Busy, busy, busy

Today is our "All day build" for my younger kids OM team. (All day meaning three hours, but Ethan thinks "All day build" sounds much more important than "an extra meeting.") They are going to build and paint their set and props. Fingers crossed.

My Division 3 team (High school level) had their "Saturday build" last Sunday. (Don't ask.) From 11 to 5 they acomplished absolutely nothing. Oh wait... there was almost crushing a three year old like a bug with a huge hollow core door. I can cross that off the list of things to do before I die.

I decided to start reading through TWEM lists again. Well trying to. I didn't get very far last time because I didn't have a reading buddy. I need face to face discussion. (Can we say ADD?) I finally cornered, er... found a book buddy. Colleen reads as much as I do, so I bought her a copy of TWEM and a copy of Don Quixote. Hopefully I can get past this #$*& book and move to The Pilgrims Progress.

So am I the only one who really wishes I was Marie right now? I need to be in Florida. In a bad way. In the worst way.

Well, the new furniture has managed to last 1 1 /2 weeks without being scratched by the kids. No, in fact, the first scratch to my new furniture came from none other than yours truly. It turns out that big metal computer cases scratch wood when dragged across them. Who knew. >rolling eyes<

The slipcover, rug and curtains are still in tact, so that says something, right?

I am totally ripping of the shows "Decorating Cents" and "Design Remix" when it comes to art work.



I bought 16x20 canvases, because they were $3.50 each. Hopefully it will look ok. I will have to post a picture when it is done. I have the base coat on my canvases, but that is about as far as I have had time to get. I want to try to finish them tonight.



I am still looking for vintage matchbooks. I have the email address of someone who is selling them from the 30's and 40's from the NYC and Philadelphia area. Hopefully they don't want *a lot* of money for them. I am just too cheap. Art or not.

(Click on the pictures to go to the HGTV webpage that explains how to do it.)

I also want to get a Windowcard from Chicago, because it is the best musical ever. No really, it is.Somewhere around here I have my program. I could frame that, too. Does that make me an even bigger nerd? Don't answer that.

It is time for me to jump in the shower. We need to be at Cindy's at 1.

Have a great day!

The Chicago Tribune Printer's Row Book Fair

The Chicago Tribune Printer's Row Book Fair

11 Rules of Writing

This was posted to my local group, and I thought it was worth sharing.

11 Rules of Writing -- a concise guide to important grammar, punctuation, and writing style rules

I Won!!

World Physical Geography by Brenda Brewer Runkle

Waiting... waiting...

7 minutes!! I am going to die!

Really... who would have thought that I would be this excited over something no one has bid on, and I would have probably won anyway?! Can we say "Needs a hobby??"

Argh!!!

29 minutes

Go me again!

I was the high bidder for the Science in a Nutshell kit I wanted. $15.49 + 10.00 shipping is still less than if I bought it from Delta Education, so I am pretty ok with it. I am sure the person who sold it isn't that happy, though.

Tomorrow is Mom's Night Out. Marty is off and insisting I go if I can walk. Hummm... think he is trying to get rid of me? I'll bet there is a pizza delivery and Pay-per-view in the works.

I am loving the new zero-balance budget. Today I was listening to an old archived episode of "The Dave Ramsey Show" and DR said something like "Once you tell your money where to go you will feel like you got a raise." That is so true! We have budgeted for eating out, blow money, and homeschooling... and we still have more money left over. The great thing is that you budget the money, put it into an envelope (whether real or virtual depends on the category) and once it is gone, it is gone. You can't spend what you don't have (for each category). Now instead of paying the bills and then wondering where the rest of the money went we are paying the bills, funding envelopes, saving and then KNOWING where the money went. It is a very freeing feeling.

I was talking to my brother today. He said Sydney is starting to bite... kind of. She was biting, but now she will just put her mouth on you like she is going to bite and says "no, no, no" while shaking her head.

I am waiting for another auction to end and the suspense is killing me! Sheesh... I am like a 2 year old. I'm not going to say what it is because I don't want anyone to out bidnap my bidnap. Yes, I use a bid stealing program and am not ashamed to admit it. I never used to use it, always thinking it was wrong but then I had a bid snatched right out from under me one too many times. If it works on the one that will end soon I will spend 1/3 of the retail price for what I am bidding on. Not a bad deal, I think.

The boys were invited to a sleepover birthday party next weekend. They are really excited. I don't know what I will do with an evening to myself. Well, Marty is on vacation, so I am sure I can drag him to a movie or the bookstore.

Off to check ebay.

A great movie!

We ended up seeing National Treasure last night. What a good movie! I am a history geek, so the fact that there was a movie that made history look fun and worthwhile (ok, and dangerous!) was cool. Stretching it a bit, I know, but just go with me here.

We also finished the first book in the "History of Us" series. Go us! We started it in June. At this rate it will take us six and a half years to finish the series. Oy! We are about to start the 13 colonies, so I think we will take it slower through that book but then speed it up until we get to the next significant period.

I think I am going to try "Science in a Nutshell" for Alex and Ethan. The kits look pretty cool, and I love the fact that everything is there so I don't have to hunt down things. That seems to be the big problem with any science we have done. So hopefully this will fix that.

I decided to start with Electrical Connections, because that is SOOOOO Alex and Ethan.

From what Marie said I think I can stretch it to last a month if we do the kit one day a week, and read about the topic the other day we do science. (Science: Tues & Thurs.) I have budgeted $100 a month for homeschooling and I know I won't spend that much, so I think buying a kit a month isn't bad. Well, it isn't as good as buying something that will last a year, but science is the area we seem to fall down on the most, so I don't have a problem with it. Besides... I saw some used kits for sale, so if I find one that has enough for both of them, I will probably buy it. I could also sell what we have left, provided people buy them! lol

Christian will be starting Apologia General Science soon, so his science is taken care of.

Well, I am off to work on our menu plan for the week.

More ho hum...

Started Jensen's today. I am sure you heard the tortured screams. For the record, I liked it.

Marty is off today and tomorrow. Well, off, but at work. I think when they are thinking of the best time to schedule Managers meetings they look at the schedule to see when he is off.

Christian has Boy Scouts tonight, Alex and Ethan have OM tomorrow and well, that's about the extent of my plans. We might go see a movie tomorrow. The boys got gift cards for Christmas and have been waiting patiently to use them. It is my turn to pick the movie, so I am going to pick a chick flick, just because I can. (Actually, I think we will see National Treasure if it is still in the theater, but it is fun to watch the faces when I say *chick flick*.)

Tonight we went to Marty's work for dinner. Food always tastes better when you don't have to cook it or clean up after it.

Tomorrow I am not going to have to cook, either. Yummy food again.

A review

"I understand why some people think it is ok to burn books."
- Christian, when asked how he likes Stink Alley

(For the record, I think it is a good book.)

Ho Hum

Not much blog worthy happenings around here lately. Seems we do the same thing every day. It is like the movie 50 first dates... except we know we do the same damn thing day after day.

I did end up at the hospital the other night. That would have been exciting if I weren't in so much pain. Tendonitis in my ankle. Of all places. We were putting up shelves in Christian's room and I damage a tendon in my ankle. Yes, it is a talent.

I should be better if I stay off of it for a week or so. So far, not too bad. The boys made me sit in the chair all day yesterday and waited on me "hand and foot." Today, I still had to sit, but they only waited on me "hand." Tomorrow I am sure they will be thoroughly sick of it and I will be on my own. I will probably try to gimp into the kitchen to get ice, slip on a wet spot from the last time I got ice (that no one bothered to clean up) and fall and crack my head open. I will lie there for a good few hours, because tomorrow is Monday (Read: a school day) so the boys will try to hide out and watch TV in my room all day. Did I mention I am on a high dosage of pain medicine?

Speaking of high dosage of pain medicine... did you know that 600 mg. of Motrin makes my face swell up like a puffer fish? Neither did I.

Oh... I also found out today that my SIL is pregnant again!!
She is due in September, so she is just pregnant. Probably happened while they were visiting here. Yuck.

Jensen's Vocabulary came in. We start it tomorrow. From what I can tell so far it looks pretty good. Lots of Latin and Greek roots. I was pretty excited and wanted to get started right away, but Christian didn't seem so thrilled. He is just a stick in the mud sometimes.

You know, I was thinking of something this weekend. Having and homeschooling older kids ROCKS!! When we first started homeschooling I used to wonder how in the world I was going to school them when they got older. We took a "we'll cross that bridge when we get there" stance and haven't worried too much about it. That all changed last year. Suddenly I freaked out and decided it was going to be hard and I was going to have to prepare myself for it. Now that we are here, I am having a blast. We had a lot of fun with the younger grades, but it is a different kind of fun. Hard to describe, so you will just have to take my word for it.

To all of you who have young kids, especially if you are homeschooling them, it gets easier. And a lot more fun!

Off to work on what we will be doing tomorrow!

Happy New Year!

In the hopes of not turning this into a self-help blog I haven't been posting much lately. As many of you may (or may not) know I am trying to make changes in my life. They all seemed to come to a head in the month of December, and pretty much everything I had to talk about had to do with them... so I spared you all the boring details. I decided that I blog for me and not for the benefit of anyone reading it (something I have known all along)and this is New Years Day, so here are all the boring details I spared you of.

The areas I am trying to change are:
House
Decluttering- It seems I have been "decluttering" for all of my damn adult life. I swear to god a box leaves my house for Goodwill at least once a week. (Where does it all come from????)I was about to give up when my SIL mentioned that she has really noticed a difference. I realized exactly where it came from. Short version- My dad died when I was 16. A year later, I moved out, into an apartment with Marty. My mom gave us everything she had, because she wanted to get rid of anything that reminded her of my dad. Add that to the fact that my dad was a huge, hugepack rat (stemmed from growing up dirt poor), crap my grandma gave us, Marty's family gave us... well, it was a lot of stuff. All dumped on me. We are almost done with it. Seriously. If our house were *normal* size and not so darn small, our house wouldn't be cluttered at all.

Health
I don't take care of myself at all. Not even remotely. I almost died because I was too stupid to go to the hospital when I had severe stomach cramps. Ended up having emergency surgery less than 24 hours later.
I have recently found out that there is a 99.9% chance I have a pretty crappy "thing" to deal with. It won't kill me, but will make my life crap if I don't control my diet and get into shape. That is why I try so hard to do the McDougall thing. Not because I don't like meat and dairy (believe me... I could live off of it) but because meat and dairy tear me up inside. Makes me feel like I would be better off dead. I haven't had any meat and very little dairy in 7 days and feel 95% better.
Since moving to Michigan I have gained 50 or so lbs. I was probably about 40lbs overweight to begin with, so you can imaging what I am facing. My goal is to lose 100 lbs. I don't care how long it takes... I have to do it.

Finances
Marty and I have been coasting through life financially ignorant. If we have it, we spend it. I really think it stems from years of not having any extra money. There were many, many months of his pay check being just enough to cover the mortgage, and thank god I worked or we wouldn't have food and utilities. Been there, done that, bought the shirt, and never going back.
I opened a checking account, have a "baby emergency fund," and will be starting a debt snowball with Marty's next pay check. We will be debt free in either July or December (depending on whether or not we decide to buy a newer van. We will pay cash for it.) We will then begin saving our larger emergency fund (3-6 months living expenses) and then for a house. We plan to buy using the 100% down plan.
We have a zero based budget, have started a will and are looking into life insurance above and beyond what Marty gets through work.

School
Not really much different there, other than we are now a guilt-free homeschool.
I have always put myself through a guilt trip if we take time off of school. (I have even been known to take school work on vacation with us.) I know there are people out there who think we do nothing all day (believe me... I have been told by a few people some of the things that have been said about me) and that my kids are not taught at all. To that all I have to say is... Well, I won't say. All I will say is that I have stopped caring what other people think of me. The people that I care what they think know who they are (at least they should!) and that's all that matters, right?

NO MORE GUILT!!! I tested Christian using a couple of different tests (some online, some not) and he tested right where he should be. Some things he was higher, some a little lower (science) but over all, right where he should be.
We have always schooled from January to December... we pulled them out of government school in October, took until January to deschool and have just always stuck with that schedule. So far what we are using with Alex and Ethan is working great, so no real changes there. I realized that I am not expecting enough from Christian, so we are changing a few things. Here is what his curriculum list looks like. The things in the horribly bright green that probably makes you want to gouge your eyes out are things we are currently using that we won't change.

English
Resources to have on hand

Strunk & White's The Elements of Style
The Merriam Webster Dictionary
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Synonyms & Antonyms
The American Heritage College Dictionary
Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary

Literature

Stink Alley By: Jamie Gilson
Stout-Hearted Seven By: Neta Lohnes Frazier
Wait for Me, Watch for Me, Eula Bee By: Patricia Beatty
Amos Fortune, Free Man By: Elizabeth Yates
Patty Reed's Doll- The Story of the Donner Party By: Rachel K. Laurgaard
Indian Captive- The Story of Mary Jemison- By: Lois Lenski
A Gathering of Days- By: Joan W. Blos
The Landing of the Pilgrims By: James Daugherty

Spelling

Sequential Spelling

Grammar and Composition

Elements of Language

Vocabulary

Jensen’s Vocabulary

Math

Basic College Mathematics (Lial)

History

A History of Us
Critical Thinking in US History Book 1
Critical Thinking in US History Book 2

Health

ABeka

Art

Artistic Pursuits Junior High Book 1

Science

Apologia- General Science

Latin

Artes Latinae

Physical Education

????? Haven't decided. Maybe a class somewhere? Right now we just do exercise programs that are on "On Demand."

Typing

JumpStart Typing

Logic

The Fallacy Detective
Critical Thinking Book 1

Well, there is my self help blog. Here is my resolution for a complaint-free (or at least complaint-light) Blog for the new year! We will now return to our regularly scheduled blogging.

.

Calif. home found for zoo elephants

Calif. home found for zoo elephants

Create your own snowflake

Popular Front: SnowDays

Gobbledygook

Managed to get the desks up and the closet cleaned out. Have done a bunch more, too. I am "Extreme Decluttering" and loving it. I have taken more crap to thrift, listed for sale or thrown away more than any group of five humans should own. Ever.

Every night when Marty comes home from work he looks around to see what else is gone.

I really like being able to look around as see empty space... But that's just me.

Today was the group skate my kids refused to go to. I got an email this morning telling me that the crazy mom with the -BLANK- kid my kids were avoiding wasn't going after all. They had the flu. Of course, none of us were prepared to spend the day skating, and had even made other plans, so we had to pass it up. Figures... The woman that kept us and a few others away bails at the last minute. Nice. (Yeah... I know she had the flu, but I am still not happy about it. Hopefully her flu will last only a month or so, so she isn't suffering too much. Of course, I wish nothing but health for her non -BLANK- kids. I'm not even going there about the -BLANK- one.)

I have made a grand total of $77 selling old school books. Not bad for stuff that is just sitting around. I don't know what is up with some of the things, though. Some of them I have listed over and over and over but they still don't sell. What's funny (??) is that they are the things I had to buy new because every time I would email someone who was trying to sell them, they were snatched up immediately.

I am looking for a place to sell yard sale type things when it is too darn cold to have a yard sale. ebay might work for some of them but some I know it won't. Maybe I will just store the stuff in the garage and have a yard sale in the spring. Who knows... I just want this stuff out of my house and the money in my bank account. That's not asking too much, is it? I didn't think so.

Now my brother isn't sure if they are going to go to Florida right now. He said that Sydney is so young and he doesn't want family to miss her growing up. I happen to know it is because his MIL freaked out and threatened to adopt a kid so her other granddaughter would have someone to play with. I told him not to let the feelings of others influence his decision. (Besides, the most important relative in her life lives 4 1/2 hours away, so if he was worried about other peoples feelings he needed to move to Detroit.) Of course, I kicked myself after I got off the phone with him, but I really think he needs to do what he feels is right for his family and not what others feel is right for them. Duh.

My mom is planning to come up next week. She wants to bring the boys their birthday and Christmas presents. I hope to have my extreme declutter done by then because some of this stuff goes to her or to someone in Ohio she can deliver it to.

Crap... There goes some clutter trying to sneak it's way back in. It has taken over the brain of my 9 year old reformed (by force) pack rat and is making him transport it back in as he stares blankly, blissfully unaware that his mind is being controlled by junk. Oh wait. That's just Ethan trying to sneak a magnet we got in Myrtle Beach back to his room. Must save the boy...

Kid's Recipes

Kid's Recipes

Which is worse...

That Ethan is doing the robot to "New Moon on Monday"

-OR-

That I have a CD that has "New Moon on Monday" on it, and play it regularly?

Is it nap time yet?

I have a house full tonight. Four of Colleen's kids are here while she is having her baby. Her husband just called to let us know that the baby is here. It is a girl (which they knew) but they haven't picked a name yet. The choices are: Kiara, Cassandra or Emma. I voted for Emma, but almost everyone else has voted for Cassandra. Both mom and baby are doing great.

Had to run and buy another turkey today. I never knew how expensive the ones that are left can be. There were some for $40!! Luckily, I am a cheapskate and found one for $20. Meijer had a special offer of $9 off if you spent $10. I bought $10 worth of stuff I needed to get anyway and got the turkey+ extra stuff for $21.

Amanda (Colleen's 13 year old that Christian has a major crush on... Who happens to have a major crush on him) and I tortured the boys by making them watch "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen." Earlier we made them watch "Around the World in 80 Days." They won't admit it but they liked both movies.

Christian is loving his early birthday present! He turns 13 this year (sniff, sniff) and Marty and I decided that for 13th birthdays we would get them a computer. I have an uncle that builds custom computers for a living, and he built a really nice one for less than cost. I had to go to Ohio to pick it up, but while I was there I picked up the desks my mom bought for Alex and Ethan, and loved on Sydney.

Speaking of Sydney... My brother called the other night and asked how much our move to Detroit cost. I asked if he was planning to move to Detroit, but he avoided the question. ::Screaming "Red Herring!!" at the top of my lungs::

After a few minutes he told me they are planning to move to Florida... In MARCH. In March. That really sucks. It is bad enough that we are 4 hours from them, but 18. Not cool.

Yesterday

The good:
*Alex and Christian don't need glasses
*We dropped off 19 shoe boxes to "Operation Christmas Child" and found out that just yesterday they had collected over 5,000 boxes
*Decided to adopt two more soldiers
*Talked to Marie and found out some more information about what to send, how to send it, etc.

The bad:
*While picking up boxes and talking at Cindy's house, we saw a car accident. The driver was an elderly man who lived on the cross street next to Cindy's house. He had a heart attack while driving and had crashed into a tree. We called 911 and tried to help. The paramedics were able to revive him, but he didn't make it.
*On the way home from Dearborn (to drop the shoe boxes off) a truck swerved into our lane and almost hit us. Just as that happened we came over a hill and saw a cop had pulled someone over on the shoulder, so we had to get over into the far lane, behind the truck. As we passed the cop, we saw that the person he had pulled over was hand cuffed and there were bags and bags and bags wrapped in plastic in the back of his truck, and on the ground. (I swear... it looks just like it does in the movies.) As we get passed them, we see what is obviously an unmarked police car in the lane next to us, one car length ahead of the truck in front of us. All of a sudden a cop pulls in front of me with his sirens and lights on and slams on his brakes. The unmarked car pulls in front of the truck, doing the same. Both officers jump out of their cars with their guns drawn screaming "Drop it! Put your hands up!" and "I said drop it or I will shoot!" Now keep in mind I am so close to the cop car in front of me that I CAN'T MOVE. My kids are in the van, watching all of this, and god help us if the guy tries to fire at the cops. Needless to say, nothing happened, we got out of there as fast as we could and will NEVER take the Southfield Fwy/Southfield Drive again.
*Got home and realized we had grabbed the wrong video about Operation Christmas Child. They had a stack of them and told us to take one to show the kids who couldn't come and deliver the boxes... Well, of course, I grabbed the wrong one. This one is how to pack the boxes and the 20004 report. I am going to call them tomorrow and see if they can send me the *real* one. Sigh.


I will update more later today. Right now I have a closet to clean out and two desks to set up. Wish me luck.

Our Nursing Home Visit

Our local homeschool group visits a local nursing home monthly. This month the residents "helped" the kids make pilgrim hats and Native American head bands.



Pilgrim Alex

Pilgrim Ethan

Christian making a pilgrim hat with a resident