I Was Off Of The Computer A Few Days : (

I was away from the computer a few days..... We had our cable/internet/phone shut off : (
Still waiting for that incentive check.... and would you belive they have stopped our food stamps too! I got a letter saying that I didn't get the info. they requested back to them soon enough (I had no stamps or gas to go get them so I put the letter in my mailbox with the change to put two stamps on it, So I can't say for sure what might have happened to it). I will need to call the to file a claim or something to see if I can get that back up and running.
Things sure are tough around our area, My son went down to the Target meet and greet to put in his application - Would you belive the line was all the way around the out side of the hotel where they were holding this. There were so many people there for these jobs that the Target people were unprepared for that many. Kris said it was alot of people my age in line - Can you imagine all these people fighting for a few minimum wage jobs : ( Kris felt really low when he got home, He thought for sure he would be able to get a job at Target now it looks like that won't happen. When I had called the Police Academy they told me that alot of people who couldn't find jobs were now signing up at the academy so the classes which were wide open a few months ago are now being filled. Kris had hoped to start in Aug. (He had to wait till he had his diploma first to apply) but the gal said he will be lucky to get into the Oct. class - Yikes!
I am finding it very hard to do school work with Kelly while Kris is home. She feels she should be off too. I think it is really going to be a struggle to keep school work going through the summer - But to be honest it is so hot out that there isn't much else to do anyway.
Hope Everyone Has a Great Weekend : )

Tax Incentive Check

I was floored today when I got the notice we were only getting $900 dollars instead of the $1,500 we had anticipated back from the tax incentive check! It was like someone punched me in the stomach. I had such plans for that money, We were going to get all our bills caught up and possibly buy a swimming pool. We so need one here during the hurricane season, when the electric goes out we have no pump so no water. A few years ago when we were out of electricity for 5 days we used our old pool constantly not only to swim in to cool off (Can you imagine no air conditioner for 5 days) but to flush our toilets - Now we have two horses to think about who will also need water.... Anyway, I guess I should look at it as it will help get us caught up with some of the bills which is a good thing.

Graduation Day : )

Well I made it through my son's graduation without crying!!!! As you can see from the pictures it was a huge place and really very impersonal I thought so I didn't get carried away with it (Of course I did have a few moments when we meet up with him & his girlfriend after the graduation, It is like you are now looking at a different person.... but I choked back the tears).

I just am having such a bad day already and it's only 9am.
My husband get's his first paycheck from the new company today, but we need to pay the car insurance bill which will be cancelled by tomorrow, so that's $90.00 gone, then the electric bill which the shut off date was yesterday, so that's another $116.00. That wouldn't be too bad but in the past weeks we have drained all of the food supplies, It is terrible! He says we will have about a $100.00 for his car gas, food, animal food ect. (remember he uses about $15.00 a day in gas...). So we obviously have not enough money for this week. BUT the big kicker is my son graduates Sat. night down at the convention center in Daytona Beach - I don't have a thing to wear! I was going to go to the salvation army and pick up something to wear Sat. morning but now I don't know if that will be possible, maybe I won't even go. I just sat in the chair this morning and had to hold back the tears.... I pray that the tax incentive checks comes today!!!!

The Planets... Can't You Tell : )

Can you tell how crafty I am by looking at this astronomy project? It really looks terrible but we tried! I am really making an effort to try and do the experiments & projects that are mentioned in the books we are using - It just adds a little bit of zing to the day. BUT having said that this little project took up alot of our time today so we we didn't get much else done : ( It was uplifting when Kelly remembered the saying I taught her to remember the planets in order "My Very Ernest Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles" - yea!

Experiments : )

We are enjoying the book "How Nature Works", We did two of the experiments. One experiment Kelly took a video of, We sure did make a mess.... it went all over the counter and pretty much ruined my counter top : ( It does add a bit of fun. (Please over look my daughter's hair - I took the picture as soon as she got up in the morning)/

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Wow, What a crazy few days!
First off I found this coral snake in my back yard - Yikes! This is gross but he was eating another snake so he was slow moving, my husband and daughter were all running inside while I was left out there to take care of him. He is a poisonous snake so I took the shovel to him but I had the willys about it.
Then my son and his girl friend made it to the prom Friday night, Isn't my son just a handsome devil! They went to my in-laws so his grandparents could take pictures and then they went to the hospital where her dad is to let him see them. While at the hospital they got a flate tire luckly her brother was able to take care of it. Kris said they were very late in getting to the prom but they had an nice time.
THEN would you belive Sat. night at about 9:30pm. there was a knock at our door. I ran and got my husband up and he went out, It was the police! My neighbor's (the family who called the animal control on us) house had an attempted burglary. The office asked if we had seen anything, I told him that on Fri. I saw a a strange homeless looking type man walk past my house and then went into the woods - I had to go to the store and drove past and sure enough there he was, but when I came back he was gone.... or went further into the woods. I looked on our public sherrif webpage where they list all the crimes (you just put in your address and you can see what is going on around you), Sure enough another burglary was down another street not too far away from us on Wed. Of course this puts everone on edge but really we have a ton of dogs which I don't think anyone who wants to steal things would want to deal with. I am a bit worried that the neighbors think we did it since they called the animal control and might cause us some problems, But with the other burglary listed on the site it should show them that this has nothing to do with that. I am not to shocked about this, I think it is going to get alot worse with the economy the way it is but it sure makes me a bit leary when Kelly & I are here all by ourselves during the day with no car....

My Neighbors Are At It Again!

Just when I thought things were going pretty good around here with our neighbor in pulls the animal control truck into my yard yesterday!
Yep, They gave me a warning for having my goats loose and running after people.... In our area it is pretty car free most of the time and the only people who walk by are two boys (a 16 year old about 200lbs. & a 15 year old) who get off of the school bus - One is my problem neighbor's son & the other one lives all the way down the end of the road, So I know who called the animal control people. It just burns my butt that here we have a drug dealer & a sex offender living next door to us and they have to worry about my goats! As you all know from my whining I am home almost ALL the time, I watch the goats as much as possible, sometimes they do wonder across the dirt road and nibble on the trees, shrubs ect. over in the vacant lot across from my house but as soon as I see them I run over and get them. They have never tried to bite a sole, So it is very hard for me to belive that a 200lb. boy is afraid of my goats, I am sure it is just his parents getting on my case. Anyway, they gave me a month to show some kind of improvement to the fence or I will be given a citation (I had to laugh though, here I get a citation for goats running around when the guy who almost ran me over got a verbal warning from the police office! Where is the justice in that!)
Enough about that mess, I have been very lucky lately with posting want ads on our local freescycle group. so far I have gotten two 10 gal fish tanks and a lady wrote me about picking up her bird cage : ) I posted about wanting a telescope & microscope but nothing came of that - I am keeping my eye out on the craigslist and ebay for something cheap.
Kelly hasn't been well, I am not sure if it is stress from all that is going on here about money, no job ect. but is seems as though she is very peaked looking and yesterday in the car she threw up again. She does get car sick lately but this seems to be a bit worse then other times. If she doens't improve I will have to take her to the doctors.
Have a great day!

Keep your fingers crossed : )

It's funny how a day goes sometimes - I had to have a phone interview with the lady to renew our food stamps, I answered her questions and she told me I had to send some more stuff in. I had no more then hung up the phone with her that a fellow called about a job for my husband! He starts today, I hope and pray that it works out : )
My son's prom is this Friday, he actually worked over at his girlfriends house painting her mother's bedroom so he made some money to pay for some of it. BUT the big kicker is his graduation in next Sat.(May 24th.). I really don't think I am normal about this whole matter! I am dreading it! I just feel it is such a life changing time for a person that I really hate to see it come. I know I am nuts!
On the homeschooling front - I knew we wouldn't get much done with my husband around but now that he hopefully has a job again we can get back down to business. My husband saw the books I had ordered and he said "She is having a hard enough time with the basics, why are you adding drawing, painting, music ect" - I really want to add some fun to the school day, not always tough stuff for her. My son is very artistic and I thought to myself I wonder if Kelly has that in her too. I always thought once I got the hang of homeschooling I would add the elective type courses but as I see now time is passing and I may never have the "HANG" of it so lets add them now and brighten up the day a bit. Using the Well Trained Mind book's suggestions we are using "How Nature Works" & the Apologia Astronomy for our science - I plan to really try hard to do as many of the projects & experiments as we can afford to do. Kelly is a hands on type of girl and I think we really need to move away from the basic book type learning. For history I am using The Story of the World vol. 4 & the activity book, plus we are working through History of Us book 6 which we are finding to be very interesting. I had hoped to buy History Odyssey Modern Times I haven't heard much about it but it looks good.... (Has anyone used this before?) Math - That is our major stumbling block! She HATES math, It is sooo hard for her. We are just moving at a snails pace with it but I am really hopeing to just have her get basic math down to where she understands it and can use it in her day to day life.
Hope every one has a wonderful day!!!!!!

Mother's day - Just Another Day : (

Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day!
My day was no different from any other : ( I still had to cook, do laundry, feed and take care of all the animals, fix the goat fence, do a pile of dishes ect.... No presents, no extra sleep, no special meal - Just another day (I tell you it really made me feel un-appreciated).
My husband went to a painiting job Friday - We were all excited but that only lasted till about 2ish, the guy said it just wasn't working out.... so still no job! I did find out his plan though on why he hasn't been like a wild man looking for a job, He plans on using the tax insentive money to live on. We were going to use that money to pay our past due property taxes ($900.00) but that's out the window. I am just going with the flow....
Our books are selling very well on ebay, but if you figure out all the charges ebay & pay pal charge you to list and accept payments it isn't that great. I am running out of good books to sell now which is also a problem but at least I was able to buy some good books to get us going again & some experiment things to make the learning day a bit more fun.
Kelly & I hope to take the horses out this morning for a nice ride, It has been so hot and humid here riding time has been very limited. Then I hope to do some school work but with my husband home it is like pulling teeth to get the house quiet and down to business.
Have a great day!

Went To The Beach.....

We decided to take a break from the stress and go down to the beach, We only live about 25 minutes away from it. It was great to get away for awhile from our problems : ) It is amazing how staring at the ocean pounding the surf just seems to relax you and washes away the problems (at least for a little while anyway). We took my daughter's dog with us "Reba" (of course she is a Schnoodle - part schnauzer/part poodle), they allow dogs on a special part of the beach which we enjoy. The water was still too cold for me to go in but I put my feet in : ) As you can see the beach was packed - NOT! I enjoy going to the beach seeing the wild flowers and cactus that grow along the road side next to the beach, I really don't know why we don't get there more.

More Troubles......

As I mentioned my husband got layed off from his job, Well yesterday in the mail he got a letter saying he was DENIED unemployment! That sure threw us for a loop. We were counting on that check to be able to pay the electric bill due on the 14th. (You know what they when you count your chickens before they hatch!). After getting the letter my husband DID go around to the paint stores to find work, he came home and called a guy but he as of this morning hasn't called him back yet : ( I hope he has some ooomph this morning and goes out and looks for jobs again, time will tell about that. It sure is scary to say the least! If you could include us in your prayers I would really appreciate it!

A Little Half.com Warning....

I have posted how things are going well with my selling books on ebay, So I was able to use some of that money to ordered a copy of "How Nature Works" from a seller on Half.com the book was $5.00 and shipping $3.99. I received it promptly, when I opened the book up the dust jacket was correct but the book it was covering was an entirely different book. I contacted the seller and they told me to return it for a refund, but my husband says with gas prices the way they are it will cost me more to go all the way down to the post office to mail it back out again then it would to just keep the book : (
So I would just like to pass on my new words of wisdom - When buying a book with a dust jacket please e-mail the seller before buying to make sure the correct book is inside......

Addition to the last post....

I know you all are getting sick and tired of my complaining, I know I am - But I just had to share with you the day I am having!
My husband who is down at his parents house helping get his dad settled back home from the hospital from the hip brake (You might say that was nice of him but please remember he has no job or has not looked for one yet!), What really bothers me about the whole thing is that his brother was down for the weekend (remember the golfing ect) he had to go home to go to WORK today so he couldn't help.
THEN my son comes home from school, I told him his grandmother said she is going to give him his graduation gift early so he can afford to go to the prom ect. - He then procedes to tell ME that when he uses his money to put gas in the car he doesn't want me using it!!!!! Can you belive it! I brought to his attention how much gas we have put in that car that he has used (never mind paying the car insurance for it too) and he starts yelling and having a fit..... Some where along the line I have not done my job correctly with that boy! He is a good kid most of the time but he really feels what is his is his and doesn't see how self centered he is in thinking that. All I can say is when that boy enters the real world he is going to have a very rude awakining : (
Okay enough complaning already!!!!!!
Hope your day si going better then mine!

Good Monday Morning : )

It sure is crazy around here.....
Money problems all around - I can not say enough how money problems just tare apart a family! It is just so stressful (at least on my part). My son (who hasn't been able to find a job) wants to take his girlfriend to the prom - My husband before he got layed off said he could go and we would pay for the tickets & tux, well I can't tell you how many fights we have all had about this matter... needless to say he took the $80.00 for the tickets today to school. It makes me sad that all the good things that he should be enjoying during this time of his life has turned into such a project!
Anyway, selling our books on ebay have been going very well - We are up to making $66.00 dollars, and I have 6 more books listed. I have been able to buy a few books - two books about art (drawing & water colors), I have really neglected teaching Kelly art & music. My son is very talented in the art area and when we were admiring his work, I saw a look in Kelly's eyes. I need to remember that I have to have her try everything to see if it might be where one one her many talents are.
Our curriculum will be based on mostly the Well Trained Mind suggestions, still studing it but with some adjustments I think it might be a nice option for us.

What a way to start a new month!

My husband was layed off from his job yesterday!
He had told his boss time after time if they start to get short on work to let him know ahead of time because we live pay check to pay check - well Monday he goes to work, Tues. the boss calls and says take the dayoff, then Wed. he tells him there is no more work! I can not tell you how nervous I am over this, Our county has the highest unemployement rate in all of Florida. He filled for unemployment but that take three weeks before you get the first check..... and then that is going to be at best around $200.00 - but who can go that long without any money! I was kinda flipping out over it all and my husband was just like I know I know, He went down to spend the night with his mother (my father-in-law is still in a rehab for his hip, they think another two weeks for that). He said he will check out the paint stores down there in the Daytona/Ormond Beach area for jobs, but with gas getting so high the further away he goes that will be a problem.
Another story I have today is, My son left this morning at 4am., he went to be with his girlfriend at the hospital. Her father is going in for heart surgery today. His family all wanted to spend as much time as they could with him before he went into surgery this morning because the doctors give him only a slim chance of making it through the surgery (the doctors had told him if he didn't do the surgery now he would have only at best a few months to live). I so feel for all of them it must be so hard to say good bye to him this morning knowing that this might be it! They sure are in my prayers.