View from the Wall

Feb.

2009-02-11T14:16:00.000-08:00

Well, it is now the middle of February! Where is the time going???? We are heavy into school, coop, basketball, school, coop, basketball etc. We are enjoying watching Rachel play this year. It has been an adjustment. I have to take pics soon, it is almost over for the year! I always wait until the end for video. Much more likely to get good action after lots of practice!
We are still alive, just nothing exciting going on. I spend way too much time on Facebook, the big reason I"m never on here!!!

9 & 2 days

2009-01-28T19:02:00.000-08:00

Birthday boys

Birthday girls

We had party number 2 today.Four kids in our 'swim club' have bdays real close, so we partied together. Unfortunately we didn't get to go to the Jones Center and skate and swim. The fact that Springdale has no electricity put a damper on things! We ended up at the dreaded Chuck E Cheese's. It wasn't near as bad as I make it out to be. The kids played, moms visited , cake was eaten and presents opened. Then it was time to go home. It was a little crowded due to public school being out, but not too bad. We managed to aviod meal time so no pizza!!! We were able to get out with a little money left in our pockets!

After all the ice and bad weather, Thursday it is back to normal for school. Thankfully, we only lost power for a few hours Tues morning. So many people we know have been w/out for days and it will be days more. I don't know how they make it if they don't have some type of fireplace. I decided that I will never live w/out a wood burning or pellet insert. It would be a lifesaver if you didn't have heat!

9

2009-01-25T16:54:00.000-08:00

The kids turned nine years old today! I can't believe they are that old. I guess nobody can ever believe how old their kids are getting. It really does go by too fast. I'm in no hurry whatsoever for them to grow up and leave. They were too hard to get here and I remember what it was like to have an empty house. That is why I try to enjoy every minute I can with them. Of course, there are some 'minutes' I would rather forget, but not too many :)

We ended up having a Razorback themed party. That is so easy. Razorback stuff is everywhere. We even had Razorback Ice Cream!! The cakes were so cute and delicious. We used the church and just let the kids play. It was a great way to go-cheap and easy!

Now we are on to party number 2. We will be heading to the Jones Center this week to party w/ our swim club friends :) Ice skating and swimming with a party in between. Four of the kids in our group are having bdays soon, so we are having one big party. Just hope it doesn't ice--gotta love bdays in the dead of winter. It is either icy or someone is sick. I just want to keep everyone well for a few more days.

Presidential Potatoes

2009-01-20T14:31:00.001-08:00

We are inaugurated out. We watched all day long. We made and tried the sweet potatoes they were having at the luncheon. They had cumin in them and to me, cumin says chili, not sweet potatoes. Trent actually like them! You never know!! I will try them again sometime, but w/out the cumin. As you can see, we didn't use the fancy dishes they used!!!

Catching Up

2009-01-19T17:12:00.000-08:00

We have been studying Indians the last couple weeks. We decided to make False Face Masks like the Iroquois Indians. They are supposed to be a little scary. They were used to heal people when they were sick. Needless to say, Rich doesn't like the masks! Don't know why. Anyway, the kids enjoyed the process.

I also threw in a pic of a cardinal at our feeder. I have enjoyed watching the birds but they sure do eat an awful lot!!

I'm going to sacrifice in the name of education and watch the Inauguration tomorrow! I"m not happy, but you have to take the opportunity to teach your kids about the whole process. It really is interesting when you start reading about it. We are even going to make one of the dishes they will be eating for the Inaugural Luncheon. The only thing that looked remotely easy to make was the Molasses Sweet Potatoes. We found a website that gave the whole menu and the recipes to go with it!

The kids birthday is coming up this weekend. We are partying twice! Once with some family and friends and next week with our group of homeschool friends that party together. Four of the kids have bdays very close so we are having one big party and ice skating and swimming at the Jones Center.

Snow!

2009-01-15T08:20:00.001-08:00

Snowfall 1-15-09

I haven't been on here in so long I almost forgot how to post!

Well, it snowed a little this morning and that just means you might as well forget school! I let the kids go out and play. Then we tried to collect snowflakes and look at them under the new microscope we got for Christmas.It is really cool. It is Digital Blue and is completely a computer scope. Everything shows up on the computer screen and you can take pictures and movies,plus some other fun things. If you could have seen us! I had the kids pass me the plate of snowflakes thru the window next to the computer. Then we looked fast-before it melted. We got a couple good pics but mostly we watched it melt. That was pretty interesting itself! We were already studying snow this week w/ Snowflake Bentley. Now we have had some hands on experience. Gotta love homeschooling!

2008-12-26T14:48:00.000-08:00

We survived Christmas. All went well and the kids enjoyed all their gifts. I got pics w/ Richard's parents and a 4 generations pic w/ my mom and gma. It wasn't the best pic ever, but I've been trying to get one for months, and this was the best I could do. I also put a bunch on Flikr.
I got the house all put back together today. I finally, after all these years, got all my decorations organized and in real plastic containers. They are even all red & green so I will know what they are w/out having to read the top. All my poor ornaments have been wrapped in paper towels and in different cardboard boxes. I actually lost one big box for 3 years. It had our good stockings in it. Well it mysteriously appeared in the attic right in front of where you go down the stairs! That is just pitiful. No more! I'm organized and color coordinated!
We are trying to head to Branson this weekend. We have to wait for Rich to get off work, so it will be late(oh the joy of being back at the funeral home).
I bought a new marker board for the schoolroom at A-Z this week. I also found the Desk Apprentice fromStaples for $20. I just love to snoop around A-Z. We also stocked up on big blankets for .99 each. They are great for the dog, covering furniture, anything you might need.
The pics won't load. I'll try again later on.

a new JibJab Sendable

2008-12-11T14:57:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Christmas Stuff

2008-12-11T13:24:00.000-08:00

We finally went to get a Christmas tree this week. We went to the farm in Rudy on what had to be the coldest day in the last couple of weeks. We very hurriedly picked a tree and brought it home. Well, if you will notice, the picture at the farm, the tree looks nice and straight. When we got it home and in the living room, that poor thing was leaning BAD. It grew sideways! Oh well, we did the best we could in making it look better. At least it has character!

We had our "SSC" Christmas party today. The kids had a blast. They decorated stockings, made ornaments and decorated Christmas tree tshirts. Then we stuffed the stockings with all kinds of goodies. Naturally, we ate lots of cute food too! We love our group of friends!!!

Twilight

2008-12-07T18:11:00.000-08:00

Well, I finally went to see Twilight today. Yes, I went alone, but that is okay-nice and peaceful couple of hours!

I must say, it didn't do much for me. Of course, movies are never as good as the book, but I had pictures in my head of all these people and no one measured up for me. I almost laughed out loud when I saw Carlisle for the first time. They kind of cheesed it up too much. If I had written the book, I wouldn't have liked the end product of the movie, but I didn't write them or I would be living in a larger house by now :)

Now, will I see the next movie when it comes out-of course. It is fun to escape for little while-wether reading or watching.

We went to see The Wizard of Oz this weekend put on by the high school students. I was blown away by the professionalism of the whole thing. They did an outstanding job!

Rachel had her first basketball game of the season. She is playing in a new league this year and she needs to make some adjustments. This is more rough than she is used to so she is going to have to toughen up a bit. I"m sure she is up to it. Of course, my mom blames me for not feeding her enough-enough being junk food to bulk her up! What can I say, Rachel is a salad/fruit eater! She may be skinny,but she is healthy!

Giveaway

2008-12-03T14:38:00.000-08:00

My new favorite site, Southern Plate, is having a giveaway of beauty products, so run on over and check it out!

Trent's first deer

2008-11-29T12:11:00.000-08:00

Trent got to go hunting this morning with his Poppy and shot his first deer. It was a doe. Rachel got to go Thanksgiving morning but just before her shot, they spooked and ran off. Of course, now she is mad and wants to know when she gets to go again! The one picture is of my grandpa gutting the thing before they took it to the processing plant. Trent is very excited, they are going to make a rug from the hide(oh boy!).

Other than that, we have had a very uneventful holiday weekend. I shopped for a couple of hours Sat afternoon and that is it. The kids want to go see Bolt but I've yet to get up the energy to go. We will see! Right now Rich is trying to fix the toilet I tore up while cleaning the other day. He is getting more irritated by the hour, so I may load up the kids and go to the movie before it gets any worse!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving-A visit from Tom Turkey

2008-11-25T12:22:00.000-08:00

One Saturday, Rachel and I were home alone. We started hearing this strange noise out on the back porch. When we went to look, we saw this odd looking turkey standing there looking in the window. We noticed he didn't look so well- a little green around the waddle. We decided to invite him in to see if we could help him out in anyway. Well, he sat down in the kitchen to rest and just about the time I was going to offer him some tea, he threw up all over my kitchen table and sideboard. Well, needless to say, we ran him off out the back door and haven't seen him since. The pictures show the damage that was left behind!

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving, and be careful of green turkeys!!

Crafts

2008-11-21T14:35:00.000-08:00

I just found a new kids craft blog. It looks like it has lots of great ideas. Maybe I will be inspired?????
As soon as I take the time to take pics, I'm going to tell the story of how Tom Turkey visited our house!

Ice Skating

2008-11-15T11:36:00.000-08:00

We went ice skating w/ Believers Friday. It was T & R's first time to ever ice skate. We even talked dad into going with us. They really enjoyed it and got the hang of it just as it was time to leave!!! I'm sure we will have to go back again soon. I didn't get very good pictures but Kelli did and will get those to me.

After skating, we went on over across the street from the Jones Center and watched the cattle auction for awhile. Sounds fun doesn't it! My uncle owns the sale barn and my grandpa used to own it. I've been there many times but the kids hadn't been, so we gave them the opportunity to witness a cattle auction, complete with wonderful fragrance! R loved it of course and T just wanted to get out!

Then we made our way up to Bentonville and ate at a wonderful pizza place. Gusano's-be sure to find it if ever up that way. Of course, when we are that close, we have to do Krispy Kreme! It is pumpkin spice time-my favorite!

The first pic I posted is from the Spiro Mounds. I tried to delete, but don't know how- oh well.

More Good Eats

2008-11-12T08:11:00.001-08:00

Well, I love my Southern Plate! I tried another recipe last night and loved it. It was the Bama Steak Sandwich. I like it so much, I'm having leftovers for lunch. It is easy, quick and yummy! My only complaint lately is that it has been very hard to navigate around her website. I don't know what the problem is but I hope it gets better.
We also had a wonderful Renew last night for homeschool moms. Kelli brought lots of different fun to make foods for the holidays. It was all so cute and I think I could do most of it, I just have to work on my 'want to' a little more. I didn't get pictures but I'm sure some others will post theirs soon. I think I will try the bread cornucopia first. It seemed easy enough! Of course, I need somewhere to go to take it!
I also brought a few things home with me that night and the kids ended up eating them for breakfast!!!!!Oh well!

Election

2008-11-05T17:27:00.000-08:00

Well, it didn't turn out the way we wanted. I just hope and pray things go well the next four years. I know God is in control of this situation, I'm just trying to remind myself of that often!

We did have fun learning about the presidential election process. We read lots of books, went to the Republican headquarters and picked up t-shirts , bumper sticker and yard sign. Then we all went to vote together. Election night we printed out an electoral map and filled it in as the night went along. Too bad it was too blue!!!

At least the campain is over-for awhile. Since this one lasted 2 years, I can only imagine the next one starting with 3 years left!!

Eating and Voting

2008-11-04T11:01:00.000-08:00

We voted!! The kids went with me and we read the ballot and they got to touch the screen. What a great education! Best part, no line. I'm glad it is over but a little nervous of the outcome.

Now, eating! I tried 2 more recipes from the Southern Plate. Oh my! The grilled chicken tenderloin and baked mac and cheese. That mac was awesome. I've never made it from scratch before. It doesn't taste anything like mac and cheese. Much better. Scoot on over there and try them out.

Trent finished soccer this weekend and we didn't get to have family pics made. She couldn't fit us in. I'm spending most of this week trying to get pics of the kids around here. We went in our yard yesterday and going to mom's sometime this week.

Spiro Mounds was very interesting. I've never been before. If you haven't seen it, it is worth the trip.

Pictures

2008-10-29T18:28:00.001-07:00

I'm so excited. We are going to have family pictures made this weekend in front of Old Main at the UofA. I've always wanted pics there. It is beautiful this time of year! I've fretted about what to wear and I think I have come up with red for everyone and jeans. I just hope I got our reds close enough! I'm also going to take pictures of the kids myself around here as soon as the trees get a little more color. My mom's place is a wonderful spot for pictures, especially in fall.
Trent wraps up soccer this weekend. I"m glad-tired of trips to Ft Smith, but never fear, it is ending just in time for Rachel to start basketball! We are just glad gas is going down!

Party Time

2008-10-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

One of our homeschool friends had a Halloween/birthday party. One of the perks of homeschooling, you can party in the middle of the day! We had lunch, cake, games and crafts. Can't beat that! I didn't get food pics but it was all so cute-ghost pizzas, brain watermelon, pumpkin cheese ball etc. They also made the cutest tshirts. They were tie dyed orange w/ white cirlcles. They used markers to make the faces. They were a big hit.

Richard laughs so hard he cries everytime he sees the picture of the girls. They were all American Girls except our sweet little skeleton! He said it looks like a sinister skeleton invaded the Duggar family. She wouldn't be caught dead dressed like an American Girl! T was Darth VAder but we forgot to get pics of the boys.

The kids had a great time and we really enjoy getting together with our homeschool friends.

New find

2008-10-22T16:31:00.000-07:00

I just found a new blog that I thought might be interesting to my friends that have girls. I haven't had time to look thru it much but it looks good.
I have been spending too much time on Facebook thus not much here. We went to a great birthday/Halloween party today. When I get time to download my pics, I will share.

Learning Fun

2008-10-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

We have been learning about sea turtles and our activity suggested drawing out the largest sea turtle, the Leatherback Sea Turtle. It gets up to 9 ft long and 6 ft wide! That is one large turtle!

We also went to the Janet Huckabee Nature Center last week. We used a seine net to find fish in the lake, looked at different snakes and took a nature walk. It was fun. Ended up being a little cold but we survived!

Apples & blubber!

2008-10-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

We did an semi-impromtu unit on apples last week. We read a few books and tried several different kinds. I got out my trusty Handbook of Nature and read about apple trees and we did a few of the experiments. We never did get around to making apple pie.

This week we ended our unit on seals and sea lions and did a quick experiment on how blubber works. I opted for shortening for the

blubber(tho I had several people offer me theirs!). They did get to experience how the blubber keeps them warm. Now they also know why dad stays warmer than mom!!!!HA Just kidding!

I'm never washing my hand again!

2008-10-04T16:46:00.001-07:00

Since we homeschool and play sports, Tim Tebow is our hero. We went to the game Sat and managed to get up close. It ended up being luck we were in the right spot when he came out. There were lots of people waiting to see him. Even Razorback fans. He stopped right in front of Rich and Rachel and turned around to ask someone a question and slapped Rachel's hand. Afterwards, I realized my camera got bumped at some point and the setting was moved to b/w. At least it let me get continuous shots. Even tho we lost, it was a fun day!

Takin it Outside

2008-09-27T08:04:00.000-07:00

School work just seems to go much better when you can take it outdoors! It was too wet to make a pallet on the grass, so we just got out our chairs and sat in the sun. I bought these really neat marker boards for the kids and they enjoy using them. One side is blank, the other has primary lines , clock face, number line and place value chart. We have used them for math, spelling and copywork so far. Breaks the monotony of using a notebook-saves paper too :) I bought them from Rainbow Resource, my favorite place to homeschool shop!

We were also able to set free a strange insect we found Wed. I finally decided after much googling, that it was in the Mantid family. Looks like a praying mantis. Didn't get a pic but he was sure strange looking. It is really fun to watch my kids noticing nature more and more as we take more time to study it. Which leads me to a wonderful book I'm going through. Talking to Fireflies, Shrinking the Moon by Edward Duensing. It tells you how to do 'tricks' with different animals and insects. Nothing that hurts them, just cool stuff to amaze the kids. We tried fiddling earthworms this week. We didn't have a good spot, we only got one worm but it was fun and they thought I was a genius!

Sunday

2008-09-21T15:22:00.001-07:00

Well, not really Sunday, but I had a theme I needed to stick with-actually Saturday night! Big entertainment in the country. Rich and kids looking for crawdads! As I watched (no, I didn't participate) the song Boondocks was running thru my head. I'm going to try to find it and put it on the blog so you can have the full effect!!!

Saturday

2008-09-20T13:10:00.001-07:00

T had soccer this morning. We had to miss the Razorback game but we came out the winners on that one. T's team won the the Hogs got slaughtered!!! Anyway, T had one goal and 2 missed goals. He did really well. Poor thing played the entire 2nd half and nearly passed out! Each half is 25 minutes. He loves it though.
R had softball practice and ended up hurting her hand. If it doesn't feel better soon, we may need an xray. She has never complained and cried about an injury like this before.
Rich taped the game and is now watching it. Glutton for punishment I guess!
I did get a quick trip to the used bookstore in VB. I love that place. Found lots of good deals this trip. Also found T some dress shorts for next summer at 75% off(not in the bookstore :). Made it a pretty good day!
Now maybe we can get a little down time before church and home group tomorrow.

Friday

2008-09-19T13:11:00.000-07:00

The GALLOWS!

Judge Issac Parker's gravesite.

Judge Parker's court

What is left of the old fort.
Believers kids in the courtroom.

We went on a field trip to the Ft Smith Historic Site and learned about Judge Issac Parker. It was really interesting. We all learned a lot about Ft Smith's history. It is worth the trip if you have never been.

Eagles Concert!

2008-09-17T08:30:00.000-07:00

We went to see the Eagles in concert last night. Rich saw them years ago, but it was my first time. They are absolutely awesome!! They played for 3hours and there was only one song I didn't really know. Other than that, there was lots of singing going on. Here are some bootleg youtube videos of this tour. The only song I can think of that I would like to have heard was All She Wants to do is Dance, a Don Henley song. They did his Boys of Summer. I noticed on youtube they have done it at other concerts.
You don't realize how many great songs they have until they start singing. With each song I was saying 'oh yeah'.
If you get the chance to see them, take it. It is worth every penny. They will be back in Tulsa in November.
Now, if I can just catch up on sleep. We didn't get home until 2am. I haven't seen 2 am since I was feeding 2 newborns!!!

Hurricanes in Arkansas

2008-09-14T15:09:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought! Well, not exactly a hurricane, but about as close as you can get in Arkansas. And I must say, after this I know I never want to be in a actual hurricane. The wind last night was awful. Thankfully, we didn't have any damage or broken tree limbs but my parents did. Several trees down and no electricity!But boy has the weather been beautiful this afternoon. Cool and sunny. I have the windows open and it is great.
I had some time alone this afternoon so I did some major cleaning out of T's toys. We have brown recluse and they seem to be worst in his room. I finally did a big clean out in his closet. I can only hope it might help! We have been fighting them for years and they are always winning! I found one crawling across my bed last week, just before I turned the light out to go to sleep. Needless to say, I didn't sleep well that night! At this point, I have the kids bedding all tucked in their mattresses so nothing touches the ground. We spray, we sticky trap but it seems once you have them, you have them for life-ugh!
Looking forward to the week. We get to go see the Eagles in concert Tues. It should be awesome.

Nature Lesson

2008-09-10T14:57:00.001-07:00

Well, we learned a good nature lesson today. Tadpoles need fresh water more often than we can get it for them! Yes, sad to say our 2 tads expired sometime in the last day or so. I found them floating belly up this afternoon. Poor fellas! You aren't supposed to give them tap water so catching rain water or going to get pond water was our only choices. We were doing ok after all the rain last week, but just haven't had time to change it since. Add that to the fact that the kids put too much food in and they didn't have a chance! At least we did see the bigger one start to grow some back legs.
Oh well! Lesson learned!!!

More Yum and Stuff

2008-09-10T08:41:00.000-07:00

I owe this woman a big hug. We tried the One Skillet Chili Bake and the kids liked it again! Even asked if they could have it for leftovers. We are trying the Pizza Rolls later this week, they look quick and yummy.

Trent started a gymnastics team this week. Last night was his first night to practice and I thought he did great for being so new at it. It was 3 hours long(yikes) and he was pooped when it was over but he said he liked it. Now, if I could just win the lottery to pay for it!

Yum

2008-09-08T17:20:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe on the Tip Nut and thought I would try it. It turned out much better than I thought. Everyone liked it(miracle!) and next time I will be doing the double recipe and freezing it!

Go Hogs!

2008-09-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

We are big Hog fans and went to the first game over the Labor Day weekend. Looks like it could be a pretty long year for the Hoggies! We are looking forward to Tim Tebow being here in Oct. May just make a sign that says Razorback Homeschoolers Love Tim Tebow!!

Facebook Fun

2008-09-07T13:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I wasn't all that thrilled with Facebook at first, but now that I have been finding sorority sisters, I'm enjoying it much more. It is great to catch up with people I haven't seen in 20 years! Once you get a few friends, you can see their friends and so on. That is how I have found many old friends. I'm just trying not to spend too much time on it! It can be a big time waster.
Our Internet isn't working so I haven't been on much. We have been busy getting our fall schedules ironed out. Hopefully I can get our Razorback pics on here soon.

More laundry stuff

2008-09-01T10:24:00.000-07:00

I'm going to make my second batch of laundry soap. I think the first batch went well. I may try it dry this time. I'm also going to use a bit more of the Fels Naptha this time. I found some fabric softener tips here. I may try a couple of those too.
I did try using the recipe of 1/2 1/2 washing soda, borax for the dishwasher. It really needs vinegar in the little rinse hole? thingy. Not sure I'm going to stick with that yet. That is about the most exciting thing going on the holiday weekend. Did get to eat and visit with some aunts and cousins Sunday nite. Really enjoyed it. I haven't seen them in quite awhile(and yes, they live right here).
I think I will spend most of the rest of the day relaxing and reading. It is going to be a hectic week-field trip,working and shopping consignment sale, lessons and practices-oh my! Oh yeah, we have to do school too!

Glimmer of hope

2008-08-29T16:29:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the littlest things get me excited. After starting our science, the elementary Apologia, swimming creatures, I saw a glimmer of hope that maybe something is sticking. We have been learning about the ocean floor and while the kids were swimming this afternoon, I heard them decide that the floor of the pool was like the floor of the ocean. Shallow end was the continental shelf, the slope to the deep end was the continental slope and the deep end was the abyssal plain. They even used all the correct words. I almost cried! I guess it gives me enough umph to continue on!!! Now if I could see a glimmer of hope with math, I really would cry!
A scary thing I have heard from them as we have been learning about the ocean is 'on SpongeBob..., on SpongeBob...'! Funny thing is, Spongebob seems to be fairly educational after all. Who knew.

Like I need something else

2008-08-26T19:14:00.000-07:00

Well, now I have a Facebook page. Just what I need. Something else to take up time. Not addicted to it yet tho. Hopefully I won't get too into it. If you are there, add me as a friend!
We are in our 2nd week of school and things seem to be going pretty good. Math is still everyones least favorite, but we are doing it earlier in the day this year and it seems to help. We have already had our first field trip too. We went to the Ft Smith PUblic Library and got a tour. It was fun. The FS historic site is up next. Trying to get something set up for the Coleman Observatory for us. We will see.

New Bloggers

2008-08-22T10:51:00.001-07:00

My kids have started their own blogs. I listed them with my favorites. T's Olympics and R's Sports. Be sure to check them out!

Back Home & Back to School

2008-08-18T11:38:00.001-07:00

We spent last week vacationing in Colorado and had a blast. We maxxed out on nature study! I told the kids if they listened and learned and sketched in their nature books, we would count last week as a week of school. We rafted, we hiked(see hillbilly momma above), we got up in the middle of the night to see the meteor shower-you name it, we did it. It was great!
Now it is back to school. Today was our first day, and it went fairly well. Not too much whining.Hopefully it will last!
After we got home, our computer pooped out. We can't even get it to come on. Hopefully, we can get it fixed soon. I'm lost w/out it!!

Bargained Out!

2008-08-09T05:25:00.000-07:00

We are Bargain Galored out! The kids and I have had a garage sale the last 2 days w/ my sis in law. She lives on 64 and we decided we couldn't pass up the chance to make some money and clean out our storage. It went great. Sold most of our stuff the first day and reloaded w/ my moms stuff the second day. The kids sold water, popcicles, muffins and juice. We had to keep them from taking their profits and using them buying the neighbors stuff! After all the inventory they ate, money spent, we only made about $10 on the food! It was good experience for them and kept them busy. Plus, I was thanked and called a good mom for letting them go shopping at the other sales-Ha! It did get pretty hot, but not near as bad as it could have been. Now we have gas money to get to Colorado!!

Nature stuff

2008-08-06T12:32:00.000-07:00

We've been busy lately getting ready for a big garale sale and camping trip all at the same time but we have made some cool nature finds lately to share.

The pics are of a wasp nest Rich found and sprayed. He is finally getting the hang of this homeschooling/study what you find/nature thing. He brought it over and went through it with the kids. They pulled out different wasps in different stages of development. Some where fully formed and ready to come out , some where still larva and some inbetween. We also got to see the stinger up close. It was all really interesting!

Last week while watering some trees we planted on our lot, we dipped up some tadpoles out of the pond. We ended up bringing a few home in a bucket. So far, they are still alive. We give them goldfish food and have to get fresh pond water every few days. We have read that you can't just put in tap water. Since we are going to be out of town next week, I wonder if any of the grandparents will be willing to babysit tadpoles??? Anyway, it has been fun. We have read about them a little bit and drawn the life cycle in our new nature sketchbooks.

Weekend Weddings

2008-08-03T06:08:00.000-07:00

Congratulations! This weekend our family friends, Jim & Jeannie got married. My mom had a small family reception at her house. We got to meet Jeannie's daughters and to see Faith but without her new man!

Yearly pics

2008-08-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

The last week of July every year, we have to hurriedly get together and take pictures of the kids for the football program. Both my parents buy ads in it and they want pics of their grands included. Of course, we know they are always due Aug 1, so we get together around July 30 and snap away. We have done some really cute things over the years, but this year we just sat them outside,nothing unusual. This last one I did because we did the same pic several years ago. Fun to see how they are growing, or sad, don't know which!

Narration & Nature

2008-07-28T12:33:00.000-07:00

R's narration of Ch 12
T's Ch 12
Orb web

I've been reading Charlotte's Web and having the kids narrate. It has been a bit painful at times, but we are keeping at it. Today I had them draw a picture of the chapter instead of tell it. I thought they did a good job. We also included a bit of nature today and found lots of good orb webs under the bleachers of the school track. We spray painted them black and then pushed card stock thru them until they were stuck on the paper. Turned out cool. Hopefully you can see it in the last pic.

Laundry soap

2008-07-28T09:36:00.000-07:00

I've decided to try to make my own laundry soap! It was actually really easy and quick after I finally located all the ingredients. Strange thing was, I had all but one. After spending the weekend looking for Washing Soda, I called Arm & Hammer this morning to find out where it is sold, and it was at Harp's here in Alma-go figure. Anyway, here is the recipe I used and a beautiful pic of it. I will post how well it works in a few days.

1/3 bar Fels Naptha soap, grated

1/2 cup Arm&Hammer Washing Soda

1/2 cup 20Mule Team Borax

large bucket to mix it in.

Mix Fels Naptha in a saucepan w/ 6 cups of water and heat on low until dissolved. Stir in Soda and Borax. Stir until thickened and remove from heat. Add 4 cups Hot Water to bucket then add soap mixture and mix well. Fill bucket with addtitional 1 gallon and 6 cups of water and mix. Set aside for 24 hours or until mixture thickens. Use 1/2 cup per load.

You can find this recipe and others at www.soapsgonebuy.com

Best place to be in summer

2008-07-25T05:08:00.000-07:00

We swam again with our homeschool friends and in this heat, the kids have the best place!

This camera is really fun. It is a Olympus Stylus 770W, waterproof and shockproof. I got it at Bedford's last year and it takes really good pics. That first one of R's friend turned out the best of any I've taken underwater. Actually, R is the one who took it! It would probably help if I would actually go underwater to take them, but for someone who squeenches up her eyes and holds her nose, it wouldn't work too well anyway!!!

Ridin' In Style

2008-07-23T09:35:00.000-07:00

Tuesday the Strykers got to ride in style! A HUGE stretch Hummer picked them up at their practice field and took them to the water park.

One of their coaches got them together and took pictures of them w/ their backs to the limo as it pulled in. Everyone started yelling for them to turn around and they didn't know what to think. When they figured out it was their ride, there was lots of running and screaming. The thing was so big, that all the brothers and sisters got to ride too. There were 27 people in it in all, including Richard! I mostly filmed, but these are a couple of pics I got. It was a fun night for everyone.

Survived Softball

2008-07-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

Well, we have survived another season of girls softball. I probably need to see my doctor to make sure, but I don't think I'm in need of any blood pressure medicine at this time! They played in the National tournament this weekend. It was extremely hot! The highlight of the whole thing for the girls was the goody bags they exchanged with another team. Last night, we noticed R watching the ice cream truck(that lady is no dummy, she circles the fields during games) go by instead of paying attention to the batter. That is a good indicator it is time for it to end.
Now we get to have the team party at the Alma Water Park this week. They are getting a surprise-a ride to the park in a stretch Hummer. I will post pics-should be a hoot.
I must admit, we are all very glad it is finally over for this year. Now, on to the next sport-sigh!

Water fun

2008-07-16T12:25:00.000-07:00

Last night our homeschool group rented the AlmaWater Park. We had a good turnout and everyone had a good time, dads included. I never did get pictures at the park, but I did take some earlier in the day at the pool. My camera is waterproof, so we had fun taking some underwater pictures. Summer is so much fun!!

40 with Friends

2008-07-14T19:31:00.001-07:00

Saturday night I met up with classmates to celebrate turning 40! We met at La Huerta and had dinner , spent time catching up and sharing the misery of getting old!! Only about 15 made it , but it was a fun time. I forgot my camera but there is a new slide show of our pics on our class website. As far as I know, only one of us is a GRANDPARENT. Talk about making you feel old. I think for the most part, turning 40 hasn't bothered me too much. I do find myself wondering who that is in the mirror and where did I go?
Anyway, I'm blessed and thankful, so age doesn't matter!

Happy Birthday Rich!

2008-07-11T21:52:00.001-07:00

Today was Richard's birthday. He is celebrating the 10th anniversary of his 39th birthday! None of his gifts arrived yet, but we did get to stuff ourselves at Olive Garden. The best part was we had a gift card, so it was free. No better gift than that!
Anyway, happy birthday , we love you!

More Nature

2008-07-11T08:27:00.001-07:00

Last night, I found a large spider web so I rounded up the kids and a big flashlight and we watched her work. She had already finished making the web and was now sitting in the center waiting for supper. As a bug got caught in the web, she would run to it and wrap it up very quickly. It as amazing to watch. Of course, our light attracked more bugs, so she had lots of work to do! We finally left when the big moths started for the light and were tearing big holes in the web. It was a great learning experience for all of us!

Nature Study

2008-07-10T05:33:00.000-07:00

It has been my desire to do more nature study with the kids. Of course, that means you actually have to get out into nature and I'm not always the best at that! I did buy these journals for the kids and they are really neat. R took to hers right away(I think it was a little too educational looking for T!). We found-or should I say our dog(Daisy) -found a box turtle last week. The kids decided to keep it awhile so we found a box for it and did a little research on it in our Handbook of Nature Study. We decided it was a box turtle and it eats vegetation and bugs. We gave it grass, lettuce and a few dead beetles we found. It nearly drove the poor dog crazy! Anyway, we ended up letting it go before we left for the holiday weekend but before we did, R wanted to draw it in her new journal. She did a good job. On Monday, we saw a turtle in the road a ways from our house and the kids were pretty sure that must be our turtle!

We also got to watch a bird's nest over the last few weeks. It started w/ 4 eggs, then 2 babies and they finally left the nest last week. It was a neat experience for us all! We have also picked blueberries twice so I guess we are doing better at this nature study thing than I thought!

I found this site of absolutely beautiful nature pictures!

4th Weekend

2008-07-07T10:57:00.000-07:00

Rachel Trent My parents and all their grands

We survived a trip to the lake with family over the 4th weekend! We took the pop up camper we just bought to try it out. Great part was my parents were in their trailer and we didn't have to worry about food. We had fun when it wasn't raining.

Someone has put a swing from a tall tree limb up the river from where we stay. It has bicycle handlebars for holding on. All the kids tried it and were hooked. We spent a lot of time swinging into the lake. No, I most certainly did not do it myself!

Of course we shot off fireworks and the people who own the campground put on a pretty good show on the 5th.

Best part for me-sitting on the porch in a rocking chair, good fiction in hand, fan blowing on me,looking out over the lake w/kids entertained by swimming with cousins!!

Now, back to real life and cleaning house!

Planning for the new year

2008-07-02T06:15:00.001-07:00

Now that I finally have all my orders in(along with the credit card bills!) it is time to sit down and plan out the school year. So far I have only made a partial list of the books I would like for the kids to read. I also want to decide what we are going to read for our Bible study time. I think that we will just read and discuss instead of buying a curriculum. If I had the new planner from The Old Schoolhouse, I know this task would be much easier!!!(I'm hoping to win it by submitting this post-hehe)
Now, just to find the quiet time w/out a million other things to do, to actually plan!

Sometimes it is the simple things!

2008-07-01T17:34:00.000-07:00

I just installed new software,Startwrite, that makes handwriting worksheets. You can choose from different fonts and sizes . I am going to use it to teach cursive this year and to make our own notebooks. It is going to be a great tool! It is amazing what small things can make a homeschool mom's day.

Softball Saturday

2008-06-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

Is there any other way to spend a Saturday??? Not around here! Unfortunately, it was stormy all day, but that didn't deter anyone. R's team played 3 and were out. It didn't actually rain on us during game time but it did lightning and blow and make me a nervous wreck. R played great but I think her team quit a few weeks back. This was the state tournament. One more left-nationals in 3 weeks. We get to play because it is here in Ft Smith. I'm pretty much past ready for it to end. Obviously, these pics aren't from today! Rich is helping coach and this seems to be the only way Mike(FSPD) can keep him under control during a game!!

Charlotte Mason

2008-06-24T13:53:00.000-07:00

I read up on the Charlotte Mason style a few years ago before we started school. I am currently going back and rereading and researching. I would like to incorporate much more of the CM style in our homeschooling this coming year. It seems like a wonderful fit for my kids. Right now I want to focus on using narration and more nature study. I'm also trying to come up with a list of living books I want my kids to read this school year.
Looks like the summer issue of The Old Schoolhouse will have lots of CM info and ideas. I can't wait to see it!

Wecome!

2008-06-24T13:16:00.000-07:00

I finally decided to try out this blogging thing. I'm not sure what I will say or who will read it, but it is a great place to keep the other blogs I want to read organized!