A fellow homeschooler recommended an entry on a blog several weeks ago. I got to this website to read this article, which was awesome, by the way, and was truly blessed. This is where I first heard David Nevue's music, that I mentioned yesterday. The music definitely sets a wonderful atmosphere for Ann's words.
The blog is called A Holy Experience and has been very thought provoking to me. This blog has inspired me. Not only does she have the atmosphere set with the beautiful instrumental music of David Nevue but she also has gorgeous pictures. We went to the local aquarium a few weeks ago (which I will blog about later) and I had my sons take many pictures so that I would have some pictures to upload on my blog as well.
Now, I'm going to have to figure out what to do about photo storage (online) for my blog, when the homeschoolblogger photo album is full (5mb). This is why my pictures aren't real big. Also, the awesome camera that I have, takes humongous pictures and I've yet to figure out the perfect size to resize them for my blog.
I'm going to have to figure out how to make a new section on my right sidebar for special links, which is where I will link to Ann Voskamp's wonderful blog.
One day she made an entry on various websites with daily educational content. I have referred to this several times and have since bookmarked them in my own browser. She so inspired me that I searched for some more daily content and sent some to her, which she has since included some in her updated list. It was nice to be able to bless her, since she has blessed me with her words. She is definitely a writer.
It is Monday again, which means it is time for me to make my weekly menu. The fact that I won't be going shopping until Wednesday this week, is immaterial, as I still have to know what I plan to make.
So, here is last week's menu (all were LDL legal):
Tuesday: Cottage Pie
Wednesday: Taco Soup
Thursday: Chicken & Sweet Corn Chowder
Friday: Balsamic Oven Roasted Chicken
Corn
Green Beans
Saturday: Tacos
Sunday: Ground Turkey Burgers on Corn Thins
Baked Seasoned Cauliflower
Corn
Green Beans
Monday: Sweet and Sour Meatball (Pitas for rest of family)
Steamed Cauliflower, corn, green beans (for me)
Tortilla Chips and Salsa (for rest of family)
I was so pleased with the Sweet and Sour Meatballs! There is a recipe on the Let's Do Lunch website for Tangy BBQ Sauce. Well, I don't like mine very tangy so I substituted pineapple juice for the lemon juice and it was delicious.
Tonight is my online conference with Cindy Rushton! I'm so glad that I was able to subscribe to this! I have really enjoyed it. I won't say that I've learned a LOT from it, as I have been homeschooling for 11 years now, but it has definitely been encouraging and given me some good info that I will be able to share with new homeschoolers.
I'd love it if some of you would send me comments. I was surprised that nobody did when I put up the new avatar or when I put up our libraries through Library Thing.
Oh, I did want to tell you about two neat websites. The first one gives away a free computer utility of some sort each day. Find them at Giveawayoftheday.com. The other one is affiliated with this one. They give away a free full version game each day, or almost each day. You can find them at game.giveawayoftheday.com. I do warn you though, some of them can become addictive. I like to play them to keep my mind sharp and while I relax/unwind in the evening.
I better run . . . I've got more things to do before my chat tonight, one of which is update our school librarything.
I tried to get an picture of me put up for my avatar but I'm frustrated with it so I will wait and work with it more, but that may be a while. I did manage to figure out how to let you look at my library catalog on Library Thing. The links are on the right-hand side, at the bottom of the info there.
The first link is for what we are doing for read-alouds and what books I have assigned them to read and narrate for us. The second is books that I either am reading or have enjoyed and wanted to recommened. The final link is to a catalog I made of Christmas books I like or am reading, as I am still trying to finish up one book that I got out of our local library. (If any you decide to try out Library Thing and want to share your catalog, you create the link button in the TOOLS section.)
If you are a frequent visitor to my blog, you may also have noticed that I changed the ticker for when my sister will have her baby. Yes, it has changed from blue to pink! She will be having another girl, which is probably a very good thing since she already has one girl. There are some people that I know that have one boy and one girl and it seems as if they have two only children. So, this way they should play together well. They will be about 2½ years apart. They have decided to combine both her name (Tracie) and her husband's name (Mike) and name her Macie. It is growing on me...Macie Brooke.
Well, I've fiddled around enough. I need to get busy and work on a Bible Study and do some editing. One of my goals for the year is to stop procrastinating but evidently, I'm procrastinating on starting that one. In my defense, I had this weird pain in my shoulder and back and occasionally across my chest for over a week now. But I'm done bowing to it...I've got work to do! Of course, tonight is the Green Bay Packer Division Game...OK, it is really the NFC Division Game but the Pack made it! Whoo Hooo! So, I bet I'm watching the game a lot, unless, it doesn't look good for my team.
I better run, it's kick-off! Have a good night!
Michele ºÜº
PS. Well, I did try one more time, to get the avatar to work, and I did it! Well, not exactly just me; I had the help of the Shrink Pictures website. The first pic I put in didn't turn out good enough. So I tried again and resized a picture of my dd Tiffany and I on vacation. We climbed up on this low branch on the Twin Peaks trail at Greyson Highlands State Park in Virginia. I think it turned out pretty good. I hope you like it.
Well, it appears that I'm turning this into a weekly posting instead of daily posting! I was sick this week. Nasty stuffy head, couldn't breathe junk. If I cannot breathe, I cannot breathe I cannot sleep. One morning I woke up at 3:45a.m. because my nasal spray quit working. I tossed and turned for 45 minutes and then gave up and got up.
I came out an prayed for a bit and then decided to get on the computer and work on a Bible Study that I'm trying to write. I turned on the computer and went on autopilot...I immediately checked my email. Big Mistake!!! I never did get around to working on the Bible study. This is one 'routine' I really need to change. I need to establish something else that I do every time the computer gets turned on, because this is ridiculous.
I generally like to have my Christmas shopping done by now, but alas, I don't. Thankfully, Thanksgiving was 'early' this year and thus I seem to have an extra week to get ready for Christmas. I love to go shopping with my sister and my mom. We have fun! Unfortunately, we seem to be struggling over what day to go. My sister is pregnant and the day that we had planned to go, she has a doctor's appointment. The alternate day, my mom has to work. So, we are now thinking about going on Monday. This is not optimal because they have church twice on Sunday and it is such a busy day for my niece (2yo) that my sister likes her to have a day to recoup. My mom sings on the worship team and wears high heels, thus she needs Mondays to recoup as well. BUT the rest of the week isn't looking good...so we may have to do Monday anyway.
I'm not sure what to get for stocking stuffers this year. I like to get stuff from Dollar Tree or Dollar Deals but the kids are all getting bigger and the guys are so hard to buy for. Oh well, God will provide.
A month or two ago, I bought most of the paper to make my Christmas cards. My dear dear friend, Stephanie, helped me decide how to layer the papers and such. I have some painting to do and I have to re-find what I wanted to print inside it too. I saw it in one of the catalogs my mother had received many months ago and I wrote it down so that I wouldn't forget it. Now if I could just find where I wrote it. I'm guessing that I'll start on them come Thursday. I'll probably go Christmas shopping Monday, run errands Tuesday, and Wednesday I'll need to recoup; I'll probably be on the computer most of the day. So, Thursday I should get busy on the cards.
I did start the list today and it seems that I may have to go back and get more green paper. I knew I'd need more when I got it but I got all they had.
Our pastor is teaching on healing and wants me to have some special songs ready to sing on the subject. I've already done "Precious Blood" and "Rise and Be Healed" several times each. I'm thinking I should go and get another song. I'm leaning towards "By His Wounds" because it reminds me of a song my mother used to sing when I was young. Then I'm probably going to need a Christmas song too. But I have borrowed Emmanuel from my mom, so I may get by without getting a Christmas one this year.
I do need to find something for the 3 children in my Sunday school class and I need to find a gift/craft for them to make as well. I have two weeks for them to work on something, so if I find something by Sunday morning, I'll be good to go. They are ages 7-10 and two are active boys.
I found some very nice Christmas Notebooking Pages and Cards for free. Go to the Notebooking Pages website and scroll down to Christmas. It is a pdf and has a variety of pages included.
Well, I guess I'll go for now. Got to change the Thanksgiving ticker to a Christmas one. And then I think I'll go play a little Toontown. Yes, I admit it; I like the toon game. I recently found out that an old friend of mine also plays this game online and has been playing for about the same length of time that my children and I have. I like it because it is a safe place that my youngest can play and chat online, as the chat is specific phrases only, no free typing unless your parent unlocks the True Friend feature and then you have to have a special code shared with that True friend.
Tonight, I am definitely rambling. I hit so many subjects yesterday that I don't know what I left for today.
I'm pretty close to getting a $25 gift card to Wal-Mart or Barnes and Noble or Target or quite a few other stores. I earn points through an email program . . . if you want to know how, you'll have to either email me or post a comment. I rarely buy things from online, so I've done this with very little effort. It will be nice to get this so close to Christmas. Who knows, I may end up using it for a gift for my sweetie; I love to be able to bless him using money that he didn't have to earn.
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I recently came across this neat website. Check it out: Sprint Waitless. It has some cute ideas on it. However, I do not recommend showing your teenage son the one on Turbo Parking unless you stress that it was done in a closed course by a stunt man.
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Are you familiar with Homeschool Radio Shows? They have provided a free audio every week for a very long time. I've gotten some neat 'stories' from them.
They recently decided to offer a premium membership and give lots of things away free. I was blessed to get in as a charter member and it is a great deal. They offer at least one more free audio each week, and some extra freebies throughout the month. This month was awesome! I only hope they keep it up.
They call their site, Living Books for the Ears. This week's free audio is a 30 minute dramatization of Treasure Island originally broadcast on Family Theatre in 1952. I hope this is a blessing to you. I think it is nice to have something good to listen to at times.
The same people have another neat website for videos that he finds on the web. I'll have to post the url later because I'm having trouble finding it just now. I'm signed up for updates, so I don't have to remember the url . . . kinda like speed dial. (I found it... Great Homeschool Videos. )
Oh that reminds me of a funny story that happened recently. A friend of mine that moved away a little over a year ago, was going to be in town and had planned to come by for a short visit. As it turned out the first place they went to visit had invited everyone most of the people that they were going to visit with to one place. Problem was, they didn't know we existed. lol My friend did not have my phone number in her cell phone and didn't have it written down anywhere with her.
The next day, she ended up at the same church that my sister goes to. She told my sister what happened and how bad she felt. My sister said that she completely understood because she didn't even know my phone number because I am speed dial number 7 on her phones. LOL!
Well, I managed to find some things to talk about after all! I know you weren't worried, were you.
(Me and my dd, Tiffany on an easy to climb tree limb on vacation in VA in 2007.) These are my ramblings on homeschooling and whatever else comes to mind.
Counting Down
We are starting school, so it's time to look forward to the holidays!
In my defense, I had this weird pain in my shoulder and back and occasionally across my chest for over a week now. But I'm done bowing to it...I've got work to do! Of course, tonight is the Green Bay Packer Division Game...OK, it is really the NFC Division Game but the Pack made it! Whoo Hooo! So, I bet I'm watching the game a lot, unless, it doesn't look good for my team.
I was sick this week. 
I love to go shopping with my sister and my mom. We have fun! Unfortunately, we seem to be struggling over what day to go. My sister is pregnant and the day that we had planned to go, she has a doctor's appointment. The alternate day, my mom has to work. So, we are now thinking about going on Monday. This is not optimal because they have church twice on Sunday and it is such a busy day for my niece (2yo) that my sister likes her to have a day to recoup. My mom sings on the worship team and wears high heels, thus she needs Mondays to recoup as well. BUT the rest of the week isn't looking good...so we may have to do Monday anyway.
Now if I could just find where I wrote it. I'm guessing that I'll start on them come Thursday. I'll probably go Christmas shopping Monday, run errands Tuesday, and Wednesday I'll need to recoup; I'll probably be on the computer most of the day. So, Thursday I should get busy on the cards. 
Yes, I admit it; I like the toon game. I recently found out that an old friend of mine also plays this game online and has been playing for about the same length of time that my children and I have. I like it because it is a safe place that my youngest can play and chat online, as the chat is specific phrases only, no free typing unless your parent unlocks the True Friend feature and then you have to have a special code shared with that True friend. 
I rarely buy things from online, so I've done this with very little effort. It will be nice to get this so close to Christmas. Who knows, I may end up using it for a gift for my sweetie; I love to be able to bless him using money that he didn't have to earn.
