Dailey Blessings - Homeschool Blogger

Forget the Joneses

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:36:00 -0500

I get a weekly email from a website called mommysavers.com. I have to admit, I usually just ignore them and they sit unread in my email inbox. Luckily, I opened the most recent one and was immediately drawn to the subject line "Forget the Joneses." I'm new to this, so let me explain the program the best I can.

Every other day or so we are going to get an assignment that will help me align my financial goals with other goals in my life, such as health, relationships, etc.

In this summer edition of FTJ, the first week starts with a spending freeze. That caught my attention. Since dh is always telling me to watch my spending, this sounded like quite the challenge for both of us. He's mostly on board, but is really wanting to buy a new weed trimmer for the lawn. We'll see how that goes.

The first assignment is to make an approved spending list for the spending freeze. After looking at what others have listed, I came up with our approved list for the week.

Food: Fresh fruits and vegies, milk, bread, lunch meat, eggs. Any pantry/freezer items that are 75%off or more as listed on thegrocerygame.com and couponmom.com.

Gifts: Grad gifts and birthday gifts for a parties we're invited to this weekend.

Gas:

Spending money for J's camp: $20-30

Monthly trainer fees: $179 (that's actually not the monthly amount, but that's what's due this week)

Since I have been doing the grocerygame.com for around a year, I have a nicely stocked pantry and freezers. I just cleaned out and inventoried the freezers (even before I knew about FTJ), so I know we can "live" for a month or more on the food we have in the house, save fresh foods.

So how has it gone so far, 7 hours into the program? First thing this morning, pumpkin #1 asked for a movie, so we loaded up the double stroller to head to Blockbuster. I grabbed my $1.99 rental coupon, (feeling pretty proud of myself), but then I remembered, spending freeze. Ah-ha, if I return those two movies in-store instead of return them by mail, I can exchange them for two free ones. Better yet! And 0 temptation to buy a movie. Then I switched our phone carrier for a net savings of about $25 per month (at least for the first 12 months), which I have been wanting to do for a couple weeks. I also found out the balance of our FSA and found that I had plenty of $ in there to pay two dental bills that came on Friday. No procrastination there.

This morning, I read a timely article in the Star Tribune about how in the US, Americans waste up to 50% of the food they buy. I believe it! This has always been a bone of contention between dh and I, how much food we throw out because it has gone bad before I had a chance to do something with it. So, I have started a running list of things to do, which includes "doing something" with the fresh produce in the fridge right now. I need to make guacamole, rhubarb crunch, coleslaw and find something to do with blackberries that are beautiful and fresh, but also are too tart to snack on by themselves.

I'm full of hope and ambition. If you'd like to join this bootcamp, Forget the Joneses, go to mommysavers.com and sign up!

Please help us pray!

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 07:23:00 -0500

My niece and her hubby are expecting identical twin boys in August. She's gone on bedrest and the twins are having difficulties. She has started a blog to keep us updated. Please check out her blog and help us to pray for her, her hubby, her twins and her two other small children.

www.markandkristina.blogspot.com/

Also, if you'd leave a comment for her that would be great. Being on bedrest, especially that long, is no picnic and a nice thought from you may help perk up her day.

Thank you!

Clever pair of kids

Fri, 8 Jun 2007 14:15:00 -0500

We are using English from the Roots Up for vocabulary and this year we are focusing on Greek roots. So this week the root is "para". I usually ask the kids before we look at the book/card if they can guess the definition of the weekly word. This week was no different. So ds is pondering and finally he comes up with "two?". "Oh yeah," dd says, "like a paira socks!!" I had to laugh at that one. For the record, we have learned that "para" means "beside, along with". As in, "aren't you glad you packed your parachute to fall along with you!"

Thank Goodness for the Internet

Thu, 31 May 2007 20:40:00 -0500

I had a funny/strange thing happen today. The kids and I were doing a school lesson out on the deck while the little one was napping. All of a sudden, my son said, "Mom, what is that? Do you have hair on your tongue?" Well, I lose tons of hair everyday, so I could easily have a hair in my mouth, but usually I'm the first to know. So, I stuck out my tongue and said "No!" Well, both my kids reeled back in horror when I did that. They both said, "Mom your tongue is black!" "Huh?" I ran in to the bathroom to see for myself and sure enough, my whole tongue was black. As in no scraping it off black. As in darker black than if I'd eaten a black sucker. I quickly retraced what I had eaten today. Had I finally reached the limit on my Diet Pepsi consumption? Were my tastebuds dying? I'd had an inflamed tastebud this week. Darn those things hurt. Was it the beginning of a dying tongue? Did I have the "black" plague? Was I contagious? I'd eaten a piece of sliced apple that had turned a little brown, was that the culprit? The kids and I had done some "taste/tongue" experiments yesterday for science. Had we gone too far? Nothing was making sense. I finally pulled myself together enough to type into my search engine, "Why is my tongue black?" and much to my almost immediate relief, I had my answer. Last night before I went to bed I'd had a bit of a stomachache, so I took two Pepto Bismol tablets and went to bed. Apparently the same substance in Pepto Bismol that can turn your poo poo black can also turn your tongue black when reacting with some other substances. Oh my goodness. My toothbrush did a good number on most of my tongue, but the back of my tongue (where you gag if you brush there) is still black. I'm hopeful by morning it will be mostly gone. And I hope I don't have an upset stomach for a long time!!

Can you believe it? Snow!!

Tue, 3 Apr 2007 20:25:00 -0500

I knew it, I knew it! Last Monday (8 days ago) I saw a guy running his snowblower out of gas in his driveway. It was 80+ degrees out. I told my neighbor that now for SURE we were going to get more snow! I was right. Hate to say it, but I was! It has been snowing here the whole day. Didn't start accumulating until late this afternoon, but it is still out there! Gotta run. Just wanted to complain...

Seder Meal

Sun, 1 Apr 2007 15:30:00 -0500

Today we celebrated the Seder Meal at our church with all of the families of the 5th graders who are going to be taking their First Communion on Maundy Thursday. I was so thankful at the timing of this event because we are celebrating many of the Old Testament feasts in the MFW Creation to Greeks year, so it fit right in with what we are doing curriculum-wise and my kids have a very good understanding of why we were doing a Seder meal. We had a little over 200 people attend and this was one of the first big events in our new multipurpose room at church that was finished recently.

DH and R had to leave for baseball tryouts as soon as the Seder meal was over, while J and I helped clean up. This will be R's first year playing since he was in 1st grade, so I hope he likes it as much as he thinks he will. He loves football, but to my dismay, wrestling was not for him. J also wants to get signed up for softball (that's my girl!), so I'm just waiting for the flyer to come out. That is one of the hardest things about homeschooling. So many of the sports announcements are sent out through the schools, that I really have to be on the ball months in advance of when you usually start to think about a sporting season. Usually, I just ask Mom's from my 5th grade SS class if they have received any info on a sport and they help me out.

I was so busy with the Seder Meal that I forgot to plan anything for April Fool's!! Did you get your kids in a fun way?

J has a birthday party this afternoon at a local indoor ice skating rink. Now I'm really glad we had them take ice skating lessons this winter!

My poor kitty has to find a new home. As much as my hubby says he tried, he is just not a cat person. A rescue group is supposed to be calling us this weekend to take him. I feel just awful at the thought of anyone having to "rescue" our cat from us. Sounds just horrible! Dh has threatened so often about the cat, that the kids don't really believe that he's going anywhere, but I know he's serious this time. He is well taken care of by us and he is fairly well behaved, but if you're not a cat person, you are not a cat person. Period. I'll be sad when he goes, though.

God Bless!

Just start!!

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 15:13:00 -0500

I know it's been a long time. I started a post yesterday, got distracted with trying to add a photo, couldn't figure it out and then got called away from the computer, only to remember this morning what I was doing and to find that the computer had been restarted and sadly, my post was deleted. Oh well, I'm in a better mood today anyway, so my post would probably have been droll!!!lol

I'm feeling so much better after completing this week of school! The last two weeks worth of lessons have dragged on for about 6 weeks. We've been keeping up with math, English and spelling but the rest has been coming along slowly. I've been too distracted and too busy with field trips and extras. Next week we'll start a new fresh week of lessons and that will feel good. This week we studied about Ruth and Samuel, the Minoans and Myceneans and birds and fish that God created on Day 5. The best science experiment that we did (I thought) was were we submerged an egg in vinegar and let it sit overnight. The next day, I was able to scrape off the shell and we could see the yolk (nucleus) floating around in the white (cytoplasm). I was so excited to tell and show dh and he said "Oh yeah, we did that as kids." Well, were have I been? I'd never seen this before. To kick start us and to get finished with Week 19, we ended up doing all the Bible readings and lessons for the week on one day, did all the science the next day and today we wrapped up with history.

Anyway, tomorrow R and I have our special Saturday time together. I hope he can keep his behavior straight so we can do our breakfast out together. Then we have to get him outfitted for his First Communion and Easter and do a couple of other errands. I also have to make sure I have everything in line for the Seder Meal we will celebrate with all the other families of the kids taking their first communion. On Thursday, I have nine people from my family coming for the First Communion and 6 are staying through Easter. That's exciting!

That's all for now, I better press send before I get distracted again!

Time to Count my Blessings!

Tue, 5 Dec 2006 16:51:00 -0600

Sometimes it's easier to focus on the things that aren't going well or are scary in life, so today I've decided I want to count my blessings.

1) My husband has a job that he is good at and for which he is fairly compensated.

2) My immediate family is generally healthy with no major health concerns.

3) I love the child that I do daycare for, so my work is easier than it might be. I am fairly compensated at my part time job.

4) I have a church home that I adore.

5) God sent his only Son, Jesus to be born in a lowly stable and to die on the cross to pay the ultimate price for my sins.

6) I am able to homeschool my children in a country where it is legal and in a state that is home school friendly. We are making daily progress toward our educational goals.

7) We are able to take advantage of many extra-curricular activities offered in our area.

8) My children have hearts for Jesus.

9) My home is warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

10) I have good friends who love me in spite of myself.

My dd is reading these over my shoulder and keeps naming more and more reasons we are blessed. I agree with her that there are more than ten, but we won't name them all. I just needed to be reminded...

Eek! It's been ages!

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 07:00:00 -0600

Today we are going to a play at a charming log theater here in the metro area. The play is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. We have gone to the holiday performances at this theater for the past 5 years and have loved everyone. This year, with the 18 month old daycare baby, might be a challenge to be able to watch the whole thing. That little sweetie does love to move.

We are finishing up Week 9 of our MFW curriculum this week. Studying Jacob and Rachel/Leah and the twelve sons. R is working on measuring angles in math. This is a completely new concept to him. Poor guy worked and worked after we did the first couple together and didn't ask for help and then come to find out, he had every one wrong. Once we reworked them together, I think he had a better understanding.

Later today, I'll need to make another key lime pie for the pie social after Thanksgiving eve service at church tomorrow night. J is the best little lime roller so I can squeeze out the juice. I so enjoy cooking/baking with her.

I pray that God gives you what you need today.

Ahh! Now I get it!

Tue, 19 Sep 2006 06:52:00 -0500

I tried to donate blood last night at a local Red Cross donation center while the kids were at Choir. My hematocrit came in too low to donate! Now I know why I have been feeling so tired! Low iron. So the first order of business this week is to start eating properly again. However, spinach will NOT be on the menu.

R came home from Chicago yesterday. It was so good to have him back and it was so nice to know that he missed us. Most times I feel like we just really annoy him, so this was a nice change. My parents got their car back from the repair shop, the rental returned, had lunch with us and were on their way. I loved having them here for lunch and it made me sad again that we live so far away.

J and I did her math yesterday before my folks got here. Today we are going on a field trip to a local orchard for a scarecrow festival, hayride, pick a pumpkin, etc. and then lunch at their restaurant. We won't have much of an academic school day here, but it will certainly be fun to meet up with some of our home schooling friends and be outside in some nice fall weather. Ohhhh brrr, it's only 44 right now and 51 will be the high. OK, so the lesson today will be how to dress in layers.