What a beautiful day

First off I want to wish my mother a very Happy 56!!! She got serenaded this morning! I think we almost made her cry. We got her a basket of goodies. She was in shock when the floral van pulled into her driveway! SURPRISE!!!

I took the boys on a nature hike today. They had a lot of fun. Isaiah tried to walk but kept falling, so Zack and I kept taking turns carrying him. It is nice to have older ones to help. We took a bunch of pictures on our walk. I wanted some "nature" pictures and some of the boys'. I told them maybe next time Brian could go with us and we would take a picnic lunch. We went behind our house in the woods.

New family member

The other day I gave Isaiah his first hair cut. He started off really good and held still then he started being a wiggle worm. It turned out cute, of course he is a cutie anyways!!!

He always has that thumb in his mouth. This is not going to be an easy task to break!! I have been cutting my boys' hair for about 2 months, which saves around $40.00 per month. That is quite a savings!! I saved some of the hair in a baggie for his baby book.


So I guess you would like to know who the new family member is. He is so fluffy!!!

My friend Lynne found this cat and went through her neighborhood to see if the cat belonged to anyone and no one claimed it, so she called me and I took him. I have been wanting a cat ever since Milo died 2 yrs ago. Logan claims the cat is his and it's name is Snowbell from Stuart Little. The cat slept in my bed last night and follows me around. I say he is my cat! Te He!!! I am a cat lover!!! I do have a little dog named Gizmo (a toy pom) who has been staying outside with his big dog friends, but since we got Snowbell he wants in the house! He is so jealous! Anyway I have a zoo here and Brian honestly did not want Snowbell in the house, but I begged him to let him stay inside cause I was afraid the dogs would kill him or maybe he would run off and get lost who knows where. I guess I am spoiled!

cleaning 101 continued

Yesterday I finished the other room that need A LOT of TLC!!! It was my school room. The sad thing is last month I had cleaned it really good and then .... here I go again. Isaiah sort of helped in the mess though. He took a bunch of the books off the shelves. So luckily for me it was mostly books and some papers that kids did not throw away.




So now that room is done and mom is happy! Not to mention Brian who has been patient on the house!! I am thankful the rest of the house was clean, just this room and boys' room were disaster areas ready to be condemned!!! So today I am going to steam vac my carpets and do laundry. Not much to do!!! We have some friends coming down to help Brian with our fence. So I have to make dinner, which is not big deal cause I have to cook anyway. I also need to sit down and work on a lesson plan for the week. That takes a bit of time!

Cleaning 101

Yesterday we took it easy since Logan hurt his foot... well they took it easy mom worked! My house needed some drastic attention. I did manage to get the living room, kitchen, study, and the boys' room cleaned. I still need to do the carpets (steam vac) and mop. The boys' room took me over an hour to do which is totally insane. I cleaned it last month like that too. This time it was worse! What gives? I got a garbage bag of junk out of there. They are pack rats!!! My boys are old enough to clean their room themselves. Do any of you other mother's have trouble with this? Here are some before and after shots of their room.

Today I have to run to the bank, stop at the Dollar General, then stop at the Library to return some books, and I need to check out some on our next state of study California. I am also thinking about studying one country a month and allowing the boys to make a dinner for that country. Have them make a display of it as well. Do this instead of a dinner on each state that Logan usually does. I want Zack to be included as well. And lastly come home to finish up on my cleaning 101. My bedroom, bathroom, and the school room need cleaned. I will probably steam vac the carpets on Saturday. I do need to get some school done today, so some of my cleaning 101 will have to go to Saturday. I did read to the boys, but not Harriet Beecher Stowe. We read a book on different breeds of horses, a book on box turtles, and a fun book. So they learned there. They played Scrabble yesterday and tried to spell as many words as they could. So all in all even though I was unable to do school, they still had a learning day. Today Logan is making his Hawaiian meal. That should be FUN!

I added some links to the side under Favorite Places, so far what I have added are additional blogs to this main blog. I have one for recipes and another for lesson plans. I will add my lessons sometime soon for next week. Anyway just wanted to let my readers know.

Glad yesterday is gone

I wish I could say we did not have an eventful day, but alas we did. First off we were supposed to go to the library and see Books Alive.... well we did, but I must have read the description wrong or something. Anyway I thought that people were coming dressed in character and talking about "their" life. Well it sure was not like that at all. It was basically for preschoolers and my boys were saying mom..... you know the roll of eye thing. The sad part was I drug my dear hubby out with me thinking he would enjoy it too! Rats!!! I bet he won't do a thing with me again on his day off!!! Well that may be a little extreme, he may ask to read the desciption himself next time! We ended up just checking out some new books and letting Isaiah play with his favorite magnets and he found some puzzels he liked. I did manage to take a few pics of the boys learning at the library.

Then we come home and the boys help Brian with building a feeder for our goats. The pen is almost done so our goats will hopefully be brought up to our property soon. They are so cute! I can't wait to get a picture of them. After this we ate and rested up for church. Well Logan and Zack decided to go for a ride on their scooters without permission and Logan ended up having an accident. These scooters are not motorized, they are leg powered. So right before church I have to take Logan to the ER. We were there from 6:45 until 10:00! They did some x-rays and said they did not think anything was broke, but due to growth plates it was hard to tell. They chalked it up as a bad sprain and if he can not bare any weight at all on his foot by Monday then he has to see an orthopedic doctor! I told him this is what being disobedient costed him, but ya know I think I am paying too! Hmmm....

So today we are taking an easy. Well one boy is anyway. I am having cleaning 101 today. I have a few rooms that need some attention greatly and well the house needs a good scrubbing! I am going to do a little math with the boys and then read some of a biography on Harriet Beecher Stowe to them. I know that is not a lot of school, but that is learning and Zack needs to do some trimming outside. I am sure Logan is milking this for all it is worth!!! Ugh!

I adde a favorite sites link to the sidebar. I now have a blog for my recipes and menus. You can check it out if you wish. Later on I hope to add some information on homeschooling and different things.

Chickens and School

We started raising chickens this summer and they started laying a month ago. Well today Logan brings one of Dolly's eggs and says mommy I want a chick. I am thinking it is almost winter and a chick would not be a good idea, but being the teacher that I am ... I gave in. So I have a bowl with some cedar chips in it and our red light heating this lonely egg. I have no idea if the egg will hatch or not, we will know in 21 days. We never incubated eggs before... well my dad did when I was kid, but as far as me doing it myself I never have.

Here is a picture from our barnyard in your backyard had in it.

Logan had me make a copy of this for him so he can make a chart to follow. He is a smart cookie. He loves animals and says he would like to be a vet someday. So now I have a science project in the making! ****After the bowl picture we had to change to a tote. The egg was getting too much heat in the bowl. Now the temperature is just right. (Any eggs dream)****

We did school on the porch again. The boys really like that and well so does mom! It is so peaceful. The baby got tired and I put him to bed and he is still there. I think he has been asleep for 45 minutes. If he does not take a nap he is a bear!!! I guess he gets it from his mom! I am not a morning person, but I am made to be! I would love to be napping right now, but here I sit typing and trying to stay awake. I am listening to Zack and Logan in the livingroom playing a game on their DS. I need to put a tape in that I checked out from the library about a boy from Kenya, Africa who finds an orphaned baby elephant. Tomorrow we have a class at the library to go to. It is "Books Alive". I will have to remember my camera so I can take a picture of the actors in costume. Booker T. Washington is one character. That is a good thing about home schooling cause I can incorporate whatever I wish into their learning experience. The only thing I get tired of, is when we go out, I have people ask did school let out early? My boys look at me and then at the person and say "I don't know, I am homeschooled." Before they were to shy to say anything, but they have became bolder!! I am glad they say this without a blink of an eye. It is nothing to be ashamed of, it is the way we have chosen. Statistics show homeschoolers do far better in testing than public. I am sure it is due to the one on one schooling they receive.
There are too many students per teacher. That is not fair for the children. And President Bush had the campaign of no student left behind. Hmmm... not sure if that has truely helped. I know of some children from our church that the teachers should of held back, but instead let them go on to the next grade. Is this what they mean about no student left behind? If so it sure is not helping a child to learn by promoting when they do not even know what they are doing. Okay I will step down off my soap box now. I know I am no better than the next person, and I am not trying to down public schools, I am just saying that if the teachers had less students they could focus on each child a little better.

Well I suppose I should get busy with my house cleaning. I think this is a daily post for me! I still have laundry to fold and well ya know the drill.

Happy Fall Ya'll

Well today is the first day of Fall or Autumn as some call it! Soon the trees will be turning their shades of splendor. The Lord is the greates artist ever. Brian is wanting to take a trip to the mountains soon. We love to see the trees in full color there. One year we went to Cass and to Canaan Valley. We took the ski lift up and oh the view was just gorgeous! I would love to do it again, but we will have to wait when Isaiah is a bit bigger. I think he is too wiggly for a lift ride! Yikes!

Today has been busy for me. I decided to do school outside. So we sat on the back porch. It was so nice, not to hot and not to cold! That is what I like about Fall! I have also been busy with laundry. I think I have did 4 loads and still have another. I am done for the day though. I still have the rest of the house to clean and it is a MESS! I tell ya I can clean it and within minutes it needs done all over again! Back to school outside... the boys enjoyed and Logan got all of his done fairly quick. Zack still has a few things to do. He is taking a break right now, then he will have to finish up.

I am trying to be more frugal with everything around here. I am trying to stretch my groceries to where we can save $$$. It is hard, but I have seen others do it and I know I can as well. I have been saving money with diapers by using cloth during the day. I made my own laudry soap and fabric softner. That is going great. And I made my own room freshner and all purpose cleaner which both work wonderful. I need to sit down and see how much $$$ I have saved. "A penny saved is a penny earned."

This is what I am making for dinner tonight. It is super easy and quick!!! A dream come true for a homeschooling mama!!!

Easy Layered Taco Bake

Prep Time:15 min
Total Time:35 min
Makes:6 servings, 1 cup each
What You Need
1 pkg. (7-1/4 oz.) KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese Dinner
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg. (1.25 oz.) TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Taco Seasoning Mix
1 cup TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Mild Salsa
Make It
HEAT oven to 400ºF. Prepare Dinner as directed on package. Cook meat with taco seasoning.
LAYER seasoned meat, Dinner and salsa in 8-inch sq. baking dish.
BAKE 20 min.
TACO BELL® and HOME ORIGINALS® are trademarks owned and licensed by Taco Bell Corp.
Kraft Kitchens Tips
Serving Suggestion
Serve with smart sides such as your favorite steamed vegetable and a crisp, mixed green salad.

I get the Kraft magazine in the mail and it is full of great quick recipes. Anyway this is a wonderful site so check it out!

New blog

I was using homeschool blogger for blogging, but decided to try blogger out. I really like it. I love how I can add things to my site and make it look unique! So I deleted the other blog, which I hated to do cause I lost all my posts, but hey this is better!

I have a few pictures to share with my readers (when I get readers). We do co-op with KICHE and I have to say my boys love it!

Here the boys are waiting to get started on something in science club.

Here Logan is waiting for Geography class to start.

We had a class out our local library on 9/18. They did some art with pasta.

And I could not leave out Isaiah he loves magnets, he was learning at the library!