Is It Friday Yet?

Good Morning All! I hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far. We have been very blessed this past week.... Some of the puppy families have sent payment early for their pups which has helped out things ALOT. Would you belive though my husbands job has had no work for him Fri., Mon. & today so that has really been scary again. It just makes it impossible to even try and plan anything - We were going to use this paycheck to pay the electric bill ($367.00) before he leaves to drop off the puppies this weekend, but I guess that won't be happening.
As far as schooling goes I have really had to put it on the back burner this week until I can get everything done to get the puppies ready to go to their new homes. I was really stressing about everything but you can only do one thing at a time.... I was thinking while my husband and son are away this weekend I want to take Kelly down to the new Micheals store that has opened and see if we can't find an easy/cheap craft for us to do to make the weekend kinda fun. I saw this post on Heart and Trees: http://heartsandtrees.blogspot.com/2007/12/no-sew-fleece-blankets.html about making a no sew fleece blanket which looks easy enough for us to try - I just have to worry about the cost. Has anyone tried to make one of these? Anyway, my goal this weekend is to make it FUN fo Kelly!
Best Wishes!

Economy....

Gosh the health of the economy sure looks bleak! I am not one to really follow stock and such but lately you can't turn on the tv without hearing all the doom talk. I really have been finding it so interesting on how a great nation like ours can so easily be brought down to it's knees. My parents grew up during the depression and had told me of how they had to live a totally different life style then the "people of today" - Most folks today have gotten so far away from being self sufficient which I think will really cause us problems (my family is one of them). It really is a scary thing to think about.... I have been watching the Glen Beck Program at night that guy is trying to show people what troubles are coming.
I already have "Making the Best of Basics" book by James Talmage Stevens & "The Encyclopedia of Counry Living" by Carla Emery,
and I just wrote to see if my library can get me a inter-library loan on:
"The Just-In-Case Food Pantry" by Lorraine Platka-Bird
"Don't get caught with you pantry down!" by James T. Stevens & Leedee Teague-Stevens
Has anyone else read any good books on this type of topic?
It sure makes you wonder.....

Another Day.....

We had a better day school wize yesterday : ) We didn't get to every subject but I did see some enthusiasm from Kelly which I love to see. We worked on the book mentioned in the last post - It is an extreamly easy book but my goal is to get her to read SOMETHING and it just may spur her to enjoy reading. We are in the process of still working on the lapbook questions that went along with it - that took up alot of our time yesterday..... Now if I could just get some math done!

As for the rest of the day..... It was a tough one for me again. I just can't seem to balance everything. You would think with all my whinning I do about being home all the time I could get everything done in a day but I just can't seem to do it! The topper last night was my son let me know 20 minutes before his girlfriend was coming over... Yikes, that is not enough time for me - I have to put all the dogs in their crates, mop the floors & pick up the place a bit. My husband comes out of his room (As I have said before he has a tv room that he pretty much goes into right after he comes home from work and pops out to get the dinner I make and then goes back in) and starts yelling that the house should't be in this shape. I tell you I almost cried. If I comment about why it isn't done that just makes him fly off the handle more so I just try and let it roll off my back. I try and tell myself I am doing the best I can, I run my dog business from home which includs cleaning up after a large number of dogs & puppies who live inside my home, answering e-mails for that business, work on a webpage for that business, I do all the cooking, cleaning, clothes washing, taking out the garbage, I have to feed & water the goats, chickens & turkeys, help Kelly feed & water the horses, try and organize/pay the bills and then last but not least I am trying to organize & teach homeschool to Kelly. I guess I need vitamis or something to give me strengh to get everything done. It just blows me away when he has had lately a number of days off from work because of the rain we have had and then he also has the entire weekends off and stays in his room all day napping & watching tv and then complains when the house is dirty while I never have a day off EVER! Oh well I am sure by now you all are sick of my complaning.....
I hope to day is a better day : )

Maybe Today..... We Will Get To Our Studies!

It's funny but every time we try and settle down to do school work something keeps coming up! Yesterday I was bone tired but I cleaned off the kitchen table & got our books together, I was just about to wake Kelly up when I heard a noise and went to check it our - One of my girls decided to deliver her pup.... I thougth I had a few more days before that blessed event. I had to scurry around and get all the items needed for delivering but it turned out she only had one pup. Being that I was tired already then the new puppy activity school work got put aside AGAIN!
If we can get school going today I have gone to the Homeschool Share site and printed out the lapbook ideas for "Abraham Lincoln, The Boy Who Loved Books" I think this will tie in nicely with all the Civil War stuff we are working on. I am enjoying lapbooks but gosh they are alot more work each night to get them ready for in the morning.... I have been putting them all together and then just having Kelly answer the questions.
My post yesterday mentioned how I think of all my blogging buddies as my friends (since moving to Florida 6 years ago I can honestly say I do not have one friend here - I talk to a number of people but no one is that friendly). I talked to Kelly about this yesterday and she says that the girls she knows on the computer feel like her good friends too (she spends countless hours writting back and forth to these girls every day - two of them are also homeschoolers). I am still trying to figure out ways to get Kelly out amoung kids her own age. Mrs. Darling mentioned church friends - The church we have gone to is a new one in our area and it doesn't have a whole lot of members, most of the children there are much younger. I guess I will just have to make it a point that when the homeschooling group has an outing that we NEED to go! I will just have to find the money & a car from some where to do it.....
Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Getting Out Of The House......

I just wanted to tell you all I really enjoy reading your Blogs! The first thing I do in the morning is check up on you all and see what you have been up to. I have learned so many wonderful ideas on many different topics - Thank you! I really think of you all as my friends : )
I am really feeling drawn out, the puppies have me up every night (a few times a night) with no sleep I just can't seem to function! I have about two more weeks and then they go to their new homes - I am counting the minutes : ) My husband, son and his girlfriend are making the trip up to PA. to drop the puppies off to their new homes. They have decided to stop off at New York City on the way home (my son's girlfriend has never been up north before she is a home grown Floridian). They are going to see the Statue of Liberty - Did you know that you can't walk up to the crown any more.... that was such an experience I will never forget. They also hope to make it over to the Empire State Building, my son's girlfriend is afraid of heights so I am not sure how she will be able to handle looking down from that building. They are all excited about all the site seeing they are going to do and my husband has mentioned they are going to stop somewhere to golf too.... (they all made these plans without even talking to me about them). I feel sad for Kelly she has never been to NYC either, I have tried to get her to go with them but she gets car sick from time to time and she doesn't want to go. I just feel bad because as I have said a thousand times before Kelly never gets out to go any where besides the convience store or food shopping and that is very rare. I really worry about that alot.... I even discussed it with her saying as much as I LOVE homeschooling her I really don't think it is good for her not to see other kids or to even just get out of the house. With us having no car and no money her biggest outting is around the block walking or riding the horses - I really think that is just not enough stimulation for a 13 year old girl. I mentioned maybe looking into the new charter school that opened in town, she is totally against that idea. Anyway, I just think it must be hurting her feelings to hear that they all are going on this outing & are going to have fun, something she hasn't had in a very long time : (

Our Prayers Have Been Answered!!!!!!!

It is totally amazing our prayers have been answered!!!!! I need to tell you how it all unfolded to really see the wonder of how God works. As you can see in my last post I was at my wits end with everything, I was feeling soooo over whelmed it was such a burden on my shoulders I could barely get through each day. Yesterday I made myself get things together to do school, Kelly and I were sitting there reading Across Five Aprils when out of no where she says "Why do you think so much bad stuff is happening to us"? Which took us off of school work and on to that topic which we hashed over, my husband working only a few days each week which has put us so far behind on all of our every day bills, having the electricity being shut of any day now, the two tires going flat on his van, the horses having their health troubles, the dog running away and on and on..... all within no more then a three week time period. Well we talked it over and she says "Mom. I think God is showing us we need to be happy and appreciative of the things we do have". A little while after that about 3ish a strange knock came at the door - I opened it and it was Rainbow our dog who had run away!!!!!! I was bawling like a big fat baby.... I was so happy. Kelly and I walked around the blocks taking down the lost dog signs and talking about how wonderful it was to have Rainbow back.... I then said out loud wouldn't it be great with how wonderful the day was going that my husband/her father got a bonus today so we could pay the electricity. We both stopped and looked at each other and said no we have to be happy that we have Rainbow back and not want more. Then later on in the evening I checked my e-mail and one of the puppy families sent a paypal payment for her puppy which enables me to pay part of the electric bill so it won't be shut off!!!!!!! We all thanked God and gave praise for all that he does..... What a day : )

Prayer Request

You won't belive what has happened now!!!!!!
Yesterday, I let me dogs out at 7:30am stood out there with them like I always do and then brought them in. I went out about 7:45 to fill the horse water buckets came in about 8am. as I was sitting down to the computer I relized one of my dogs was missing. I went back outside and looked and looked for her - We still can not find her! She is one of the mom's to the litter of puppies I now have so I can't belive she would have gone far.... Please send prayers that we find her. I called the humane society, nothing - I called my neighbors, nothing - I caught the post man and asked him if he saw her in his travels, nothing - We put up signs around our area, nothing! She is a beautiful girl and a sweet personality I just hope one of these people around her just doesn't pick her up and keep her!
With this latest problem I am about to crack I think..... I just can't take anymore!

Missing In Action For Awhile : (

I just wanted to let you all know I may be missing from the blogging world for awhile : (
We weren't able to get the past due amount of $308.00 for the electric bill together so any day now they will be shutting us off. We are really up the creek without a paddle because I am sure they will require us to pay the entire two months we now owe $671.00 plus a turn back on fee to get it going again and I can't see us having that kind of money until the sale of the puppies..... October 5th.! That sure will be a heck of a long time to be without electricity here in Florida. I am dreading it! Also my stove is electric so I won't be able to cook anything either unless we get a grill of some kind, this really will be a mess for sure. I wrote to the puppy families to ask them if they could pay for the puppies early but I haven't heard back yet from any of the 6 families : ( That is the only way I can think of to get that kind of money together..... I am praying every day that this will get paid some how before they shut it off!

The blessings this week are my son has finally passed his TABE & CJ-BAT test : ) It has been a long haul for him but he has done it. Now he just needs to get another physical (the last one is now no good because he took so long to pass the tests) then he can sign up for either the Jan. or March police classes. I am kinda hoping he goes for March so he can save up some gas money from his job to get down to Daytona Beach ever day (I can't see how we will be able to add that expense to our budget). Also Roper & Chance our horses are doing better : ) Roper still needs alot of attention but he is walking much better!

School has been extremely tough! It is so hard to concentrate when we are waiting for any minute the guy to come to shut the electric off (We run outside through out the day to keep the water buckets filled for the animals because once the electric is turned off we won't have any water...).

I hope everyone has a wonderful week and please if you could include us in your prayers I would appreciate it!

Crazy Days....

As I had mentioned my horse Roper was limping terrible and it was getting worse and worse : ( My heart was just broke seeing him like that, I have been trying my best to help treat the hooves the best I could - I couldn't get the vet or the farrier out to see him until yesterday (9/11) - We had the farrier take care of him.... As you can see from the picture the poor boy is not a happy camper! He has an abscess in the front hoof & the frog in the back hoof is ripped which is very painful - These injuries are all mostly because of all the flooding we have had and we had put off having their hooves trimmed. To top it all off Wed. night at 12pm. Chance our other horse had a bout of colic so we were all up with him getting him through that (Kelly stayed up all they way from Wed. morning till Thurs. morning about 9am. she dozed off a little bit then the farrier came and she was up for that.....) I am happy to say so far (keeping my fingers crossed) both boys are doing well, We just have to keep an eye on Roper that he doesn't develop an infection then I will have to call the vet out for that. My husband was flipping out about the costs, he said to me "I don't think we can afford to have a second horse..." I almost flew throught the roof. Roper is my man (there is nothing like a girl/women and her horse), I looked straight at him and told him - I don't smoke, I don't drink (other then my problem with diet pepsi), I don't get my hair or nails done, I don't buy make-up, the only time I buy new clothes if they get holes in them, I never go to the doctors or dentists, I never go anywhere on trips or outings..... I think I deserve the one and only thing I spend money on - Roper!

As far as school is going - It hasn't! We took off again Thurs. (not sleeping and needing a nap and then the farrier coming took up the day). We also have been dealing with the three litters of puppies I have, the one litter is getting big and they need room to run around in so they have pretty much taken over the school room! Trying to work in there with them is to distracting so we will have to move our stuff out to the kitchen table (not a big deal really but just something else to deal with). I HATE it when I seem to be able to blow off school so easily because of family issues or problems, I know that is the beauty of homeschooling it gives you the ability to arrange your schedule to what works for your family but I just seem to worry that we just take too many days and just blow them off! Not sure what we are going to do today.... I am running on my last nerve today so maybe it would be better to just start fresh Monday....

Back To Our Old Ways : (

Back to the old grind.... Our school days seem to be heading right back to where we were last year : ( I just can't figure out where I am going wrong! I had been reading almost every day from a great book about escaped slaves "The Last Safe House". When we were close to the end of the book and it was getting really good Kelly asks me during the story "Which one is Eliza?" "Who is Johanna again?".... After days of hearing about these two girls she still could not remember which one was which! I asked her what she remebered about the book and she was listening and she did get most of what it was about but not the names of the people. I am not sure if it is she just does't really listen or if her mind is off wondering or is is she just isn't giving any energy into it at all! This is how she is with every subject, she shows little to no interest in any of the subjects (except for the zoology 3). When I ask her to answer questions verbally she does well and pretty much understands what we are covering but when she has to write an answer it ends up being only a few words for each question. I have asked her to lengthen her answers a bit but still she shoots for the least amount of words needed to get the job done. She likes to do the projects ect. anything away from the actual sit down learning. The first few days were wonderful this year I thought I had really made some great changes and we were off running but now we are back to our old ways again which is driving me nuts.

Sunday Already.....

Where does the time go....
We had an up & down week, The up side - Kelly was doing GREAT with school this week! I really think adding experiments/projects/art projects to the school day is REALLY helping with her. This past week we have made for the astronomy class a sun viewing box & and the planet Mercury, From the Civil War readings a tin can lantern that we took outside to find the north star & a few art projects. Adding these has really helped her get through the stuff she really hates to do (like math).
The down side, my husbad's employer told him they have no work for this coming week - Yikes! And my horse Roper is limping terribly : ( I called both the vet & our hoof guy, the soonest they can see him is Wed. or Thurs. - We don't have the money to pay for this.... but I am praying ever night something pops up.
Have A Wonderful Day!