earlier this week.  Thank You Lord for Your blessings upon our humble little garden.

Did you know lichen can help you determine the quality of your air?

Our fun experiment a couple of days ago was testing our air quality (part of the Exploring Creation with Botany curriculum).  We decided to forego the wire clothes hanger tester the book suggested constructing and decided to instead use one of my quilting rulers that already had well marked square grids.  You simply count the number of grids completely filled with lichen in comparison with the total # of grids overall to determine the quality of your air.  I know I could explain it so much better than that, but I'll leave you to go check out the curriculum for yourself! 

Our results ... we tested four oak trees located in various spots on our property.  The results were 63%, 45%, 78%, and 86%.  That tells us that our air quality is pretty darn good!  I was definitely pleased to learn that tidbit.

I didn't realize Canadagirl was not hosting a Tightwad Tuesday today, but I'll go ahead with what I had planned to share anyway.

Did you know that today is EARTH DAY?  What does that have to do with saving money you ask?  It's simple ... recycle and reuse!

It's amazing at the countless ways you can cut co$t$ by using things around your home in different ways.

** Tuna cans - These can become a biscuit cutter, a small cat food bowl, or an outdoor bird feeder.

** Glass jars from mayo, jelly, etc. - These are great for storing dried herbs, dried beans, popcorn, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa, etc.  They are also great for catching butterflies, grasshoppers, and a variety of other outdoor creatures so you can study them (be sure to poke holes in the lids!).

** Small plastic containers like sour cream and yogurt containers - These can be used to scoop cat or dog food at meal time, holding water or paint for little artists, storing leftovers, etc.

** Half-gallon milk cartons - Turn these into outdoor bird feeders or fill them with soil and use them for starting seeds indoors.

** Toothbrushes - Use these for pretreating laundry stains or as an alternative paintbrush.

These are just a few ideas ... I bet you can think of many, many more! 

It's time for the Quarterly Giveaway Carnival at Bloggy Giveaways!  This is my first time participating ... I'm so excited!

I'm giving away a copy of The Prayer of Jabez for Women by Darlene Wilkinson. 

This giveaway is open to residents of the United States only.  Please leave a comment on this post letting me know why you'd like to win this book along with an email addy if you are not a HSB blogger (so I can get in touch with you if you win).  This giveaway is open to bloggers and non-bloggers.  One entry per person, please.  The deadline for entries is 8am EST, Saturday, April 26, 2008.  A winner will be drawn and announced later that day.  

Good luck and have fun!