Well, I am getting ready for my scrapbook club meeting today--wish me luck.  I am so excited.  You know, I think I have found my "calling", other than being a wife and a homeschooling mom.  I love to teach and I love showing others how to take care of and display their precious memories with pride.  I spent some time on the phone last night encouraging a friend on how to best get started with her photos, seeing as how she had never scrapbooked and has a wedding and 5 kids to catch up on!!!!  It can get overwhelming, so I gave her some tips on what I felt would work for her.  She is going to work on it today and I am going to help her.  I love that!

I hope everyone has a blessed day!

Well, I looked at my blog and I just really don't think it's been over a year since I have blogged...has it?  Surely that is wrong.  But alas I know it's not.  Time marches on...  So what's been going on...Well, we have been in New Mexico for almost 2 years now.  It is really nice--we really like it here a lot.  The mountain view from our front porch is awesome--especially when the sun is going down and also when you can see the snow falling over the mountains when we aren't getting any snow at our house. 

Our homeschooling is going well.  My 5th grader gives me the most trouble...I think she may be ADD or ADHD but we refuse to medicate her.  I am trying some natural remedies and lots and lots of patience...pray for me.  Some days are ok and some days are not.  My 10th grader is doing really well.  Except for Algebra and Grammar he is self paced and does it all on his own.

I have been building up my scrapbooking business.  I started a monthly club where we all meet and do a couple of projects I choose using my CTMH products.  Then they are all free to do their own thing using my products as they wish.  They then place a minimum order each month and take turns being the hostess for the month and getting free product.  Tomorrow is our second one.  I am really excited.

We had our dearest friends move away a couple of weeks ago and it's been really hard on me.  I know how my dear friend Christi must have felt when we moved away.  I am sorry if I wasn't sensitive to your feelings when that happened, Christi.  I love you very much and treasure our friendship even if we don't talk often.

On a good note--we are having some friends we were stationed with in TX move here and they are getting here tomorrow!!  We haven't seen them in about 6 years or more.  It will be really nice to see them again, but of course it won't take the place of the relationship we had with our other friends who moved.  No one will take their place in our hearts.  Just like no one will ever take the place of any of our friends in our heart.  Each one of my friends is dear and special to me in their own way.

Well, I am going to try to blog more often.  Please someone--everyone--leave comments for me.  I'd love to chat with some of you again.

Hello I want everyone's opinions. We are trying to find suitable high school groups and/or classes for our son so we can pull him out of public school and he can have an alternative.  So he can have peers to do things with......anyway, we are looking a curriculum and choices as far as accredited or non-accredited.  We have been using the Abeka curriculum, the textbooks, not the DVD's.  Which it's not accredited....our main concern is preparing him for college...so I am wondering...does it really matter if the high school curriculum is accredited or not?  I don't want to spend more money on accredited programs if we don't have to...plus then it controls and tells us what to do and when.  That is taking one of the freedoms of homeschooling away, in my mind.  Anyway, of course we want the best for him, no matter the cost.  I would love to hear from some people who are in my situation now and what they are doing, or from some people who have been there done that....and what they did and how it worked out.

Thanks so much!  It's great to have friends with this stuff in common that we can relate to!

Hello everyone!  I hope you are all enjoying this nice long Thanksgiving holiday.  The time to reflect on how God has blessed us.  I am truly thankful for all the blessings God has given me and my family.  We have a wonderful family, the best friend's anyone could ask for, and God has provided us with all the material possessions we need to make our live enjoyable.  We aren't rich monetary wise, by any means.  In fact, we do without a lot of things in order for me to stay home for our kids.....but the ability to do that is worth thousands of dollars more than any amount of money an outside job could offer.  I guess that is what I am thankful for the most......the ability to stay home with and for my kids...they know that I will always be there for them....they will have those memories of me that I had of my mom; but unfortunately that my hubby didn't have of his mom.  She worked full time, so did his dad, so he never had that stability that a SAHM offers the family.  Of course I understand that some mom's--ie single moms, etc. have to work outside of the home and do not have a choice about it.  I praise those moms because that is hard work.  It is hard enough being a mom, but to be an outside the house working mom in addition....may God bless you that have to do that.

We didn't get to see our families this Thanksgiving being in the AF and it being a distance to drive.....but we spent Thanksgiving with some new friends that invited us over, and we had each other...just the 4 of us.  And in the end, that is what matters most.

God bless all of you!!!  I'd love to hear about your Thanksgiving.

Ok--my friend Christi sent this to me so here goes!

1.  I am SO picky about the sheets being just right on the bed...my hubby can get into bed and doesn't care if they are straight, crooked, half-off, etc....but I HAVE to straighten them up, sheets lining up with comforter, the same amount hanging off both sides, etc. before I can get in bed and sleep!

2.  It annoys me to no end when I am typing an e-mail or something on the pc and my hubby and kiddos stand behind me and watch me work!  I have to tell them ALL the time NOT to stand behind me and watch!!!!  ARGGHHH!! (and I am not an only child Christi so I don't have that excuse...lol)

3.  I CAN NOT cook in a dirty kitchen!  It's my son's job to clean it and with him being in public school now he NEVER has time....so I either have to wait around til he cleans it so I can cook or clean it myself....but that's his job and I don't like to do HIS job!!

4.  I LOVE ALGEBRA!!  I get all excited when my son has homework and I sit and work the problems with him JUST FOR FUN.........sick, I know.

5.  No matter how cold it is outside I HAVE to sleep with a fan blowing straight on me.  I am bundled up under my covers, including my head, but that fan has to be on me no matter what!!  I can't sleep without it!  Right now my hubby is gone for a week and he hates the fan.....so I am sleeping with our standing floor fan AND the ceiling fan blowing full blast!!  And it is getting down to freezing some nights!!!

6.  As much as I LOVE chocolate, it HAS to have nuts in it or I won't eat it.  Plain chocolate bars don't do anything for me.........they HAVE to have nuts....snickers, almond joy, mr. goodbar, etc......anything with nuts!!  Same thing with my brownies.....it's not brownies without nuts!!

7.  I married my "high school sweetheart" when I was STILL in high school.......and we didn't even have to!!  My parents had to sign for me!!  My friends all thought I was crazy for getting married so early!

8.  When I take my shower, I do everything in a certain order.....I wet my body and hair, put shampoo in, rinse, put conditioner in, let it soak, wash up my body, shave, etc....then rinse off my hair and get out!  It HAS to be in that order.....

9.  Everything I drink HAS to be ICE cold and FULL of ice, or I won't drink it(except hot cocoa, coffee, etc.).  Even soda, juice or something else that is ice cold from the fridge already....I HAVE to have a full glass of ice with it or I won't drink it. 

Ok, so I am weird, huh??  But those who know me already knew that!!!  :-)  I hope this makes you smile Christi!!

Boy, when we moved to New Mexico I knew we were going to go through changes.  What I didn't expect was how many!!  We have a new home, a new church, new neighbors, a new town to learn, new friends to make, a new base to learn, new rules for homeschooling, and the last one I didn't see coming and didn't want to happen was.....sending our son back to public school!!  I had fully intended on homeschooling him through his HS years, I read a lot of books on the subject, including the one I reviewed on my site, etc, and was ready to begin 9th grade.  Unfortunately, that's not what happened. 

My son had begun having issues of being at home with his little sister (4th grade) and myself all the time.  He was dearly needing more peer interaction--he said.  Unfortunately the homeschool group we were involved with in South Carolina was mainly younger children.  We moved here and I was so thrilled to see some kids on our street that homeschooled and were my son's age.  I was also in the process of finding an older group for him to get involved with. That was good enough for him for awhile, but then he started getting an attitude with us about how horrible it was to be home ALL day with just us.....he began to HATE homeschooling....he begun to get an attitude with ME when I would try to help him...I am sure some of you can relate....

Anyway, one day, a week before the schools started here, we had a major blow out.  He thought if he went to public high school it would be a bed of roses....he would do so well in school, because he didn't have to be around us all the time, be distracted by his sister in school, etc, plus a lot of other things....Anyway, my hubby got really fed up with the disrespectfulness and attitude and thought--let's teach him a lesson.  If he thinks public high school would be SO much better, let him see for himself.  So we went down and enrolled him...then we sat down and told him our expectations.  We actually drew up a contract for our son to sign-- conditions....grades, attitude, homework, chores, etc....all high expectations with the condition we could bring him home at any time and would if he didn't tote the line.  He agreed to everything, thinking it would be great.  Was this a good decision on our part?  I really don't know still....but it was the decision we made at the time.  I have prayed every day since that God would protect him each day at school.  I'll close this entry since it's so long and continue this story in another.  I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts on this, especially if someone else has gone through a similar situation.

Hello fellow homeschool friends!  We are happily settled into our new home in New Mexico and we absolutely love it!!  Our house is beautiful and we can see the mountains from our front porch!!  We miss our dear friends back in SC but we are hoping to see them soon.  We live 8 hours or so from our family in TX so this is nice.  We are actually visiting our family right now and when we get back we will get back into the routine.  We will be starting some summer school--especially math for my 8 year old.  Speaking of math, I would love anyone's info on what has worked for them.  Fun ways to memorize the multiplication facts, etc.  My son is very quick to pick up on things like that and can do algebra problems in his head.  My daughter on the other hand is very visual and she needs more hands on for it to click.  We are thinking of trying Math-U-See for her.  Let me know if any of you have tried it or not.  Also, we are thinking of trying Sonlight Algebra talking textbooks for our 9th grader.  Has anyone had any experiences with those?

Hey everyone!  We are officially settled in New Mexico--well almost!  LOL I am sure it will take quite awhile to get completely settled but we are getting there.  Our trip was good and we had fun visiting with our family for a couple of days on the way.  We have a beautiful brand new house on the base--it is the nicest house we have ever lived in!  We are now in the search process for a new church and homeschool group.  Please pray for us in those areas, as they are the most important priorities right now.

I will try to blog more often now that we are settled in.  Hope to hear from everyone soon!

Hello everyone!!  We are heading out for New Mexico (from South Carolina) on Friday.  The packers and movers are coming tomorrow and Tuesday.  We won't have our computer for a couple of weeks???  Not sure how long....  I am looking forward to all the things we are going to learn along the way and all the things we will get to do when we get there!!  Balloon festival in October, Cinco De Mayo as soon as we get there.....lots to do I'm sure!!  Thanks for all the comments on homeschooling you gave.  We have decided to do a more relaxed school next year.  More reading and discussion, rather than worksheet after worksheet.  I am really excited about it!  I think we have finally gotten things the way we will have so much fun schooling!!  Homeschooling is supposed to be fun and this next year will be FUN!!!  When we get settled in I'll come back and blog about our drive!!!

Here is a link for anyone that might be interested in ordering this book.  It is an awesome resource for anyone homeschooling a high school student.  It gives you so many links and ideas for books to look at.  It truly is a valuable resource!!

http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/subscribe/cart/agora.cgi?p_id=00053&ppinc=shs&hdr=shs&ftr=back

Hi--I just wanted to let you all know that God answers prayers when we ask HIM!  I am sure you all know that already but I wanted to share my story.  In my last post I mentioned reviewing the high school e-book.  With us about to move we had considered putting the kids back into public school for various reasons.  Well I really didn't want to do it for my own reasons so I just prayed really hard about it.  I researched schools and found out some info and as time went on, it has become clearer and clearer to us (my hubby was originally the public school advocate) that home is where they BOTH need to be next year.  He has almost completely changed his opinion 180 degrees about school.  I am so thankful that God is answering my prayers and making it clear where He wants our kids!!  So now, when we move we will have to figure out where we are going to hold our school--dining room, their rooms, whatever.  We won't have an extra bedroom just for school like here.  I would love to hear how and where you do your school work.  Please share any tips you have that help out your family.

Hey all--I just reviewed the High School E-book, Homeschooling the High Schooler.  It is such an AWESOME reference book for those who have students entering into high school.  It has excerpts from graduated high schoolers giving their opinion on their school life.  It has a lot of valuable tips, website links, information on books, etc.  We are about to move to NM and we were contemplating whether we should put our 8th grader into the public school, due to the options he would have with programs, etc.  This book gives such excellent advice on keeping transcripts, including how to get involved in activities, info on doubling up on high school/college classes.  This has given us such insight and has given me hope on continuing to homeschool through high school!!  I am thankful for this e-book and highly recommend it to anyone. 

Hello, I was wondering if anyone was from New Mexico--we are moving there May 1st.  I need info on the homeschooling group (s) and churches there.  We want to get plugged in as soon as possible.  We are moving to the Albuquerque area.  Thanks!

Hello all--it has been awhile since I have blogged.  I know everyone understands how life gets busy.  I actually have been sick with my allergies again and spent last weekend in bed!!  It wasn't fun.  Well, another reason I haven't blogged lately is I have been busy trying to get my new business off the ground.  Well, it's not technically MY business--I joined a scrapbooking home business.  I have been trying to get towards my March goal for sales.  If anyone is interested in scrapbooking, follow my link to the right.  I am offering my wholesale discount to everyone who orders this month.  I will not make any money but it will still help me reach my goal.  Check it out and e-mail me if you are interested in ordering.  Normally you can order direct from my website but in order to get the discount I have to place the order for you so contact me if you see anything you like.  Thanks for any help you can give--it all adds up!!

Hey, I just wanted to share this recipe with everyone.  Recently we ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant and noticed a new item on the menu.  It was Chicken Soup.  I wasn't sure if I would like it or not so I asked for what they put in it just in case there was something I didn't like.  I wanted to know before ordering, ya know?  Anyway, it sounded good so we ordered it and my hubby and I both LOVED it!!!  This comes from a hubby that generally doesn't like soups at all!!  So we went home and the next day I tried to make it going by what they told me was in it.  It really turned out good, so I want to share it with you!!  I'm sorry--I do not have exact measurements, just use what will give you enough for your family.

Ingredients:

Chicken broth, tomatoes (I cut up fresh), chopped onions, cilantro, rice, chicken (sautee and season fresh chicken breasts or use canned).  Cook all this up together so all the flavors blend--I am sure you could use the crock pot too.  When it has simmered well enough, serve with crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheese.  You could add sour cream too, or whatever else you can think of.  It really is SUCH a simple recipe!  Let me know if you try it and if you find anything else to add to it!!

Hello all--sorry it's been awhile since I have posted an entry in here.  Thanks to everyone who is stopping by.  I have a question for all of you moms!!  My 3rd grader is a very visual person and also very vocal--she is having a hard time memorizing her multiplication tables using flash cards.  Does anyone have a good computer program or something else they can recommend that has helped them out?  Any ideas and suggestions are greatly appreciated!!

Hey it's been awhile since I have blogged!!  I wanted to tell you all about my V-day though!  I have said on here a lot that I scrapbook and that I just started a new business.  Well, I have been putting together some cards to show at our arts center so I can teach a class on them.  Well, this got my hubby to thinking--he made me a card for Valentine's Day!!!!  Awwwww how sweet, right???  He went to our local scrapbooking store and picked out some things, made a little of it, then came home and finished it up using my stuff!!!  He picked out my favorite color and even typed up and printed out a letter which he glued into the inside of the card!  He put a ribbon on it too!  He is such a sweet hubby!!!  I think I'll keep him around awhile longer, don't you think???

Hello friends!  I apologize if my title offends anyone....lol.  If you are diehard football fans I am sorry.  I am not a big fan, but my husband is, so I guess I am what they call a football widow??  LOL  Anyway, I decided to do something productive with my time today.  I scrapbooked with my precious 8 year old daughter!  She is such a sweetheart and asks for "girl time" all the time, so today we had it!  She scrapbooks all her photos so quickly!  She finished up what she had (a lot of my extras!) then got out her water color paint set and painted 4 pictures!  Talk about efficient!!  Well, I am satisfied with what I completed today, too.  This past Christmas I started working on my Christmas album.  I want to get it up to date before next Christmas!  I was doing good for a little while, but I got so busy and it has been such a long time since I worked in it.  Well, I have been married for 15 years now; my son is 13; my daughter is 8--I have now scrapbooked our Christmases up until my daughter's 1st Christmas!  That's our 1st Christmas together, our son's 1st Christmas, all the Christmas's leading up to and including my daughter's 1st Christmas!!  For me, that is a major accomplishment, even though I am still behind!  I actually had so many photos of her first Christmas, along with her brother's photos too, so I had to do a 6 page spread!!!  You know those page protectors that actually hold 2 pages, and they just open up?  You see 2 then you open both those pages and there are 4 inside--I managed to get all 6 done tonight!!  I am so proud of myself!  My little girl was really impressed too!  Well, that's my scrapbook bragging today!  I'd love to hear about anyone's scrapbooking endeavors!      

Hey thanks to all of you who shared crockpot recipes with me!  I will be posting some delicious recipes pretty soon as thanks!!  Be looking!

Hello everyone!  I would love it if everyone would share with me their favorite crockpot meals.  Especially the ones that do not require cream of something, as my husband cannot stand anything with it in it.  I think crockpots are a great tool for a homeschool (or otherwise working) mom to stay sane and I really need that!!  LOL  I would love it if someone, anyone, everyone!!!  would share with me what great meals can be made in the crockpot!!

Thanks!