Rain and thoughts

Rain

Rain and more rain! We have had rain since Monday. In other words - today (Thursday) is our 4th day of rain. And it's supposed to rain tomorrow.

I love it!

We all went back to the springs on the 14th. My sister was down and we all got together and made a picnic of it. It was lots of fun! I don't have a clue why I didn't take my camera but I didn't. The boys swam until they were water logged. Kids just like to do that! LOL

Ok - I've talked about the rain. Now I need to talk about some thoughts.

I was thinking today about blogging. I used to love to work on this blog. I still want to sit and times and tinker around with it. But really, I don't want to be tied to the computer again. I'm gardening and reading and teaching and laughing and playing and praying and on and on....

Don't worry, I'll be here from time to time.

What a life

I sure have to admit that I have an easy life. I go to bed latter than the rest of the gang because it's the only time the house is quiet. I'm not kiddin! LOL It seems like my kids just never shut up be quiet. I sleep late everyday.
You would think that living on a little teeny tiny farm that I would have to get up early and milk the cows and feed the chickens and on and on. To start with, we don't have a cow or any chickens. We do have 3 horses, 3 cats and 2 dogs. Of course the cats will scratch your eyes out if you don't feed them at the right time. And the dogs will bark until you can't hear yourself think if you don't turn them out of their kennels that they sleep in every night. Not to mention the damage that 3 huge horses can do in just a few minutes if they don't have their hay at the crack of dawn. Ok - I'm joking about the critters!

I really do sleep late every day. My boys are woke up by Superman. Once Superman wakes them up, he heads off to work. The boys do their chores and eat breakfast and then they sneak in and wake me up. Since the boys missed so many things that we all take for granted, I will let them crawl in bed with me in the mornings. After about 15 minutes of the covers being pulled this way and that way I have to say enough and run them out of the room. Now I take about 10 minutes to brush my teeth, make my bed and get dressed. I walk into the "classroom" and our day begins.

There are days when I just have to reward the boys with being done with school at lunch time. Summer is here now and I intend to keep their feet wrinkled from swimming. Yes we are still doing school but we are swimming too. We spend a few hours at the springs and then we head home to get dinner ready for Superman (and us).

I intend to take more pictures of the springs and our activities. I have lots to share now, I just gotta get em here.

What a life!

A Perfect Day

Today was just a perfect day. Warm Hot weather has struck us here in Florida. Oh, it's nothing like it's gonna get! Anyway...This is where we spent our day!


Blue Springs
Levy County

Fun Monday

Karisma over at Karismas Kids has talked me into it again. Ok - not really! ssshh don't tell her
What? I just knew you were going to ask. Well - Karisma is hosting "Fun Monday" this week.

She has even gotten more participants to join in.

Get a load of what she is asking of us...
Your task.........We all know our kids and pets are often a great source of amusement to us at the best of times. I want to hear a funny, silly or just downright cute story about your pets or your children. Have they ever done anything to totally embarrass you in public? Have they done something you thought was outrageous at the time, only to laugh at it later? Have they outwitted you in some devious way, only the way a kid can? Come on, out with it! Lets hear the juicy gossip! For those of you who are too lazy to write, how about posting some funny pictures instead! (Must be of your pets or offspring though!) Have fun with it!

The funny part is that my kids or pets have never embarrassed me. I know - imagine that! But I have come up with some ways that I just may have embarrassed them. When they were doing their silly little things, they had no idea that the pictures and the video that I would take could ever come back to haunt them. But you know what? None of them really read this, so - who cares!

Hold on and be prepared to giggle just a little.

So you have to understand that it just isn't possible for me to get embarrassed. Not living with this crazy gang. I mean look at this. I actually met him at the alter and married him. LOL

But gosh - our kids turned out normal. It's not like they look like the milk man or worse yet, the Easter Bunny!








The one time that I am glad that our preacher wasn't here was the one time that a teeny tiny spring decided to spring to the darkest corner under my husbands desk. I sent the youngest son in armed with a flashlight that is bright enough to land aircraft. He is wadded up under the desk and I ask him if he sees anything. He responds with an extreme serious voice. "Mom, the only thing I see under here is perverts."

He now knows that those are not perverts, they are just dust bunnies.

You are...

You are...

so not going to believe this! I won! I won! I won!

Giveaway of The Week !!!

I so love to follow Lisa's advice about getting products for next to nothing. Now that I can afford.

CVS for Newbies

We all know that I am really new to this whole shopping and getting things for almost free. Well I found out a little info about CVS that may help you. I was just browsing around and found it. Over at "i heart cvs" you can read more about it. Here is the link
i heart cvs
I think you will find some pretty neat info there if you are new to all this stuff like me.

I did it

I'm not joking! I did it! I am so excited. Oh, the boys - they are so ready to save, save, save...

Yesterday I had a few little things to do. I had to get the boys to the library because they have read everything in the house. No joke. My boys, yes, the same ones that HATE to read. Sssshhhh...don't tell anyone but I actually caught them all reading in the car yesterday.

After our little meeting on Saturday about saving and coupons and such, I have been thinking and discussing it with the boys and Superman. So...I thought that I would try it out while I was in the city. Here is what I did...

Campbell's soup regular price $1.39 a can.
I had a Walgreen's coupon for Campbell's soup $.59 a can.
I had a $1 off of 2 cans.

I paid 9 cents a can. Yes, $.09 a can.

Isn't that just AWESOME!

That is what the Coupon Queens call stacking. Stacking because I used 2 coupons on the same product.
Now get this. Some stores take their competitors coupons. Check with your local stores and see if they take other stores coupons.

I know it isn't like you have seen where some Coupon Queen goes in and buys $500 worth of stuff and pays only $.19 - but I'm getting there. Just one little step at a time!

Frugal and More

Frugal saves money. It really does. But there's more...

Saturday we had a little meeting at the church with one of our friends / sisters. I like the term sister better. Lisa over at her blog gave us some great info and advice. I have heard about people doing the coupon thing and coming out of the store with $500 worth of items and only paying $.19. I thought - Yeah, Right. Well I sure gotta say that Lisa has shown me the way!

Run on over there and do a little reading for yourself and see what you think. I'll try to let you know how I do from time to time.

Did you notice?

Did you notice? I mean - really...did you? I have made a few changes. Some time back the changes were kinda forced on me. I have to laugh about that part. The forced part. I was doing a little editing of the ole blog and I guess I edited way too much. Yeah - like things were just gone. Oh I was mad. I'm talking MAD! Not a cigarette anywhere (cause I was quittin) and I was MAD. Now that I'm over all that, I think I will work on this thing again. I won't post everyday but I sure will try to post more than what I have in the last year.

I have lots of pictures to show that I have been doing things. For example, today I helped one of the neighbor girls with an Earth Day project. (oh yeah - no pic of that) Anyway, I told them to save me all of their juice packs because I am addicted to that.

Gotta run for now. I have a few things to take care of. I have bible study in the morning and I don't wanna miss it like I did last week.

A Long Time

It has been so long since I have even checked on my blog. I look back over some of the post and think about where I have been and what I have been doing. It seems like I haven't been doing very much. But I have. You ever feel that way?

There have been days that I had to make myself get out of bed. There have been so many days that I have just lost track of them. I suppose I had no idea how my life would change when I made a few decisions. Yes - you all know by now about our adoption. That really was one of the largest life changing experiences that I have ever had. Until...

I quit smoking! I cannot believe how much I depended on those nasty cigarettes. A few diet cokes and a pack of cigarettes and I was set for the day. Oh yeah - I would snack here and snack there but sit down to a meal. I didn't have time! A smoke and a coke.

Not anymore. Now I have to eat. LOL
Anyway...Since I quit smoking, I gained weight. I have never been that big in my entire life! 150 pounds by the docs scale! I never, ever imagined that I would weigh that much. Not me! I knew I had to do something. And something I did...

I got mean! I'm not joking! Oh yeah - that was hormones. Yeah - the menopausal hormones. Horrible little things! But I am all fixed up now. I got me some hormones in a bottle! Yeppers, all fixed up now. LMBO

Lethargic? No, not at all. Just plain darn lazy! You couldn't melt and pour me out of the house. I think my dear husband must have thought that the aliens had taken the real me one night while he slept and replaced me with some, some, something... Something horrible! And then...

I remembered the doc had requested that I also take a multi-vitamin. Oh yeah, I was thinking...Pump me up with hormones and vitamins. I'll eat more than the boys and never see my size 5 jeans ever again. But...Spring is here and the aliens have returned me.

I'm walking at least 1 mile almost ever day, I'm eating better, I'm active again, I'm laughing again and I'm loosing weight. Size 5 jeans - look out cause I'm on the way!

Eco-Friendly Gift Giving

Lately I have been very conscientious about how much waste goes out into the environment. Although supermarkets and other stores are finally getting the message and not supplying so many plastic bags, people are still not getting the whole fact that they are the ones causing the problem, not the stores who are just going on the whole supply and demand thing.

There are so many little things we do in everyday life that contribute to the downfall of this planet. While going through the supermarket check out about a week ago, I had a conversation with the girl behind the counter. I was purchasing an extra carry bag with a cute picture on the outside. She asked if I would like to use it along with the rest. "No, I am going to use it as a gift bag", I said. "Oh, its cute" she replied. "But, I prefer to wrap things nicely. I always keep the paper when I receive a gift and recycle it in my craft work. It really irks me when people just tear open the wrapping".

Now while I sympathised with the poor girl, I could not help myself and had to ask " So how many trees do you think have to die for people to wrap presents?" The poor kid looked mortified! But she thought about it all right to the extent that she looked a little ashamed. "Why don't they teach us that in school?" she said. Hmmm, well, Im sure they do teach kids where paper comes from, surely? Around here, all it took was me walking past a big row of boxes and boxes of xmas wrap and casually saying "I wonder how many trees had to die to make this paper?" Dinoboy immediately frowned and replied "A lot mum". We then went on as a group discussion and it was decided that we would not be buying any this year!

It only takes a comment here and there for kids to work out things for themselves. And of course leading by example. If they see you doing the right things by the environment, they will follow. There are so many "little" things that you can do, that in the long run make a VERY BIG difference. So what can you do to help?

Firstly ask yourself before placing things in the garbage, "Can this be re-used?" A lot of what we throw out can. eg. glass jars, plastic jars or containers, pieces of string or ties (those ones that they seem to think all toys need a million of, these are great for use in the garden). Try to buy products that have the least amount of packaging or even better, none!

In the gift department, here are just a few.........

* Don't wrap gifts at all.
* If you must, how about a gift bag? If you do not write in the tags they can be re-used
* Or buy an eco bag and put the gift in it. (If its a childs gift there are heaps of cute ones available now and the kids can use the bags for outings, sleepovers etc.
* For adults....wrap in teatowels or fabric for crafty people.

Any ideas?????

Remember, every little thing we do helps! Make our planet a better place for our children!

Hey Alta

I am bestowing upon you, an award and since I can get in here thought I'd deliver it myself! LOL! Enjoy!

"This blog invests and believes in ‘proximity’ [meaning that blogging makes us 'close' - being close through proxy].”

Friends are Forever!

Love, hugs and smoochies Karisma xxxx

Snake in the Napkins

Ok - not really. There really isn't a snake in the napkins. I used that to get you interested and so that I wouldn't forget what I wanted to talk about. Pretty smart of me! LOL

Snake - It was AWESOME! Camera? Oh yeah - it was in the house. I have heard a lot about teachable moments. Well today was a teachable moment. I don't even remember what I was doing outside. I walked by our garden and I just happened to see a snake. Of course I called the boys over and we admired it's beauty. I was amazed at myself for remembering the name of it. Oh yes - it was my time to shine! Once we oohhed and aawwed until the snake was tired of us entertaining him, he decided to crawl out of the garden and into the flower bed. I immediately came inside and googled our snake. You are gonna love what I found...

Masticophis flagellum better known as the Eastern Coachwhip and here is another awesome website Coachwhip

I read that the coachwhip snake is very slender bodied and extremely fast. I saw it first hand today. What was the most unique to me was half of it was black and the other half was a light brown color. Interesting indeed!

What a teachable moment!

Oh yeah!!! I almost forgot! Napkins
With times the way they are and money kinda tight, we have been cutting back on lots of things. One of those things that I ranted about the other day was the use waste of paper napkins. Use it once and throw it away. Not anymore at our house. I announced to everyone at supper that there would not be anymore paper napkins bought. We will now make our own napkins and not waste another penny on something we are only going to throw away.
In my mind I had this idea about how to make our cloth napkins. I thought hmmm...if I can google a snake, why not google a napkin. So I did and this is what I found.

Molly's Handmade Napkins and Rebecca Writes Cloth Napkins
I really think that you will love the handmade clothe napkins on both of those sites. I know I sure will be doing some sewing in the next couple of days. I have some scrap material stowed away just for such projects.

Peace Within

What has happened to me? Where is this coming from? I don't know the answer to the questions and I don't want to know the answer. All I know is that I have a peace within. It's awesome. After just about driving myself nuts, I have finally figured out that the best thing for me to do is to lighten up. Yeah!

I'm really just updated and catching you all up to let you all know that I'm still around and we are still home schooling and we love it.

Money and more

$700 Billion - How in the world can someone or something get that far in debt? How can it possibly cost that much to clear up a mess? Shoot, when we spill a glass of milk it only cost a few cents. Ok - maybe a whole dollar now that the price of milk has gone up. I just really have a problem with this whole economy thing. Isn't it all just ridiculous!

Me and the boys save some money today. We turned off the air condition and opened up all the windows. Oh it was a beautiful day today. We are starting to feel fall in the air and it is a joy to have it. I'm either getting older or wiser...LOL...maybe both. I am noticing things that I knew about before but I didn't really notice them. Now not only do I know about them but I notice them. It's pretty awesome.

The boys have grown so much! Not only have they grown taller but they have really matured mentally. Some of the problems that we had before are a thing of the past.

School is going really well this year. I am so proud of all of our accomplishments. I'm gonna scoot outta here for now. Everyone is asleep but me and I want to do a little reading.

Home School Videos

I just discovered a great place to see some other homeschoolers doing what they do best. Yeppers - homeschooling! I am glad that other homeschoolers are showing off. With these home school videos, now I know our family is normal. LOL Go check it out!
Home School View Tube

Should I Quit

All of you know that I haven't been posting here like I should. I am just doing other things and don't want to spend so much time talking about what I want to do or what I've been doing or even what I'm gonna do...
I just want to go and do it. That's what has me thinking that maybe I should just quit. I mean quit blogging. No - not forever - just for a little while. Haha...that's pretty much what I've done. Well to some extent anyway.

Here lately I've been...
outside more
enjoying home school
raising a baby squirrel
doing more with freecycle
planning and planting a winter garden
enjoying our 3 boys