HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!!!!!

Jonah is Gettin' the Hits!

Every once in a while I like to see who has been visiting my blog and what they are looking for. I have registered with SiteMeter to track this info. It's free. :o)

Anyway, the most popular post is the one I wrote on the Jonah Craft that my son did last year at campmeeting. I think the last 30 hits to my blog have all been due to a google search for Jonah.

The thing that I find most puzzling is that, of all the visits that that post gets, I have only 1 comment. :o(

It is a really cute craft is you are looking for a fun activity for VBS, church or home.

La La La...I'm Not Titling This Post. :o)

Tired...should be sleeping...but I'm updating my blog. :o)

We invited my in-laws over for supper today after church. It turned out my brother-in-law & sister-in-law were planning to stop by for a visit at my in-laws place so we invited them for supper too. There was plenty to go around.

After supper we went for a walk. Before we left we couldn't find the dog. We assumed that she had gone with my nephew who left ahead of us. We caught up with him, but no dog. I figured that once we got back to our property she would run to meet us. Still no dog. I stood on the deck calling her name and whistling but no sound or sight of her. So my son and other nephew & I went driving to see if we could spot her. We would stop periodically and call her and look over the fields. You guessed it still no dog. Driving back to our place I decided that I would drive to the top of our hill. No dog there so we turned around a drove back down. That is when the 2 boys remembered that they had been playing hide & seek in the barn...maybe she was in there. They ran to the barn and sure enough there she was. Boy, was she glad to be out of there. She was so excited to be released. I don't know why she didn't bark when I called her so many times from the deck. I was so glad that we found her safe and sound! :o)

Homeschool Happenings

This afternoon we went to visit friends. They homeschool too. The kids had fun playing while my friend and I talked homeschooling. We seemed to stay on the topic of science. She is using Bob Jones this fall and I think I am going to wing it with my Dinah Zike Big Book of Science book as well and books and movies from the library. We are both enjoying lapbooking with the kids so I think that will be a given. :o)

When we got home I asked Caleb what he would like to study in science this year. So far, he has said Volcanoes and Kingdoms (plant, animal, fungi...,etc). I'm thinking that will be fun.

I've set up another blog to keep track of our homeschool happenings. Right now it is still a work in progress so I have the privacy settings on. I am trying to think of a way to highlight subjects and skills. Possibly highlight the subjects with color and bold italics for the skills. Good thing I will have the summer to figure it out. lol ;o)

What A Beautiful Day!

It is such a beautiful day today!! The sun is shinning and the fields and sky are the prettiest green and blue. :o) A great day for hanging out laundry...which is waiting in the washer for me. ;o)

I have a little bit of time to myself this afternoon as my son went with my husband and brother-in-law to deliver wood. He loves helping his dad. :o) I am never very productive though when he is gone...when the cat's away. lol ;o) I will probably work on some homeschool planning and organizing. I guess that is productive.

Supper is in the slowcooker so I don't have to worry about that. Yay! :o) I put a roast in early this morning and it should be nice and tender by supper time. I read somewhere that the slowcooker takes less power/energy than the oven. Not sure if that is true, but I enjoy the slowcooker for cooking my roasts just for the convenience factor. It's great in the summer time too as the kitchen doesn't heat up like it does with an oven.

Well the nice weather...and wet laundry are calling me. :o)

A Quick Blog Post :o)

Well, it is almost midnight here and I really should be sleeping and getting some rest. I've been sick since last Monday evening and am just starting to feel half decent. Still stuffed up and a bit achy at times. Ironically I had made it through winter with no colds or anything and then boom I get this. No fun! Although, I did get a book read while I was taking it easy. I'll post about that later when I have more time. :o)

We went for a dirve with my in-laws today. We went to a green house to get some more plants for our flower garden and vegetable garden. We ate supper out and then home again. My mother-in-law dug up some of her extra perennials for me. :o) She gave me irises, lillies, lady slippers and another kind of lily. I'm not much of a green thumb so I hope they are tough enough to survive my inexperience. lol :o)

It's after midnight now, but this was the little suggestion at the top of my blog when I started typing...

Choose your battles wisely ~ give patience where patience is due, and continually ask God for wisdom in discipline.

My son and his best friend don't get to see each other regularly because we live about 30-40 minutes apart, but they love to talk on the phone. I am constantly reminding my son that when he is done talking that he needs to check to see if anyone left a message while he was on the phone. Lately he has been forgetting to do that. It can be an hour or more before he remembers to check it. :o( My mom called earlier this week and left a message and then was worried because she knew I was sick and wondered why we weren't answering the phone or returning her call. (Mom's think the worst you know.) Again tonight he forgot to check and I only got my friend's message 1 1/2 hours after she called! So I told him that if that happens again he will not be able to use the phone for a day or so. But, now that I am thinking about it, it is also punishing his friend. What to do? I think I am going to try reminding him to check for messages when he is done talking.

I need to be patient and pray for more wisdom in my discipline. :o)

Titles????

Sometimes I wish I didn't need to come up with a title for my post. Technically I could leave it blank, but somehow I feel the need to name it. Strange!! lol :o)

There is really no name for this post. I'm just rambling about my day. We left here early today and didn't get back til about 3:00pm. It was such a beautiful day, that when we got home, I did a quick load of laundry and got it hung out on the line. I looovvveee hanging things on my clothes line!! Good thing too because our dryer has been broke for a few months now. It is supposed to rain tomorrow so I wanted to take advantage of the sunshine.

My husband cooked supper. :o) I did the dishes while our son cleaned out the van. He had to get out his things, any garbage and any recyclables one of (or both) his grandmothers gave him that were in there. After I did the dishes, I went out to get my things, etc., out of the van and then vacuumed it out. Wow! It looks so much better! I always say that we will stay on top of things and not let it get messy again, but of course it does. lol :o)

Then it was time to bring in my laundry, fold it and put it away. That drawer really needs to get a tidy and quick!! lol :o) I think I will try to tackle my son's drawers too. I need to sort through what he has outgrown and pack away some of his long-sleeved shirts to make room for his summer clothes.

Never a dull moment. ;o)

Making A Note

It's interesting that, when I looked back over my blog, I was reading things that I had forgotten all about, but was so glad that I recorded them here. Something happened back on March 12 that I want to be sure I make a note of.

On that evening I had to run out to the store. It had just started to snow very slightly and my son thought that I shouldn't go. He said the things I was going for weren't important. lol :o) I knew that the roads would be fine and reassured him that I would be okay. He knew I was going to go when he saw me putting my boots on. He came over to me and said, "Well, let's have prayer before you go." and then he proceeded to pray for me to have a safe drive to and from the store.

Spider Lapbook

This is the first lapbook that we completed. The black spiders on the file folder are Caleb's fingerprints. He drew on the legs and eyes.

This lapbook is made up of 3 file folders put together. This is a look at the inside of the first section. Did you know that scientists say that we are never more than 3 feet away from a spider??

This lapbook included a variety of activities.

We polled our friends and family to find out who is afraid of spiders.

This section included a tic-tac-toe game, acrostic poem, trivia, copywork and a puzzler.

The life cycle of a spider.

Lots of new vocabulary words!!

I really like how this little mini book turned out. It pulls out to show the answer to the question.

Did you know that a spider is not an insect?

Some Homeschooling Links

Here are some links that I stumbled across and thought it might be of benefit to other homeschoolers or those thinking of it.

Homeschooling for FREE!! LOTS of resources.


FREE Gardening Unit Study

Where Does the Time Go???

Wowzers!! The time has really gotten away on me. lol :o)

We are really enjoying spring here in our little neck of Canada. I am so not a winter person, but this winter was just too much. It has really made me appreciate spring so much more!! :o)

The deer had a very hard winter here with so much snow in the woods. They are out in full force now enjoying a feast in the fields. Today on our way home from my in-laws, we saw 4 deer in there fields and then 3 in our field. The 3 in our field were very close, yet they didn't move when we drove up the drive way. They just looked at us and we looked at them. :o) We must have looked trust worthy because they didn't move when my husband continued on. They just watched us drive up to the house and they kept on eating.

Are You Amazed?

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in HIm shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Kitchen Contest

A Cowboy’s Wife is having a contest on her food blog! You can win a Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer and she’ll ship anywhere so everyone is eligible!

The Prize:


The winner will receive a brand new
Hamilton Beach 4.5-qt. Eclectrics Stand Mixer, Pineapple Yellow!!

About the mixer:

From Hamilton Beach’s “Eclectrics” line, this all-metal stand mixer comes with a host of accessories - a Flat Beater for cakes and cookies, a Dough Hook for bread and a Wire Whisk for whipped cream or pudding. The 4.5-qt. stainless steel bowl comes with a Pouring Shield that helps prevent splattering while in operation. The pouring shield has a built-in chute for adding ingredients. Powered by 400 watts, the stand mixer has a two-way mixing action to ensure all ingredients are incorporated into the mix. The quick-release, tilt-up head assists when removing the bowl. 9 x 14 x 14-in. When you’re ready for a kitchen re-do, don’t call in the carpenters! Instead, “counterscape” your kitchen with Hamilton Beach’s retro-designed, affordably priced electrics in happy, sun-saturated colors. Their “Eclectrics” line includes updates to those classic appliances from the 1950s. All of their “Eclectrics” are available in six colors: Apple Green, Moroccan Red, Pineapple Yellow, Intrigue Blue, Sugar White and Licorice Black.

Gas Prices Are Crazy!!!!

The gas prices here are crazy! 1.09 per liter of regular gas...or $4.36 per gallon! The prices will change either tonight or tomorrow. Will they be up or down? We won't know until they get changed. So it is hard to know whether to fill up at the current price or wait and hope it goes down.

If I lived in the city I could rely on public transit, but here in the country, we depend on our van to get us from place to place. I usually only make 1 trip to town per week, which means I have to be somewhat organized. I'm fairly organized but not perfect, but then again who is perfect?? lol :o)

Speaking of organization, our homeschool co-op had it's monthly meeting last night. the topics were multi level teaching and organization. One of the mom's showed the binder system that she uses, as well as some books on organization. One of the books she had was one that I have heard several homeschool moms (online groups) raving about. Ironically, she found that, while it had it's good points, it wasn't a match for her family. The majority of the moms there said they didn't find it useful to them either. I'm glad that I had the chance to look at it before I purchased it. I would have been disappointed if I had bought it. I've done this with other books too thinking they would be a perfect fit for us only to find out that they weren't. Having said all of that...I am thankful to the various groups and email loops I am one because of all of the hands on reviews of different books and companies.

Wow! How did my post about gas prices become about my meeting last night?? I am guessing I am thinking about the gas used to get there and the fact that there will be another trip to town this week for a field trip. Two trips instead of the usual one. Man, I hope the gas prices go down!!

Lapbook Freebie

This is a free "What is snow?" lapbook that Homeschool eStore is offering for free. Offer is only good for this week, so be sure to check it out.

Our Monday

Today was a bit of a relaxed homeschooling day. We did some more work on the spider lapbook(handwriting, drawing, cutting,& researching), worked on another mini book for the Bible lapbook (Bible, handwriting, drawing & cutting), made cookies using only a 1/4 cup and a 1/2 teaspoon for measuring(following dirctions, math fractions & life skills), and did some reading about life in the 1800's in Canada(reading and histroy). After that was done, Caleb took the dog out in the yard for some exercise.

At supper time, Caleb was telling his dad different little facts about the things he learned today. After supper we played a game of SkipBo(thinking skills). And while I was doing up the supper dishes, Caleb and hubby played a game of hockey (gym).

It's so easy for me to get focused on worksheets and books but, when I look at all of the learning that takes place in the run of a day, I think I really should just chill out. :o)

What a Busy Day!!

Today was a whirlwind day. Rush, rush! Caleb had a birthday party to attend this afternoon and I had a bazillion errands to do before that. Okay maybe not a bazillion but alot. lol ;o)

I took 2 large garbage bags and 2 boxes of stuff to the second hand store today. That sure makes our room look alot less cluttered.:D After we dropped the bags and boxes off, we went in to see what bargains we could find. My in-laws had given us some Bible Story books by Arthur Maxwell. 4 of the books were missing. I was able to get 3 off of eBay, but I still needed Volume 1. Well, what should I find today but Volume1! I am surprised that I even noticed it because the edition I found looks nothing like the rest of the books we have, but hey it still completes the set. The book I found today is smaller but thicker and it is red. The other ones we have are blue. lol :o) I am thankful to have found it and that it only cost around $3.50 total. :D Here is a picture of my find.

Have you ever lived in a small town? I grew up in the the city but in a small community. Everyone knows everyone. I haven't lived there for 12 years, but all my family lives there. Most people know me. Anyway, we stopped at the pharmacy to pick up a birthday card. When I walk in the clerk (I went to school with her son) smiles and says,"Oh your the girl who had a shower for T ?" referring to a baby shower I had 2 weeks ago for my friend. I replied, "Yes and I can't wait til she has the baby." Well then she grins even more and says, "Well I won't say anything more." That gave it away right there! :D My friend and her husband are the proud parents of a healthy baby boy! He arrived 3 weeks early. I've already claimed the title 'Auntie Lisa'. She and I have known each other since Grade 1 and, since neither of us has a sister, we say that we are the sisters we never had. (She's an only and I have 4 older brothers). I was her matron of honor at her wedding last December. So needless to say I am very excited and happy that she is so excited and happy! :o)

Back to the small community.....I get home from town and find out that my friend's husband had called and was talking to my husband, who called and told my mom, who told my 2 aunts, my sister-in-law, my niece and a friend. Who did I get to tell?? Um....no one! :o( I suppose that is not entirely true. I did get to tell the blogging world. lol :o)

Wow! I haven't blogged this much in a long while! ;o)

I am exhausted and very awake at the same time. It is well past midnight here and I really should be sleeping if I want to be half alert tomorrow. lol :o)

Tuesday Ramblings

I couldn't think of a title. Tuesday Ramblings should do seeing as I don't have any one particular thought to post about.

We had our first snow today. We woke up to a ground covering of white stuff. Of course Caleb was thrilled and was out the door pronto. He was out there for at least an hour and went through 2 pairs of mitts. I'm glad he got to enjoy it because by lunch time it was gone.

I am hoping to get started on making our Christmas cards this week. I am such a procrastinator! :D Add to that the fact that my supplies I ordered were late getting to me. I was really hoping to address them tomorrow night. Oh well maybe I'll work on them tomorrow night. We don't celebrate Halloween, so I know I will be home.

See ramblings was a good title. lol :o)

Changing Things Up a Bit

As I mentioned in my previous post, we have recently started lapbooking. I wanted to do something different from the typical fill-in-the-blank worksheet because they aren't a whole lot of fun for Caleb. We are finishing up our first one. It is on spiders. I've learned alot about spiders. lol :o) Today we started another one on Biblical Responsibility. It has 13 (or 14) activities, so it should take us about 3 weeks to do as we will do one activity per day. We do this in addition to 'My Bible First'. Once the spider one is finished, we will start a new one on something science or health related. If you click on the link above you can download a sample of the Biblical Responsibility lapbook.

Here is a freebie lapbook on Art Appreciation. It looks like it will be a fun way to learn about art concepts and artists. This changes every quarter, so be sure to save it before it gets changed. :o)

If you have preK- K aged children, they may enjoy doing a lapbook called 'All about Me'. :o) Or maybe Apples!! They are freebies too!

I will take a picture of our finished spider lapbook to post and share. I'll also take a picture of the supplies we use to make our books.

On another completely different note, I have made my 3rd batch of laundry soap. We are still really liking it. One batch lasts us about a month. I shared with another mom how to make it and she finds it a big savings for her family of 5.

More Catching Up!!

I thought I should post soemthing since I have neglected this ole blog for quite a while now. Really I should be in bed since it is almost midnight here and I have a headache. I rarely get headaches. They are usually sinus headaches or tension headaches. This is a tension headache from thinking (over thinking). I'm sure it will be better by morning.

Caleb & I have been working on a lapbook about spiders. I've wanted to incorporate lapbooking into our homeschooling but never was really sure about how to go about it. Well I had downloaded a freebie one on spiders a while back. It showed exactly how to fold each mini book and where to place it in the folder. So we (I) decided to do that one. I liked the idea of knowing exactly how it should look, but I think the next one that we do will have a little bit of our own touch to it. We may even attempt 2 at the same time. Maybe a science on and a Bible one. At least now my scrapbooking stuff (which is pretty much just sitting on my messy desk) will be put to good use. :P