Saturday, December 31, 2011

New Year's Eve





I hope everyone has a great time tonight ringing in the New Year! I always worry tonight about all the drunk drivers out there who think they are okay to drive.... We aren't doing anything tonight just like every other year, I doubt I will even stay up till 12:00 o'clock.


I have been so melancholy today it has put me in a bit of a funk. Sometimes you see something happening and you want to scream out stop but you know it's really not your place. I'm speaking about my daughter-in-law now being a stay at home gal. My son has said he is fine with her not working and staying home. I have been a stay at home mom for most of my married life and to tell you the truth I think that is one of the things I would change if I were to be able to go back in time. Now I'm not saying it's a good thing or a bad thing I'm just saying my thoughts on the topic. I feel it has really lowered my self esteem in many ways... Like today for example I went food shopping (I seldom get the chance to get away from the house since my husband always has the car but he isn't working this week), when I got home my husband wanted to know how much I spent and to give him all the remaining money that was leftover. I said I liked having some cash in my pocket and he said, He does all of the food shopping and he pay all the bills, and picks up the horse feed ect. so I don't need any money. I told him I wrote down everything I spent and posted it on the frig to keep track of our spending, he said he didn't need to keep track of the spending. I said but I like to know where the money is going, he said it was his money and as long as I have everything I need I shouldn't worry about it! How about those apples!! I felt so low, my husband has always said he didn't want me working but when money problems arise it is always my fault for not working and bring in money. It has always given him the upper hand in our marriage because he knew not being out in the working field I would make very little and never be able to live on my own. It might be just my husband but I don't think it is, I see this alot with gals who spend years being the "stay at home mom". Sooooo when I see my daugher-in-law following my path I just want to grab her by the shoulders and tell her what possibly lies ahead for her and does she want that.... but I will sit back and hope I can send hints here and there to make her find a job she is happy with and lets her always be an equal in her mariage.

Like I said getting all the negative thoughts out there so I can start fresh tomorrow....


Until Next time - God Bless!!

Friday, December 30, 2011

Getting All This Out Of The Way....

Well I had some more bad news this morning.... I spoke with the lawyer who is handling the will situation for me up in PA. and it looks like we will NOT be getting the $10,000 from the first will like we had hoped : ( It really is so hard to understand that a women who had a trust of over $470,000.00 can not pay out a $10,000.00 gift mentioned in her will.... It just doesn't seem right but it all comes down to her not having assests it was all in a trust and it went stright to her sister. The lawyer does not know why the will was written like that but he can only go by what it says. To tell you the truth, I am just glad it is my husband & I who are losing out on the money and that it wasn't someone else listed.... It's just another kick in the gut but God must have a plan I just wish he would make it more clear for me.

I am just glad we are getting all this bad news out of the way while we are still in 2011! I am really praying 2012 is a better year for us : )

Until Next time - God Bless!!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Mixing Two Blogs into One : )

As you can see from my header I am combining my two blogs into one, I find it hard to find time to post on both.

I forgot to post about the sad thing that happened yesterday.... When I went out to feed the horses in the morning, Chance Kelly's horse back kicked one of my "baby" chickens and killed it : ( I was so heart broken! If I had just been a bit faster getting over to the issue I saw starting to happen between the two I may have been able to stop it. He killed the dark brown one, she was a real beauty too. I just hate when a healthy animals dies it just seems so senseless.

I started reading "Money Secrets of the Amish" by Lorilee Craker, Not loving it but I'll let you know as I get into it a bit further...

We had a fantastic dinner tonight and it was so healthy too : ) We had fresh broccoli, a lettuce/tomato/cucumber salad & a Bosca chicken patty. It was soooo good. I just LOVE fresh veg. (my local produce stand just picked the broccoli yesterday). I'm gearing us up for a more healthy new year...

Until Next Time - God Bless!!

P.S. - I just got a call from my son, My daughter-in-law just lost her job! Things are really tough around here so finding another will be really hard. He says they will be okay with just his job but they pay $700.00 a month in rent so I am worried for them. Life sure has it's ups and downs : (

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

An Amish Christmas



I just picked up "An Amish Christmas" by Cynthia Keller today at the library and could NOT put it down, LOVED IT!! I read it all day just taking time out to cook and eat dinner it was that good. I hope you get a chance to read it : )

I got a few other goodies from the library I'll let you know if they are worth reading or not.

I took our tree down yesterday, my husband didn't even notice it was gone : ( and packed away all the Christmas stuff something I never usually do until after we ring in the New Year but felt putting it away early might hopefully change things up for us. I have been spending most of our off time from school work reading books that I am interested in and am enjoying myself : )

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!!

Until Next Time - God Bless

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you had a wonderful day with your family & friends, and you found wonderful treasures under the tree for you!!


It was mighty hot here today in my part of Florida, so it really made it seem even less like Christmas then usual. I cooked a turkey and all the treamings for those in my family that eat meat. No one was very hungry and everyone just picked so it was kinda a shame I should have just served pizza. My husband is sick so needless to say he was a crank butt and my son was not feeling well either so together they both were trying their best to ruin the holiday for the rest of us : ( I just tried to ignore it even tho parts of the day I felt like crying, but the best part of the day is that it is over for us! My son & daughter-in-law have moved on to visit with her family, my husband went to bed and Kelly is playing her new video games which she seems to like so all is good : )


Best Wishes & God Bless You!!







Saturday, December 24, 2011

Christmas Eve 2011





Well here we are at Christmas Eve, One more day and this holiday will be over!
Can you tell I have not had a good couple of days... It's not from trying. My son & daughter-in-law invited me down to their house for dinner and to spend the night, I jumped at the chance to get away and see their Christmas tree. When looking at their tree I see a ton a presents for my husband & I, now most people would be happy to see this but not me, it made me depressed knowing we have like one card each for them. They also bought Kelly a number of presents which I am happy about since we were only able to get her four items this will give her something to look forward to.
Then my husband's boss told him they will not be working at all next week... this was very unexpected since he had said they were busy and would work thru the holiday - When you live week to week like we do this is a gut buster and to top it off his boss said no Christmas bonus this year as he didn't make enough.. My husband told him he was just happy to have a job and that was bonus enough which is true bu man we could of used that bonus : (
So needless to say I am counting the minutes until this holiday season is OVER!!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Through My Eyes



I recently got another good book from the library: "Through My Eyes" by Tim Tebow. I am really enjoying the book! He talks about being homeschooled and all its perks and of course football. He gives alot of credit to his Mom& Dad which is so rare these days where kids rip their parents up one end and down another. He speaks of how little he watched tv, I really belive as a whole if we all didn't have tvs, computers, video games ect we would all be better off - We would have to talk to each other and think of things to do instead of always being stimulated by things.... He also goes into detail of his daily workouts - Holy Cow! He started at a very early age, his commitment to getting into the best shape possible is unbelivable. If the world only had more Tim Tebows in it, It sure would be a better place.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Christmas Shopping

Started Christmas shopping tonight!
My husband and I started our night off at Game Stop,
It was very successful - They had all three of the x-box 360 games Kelly had on her list (we bought 1 used and 2 new = $97.00 "OUCH"!). We shot over to Target and got Kelly pjs and could not think of a thing to get my son & daughter-in-law! I was getting flabergasted standing in the store and not getting anything accomplished so we packed it in for the night. I just hate that we will be
giving Kelly only 3 games and a pair of pajamas for Christmas :( but those darn games cost sooo much! I guess we will go with gift cards for the other two... Gift cards are sooo boring and not much fun to open but you really can't go wrong with them. A few more days and this holiday season will be over with, Bah! Humbug!
Until Next Time - God Bless!!


Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Having One Of "Those" Days Today : (

I am having one of those days were you want to go outside and scream at the top of your lungs kinda day : (
Nothing life shattering just little things that you sit there and shake your head about... We have rural postal delivery so in the past the mailman would carry stamps if you needed to buy some, Well today I left money & a note out in the box for 6 stamps. The postman took down the note and left it in the box and took the money but left no stamps. If he didn't have any with him don't you think he would have written on the note saying he would bring them tomorrow? Not sure if we will ever see the stamps or the $2.64 again, they may be history. Then in the mail he did drop off I got a letter about our food stamps, they said I need to send copies of my husbands last 4 weeks of paychecks.... I had done that on Dec. 5th. it shows they downloaded it on their site but yet this letter dated the 12th is asking for the info. again. They are sticklers, if you don't get the correct paperwork in on time they close your account no questions asked so I guess I will have to send the same stuff in again and hope for the best. Then I e-mailed the "new" lawyer to see what is going on about the wills, I have been getting the feel since I signed the paper stating that I am employing him that things have come to a stand still AGAIN! He e-mailed me back stating the same mumbo jumbo as the last e-mail he sent me a number of weeks ago....That's the kinda day I have been having, everything I have done needs to be done again.... I just hate that!

I posted a picture of Kelly & her "man" Chance that I took, I thought it came out really nice & I also posted a picture my daughter-in-law took of my son & daughter (I took the same shot but hers came out better). I tell you, you would never guess those two were brother & sister! They both look so different from each other... my daughter has said more then once that she thought she was adopted since none of us look like her (and because we have so few pictures of her - Bad Mom Award Goes To Me!). They are so different in so many ways but I wouldn't trade either one of them for any other kid in the whole wide world!! : )

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

My Baby Girls Are Growing Up!

Here are the before and after pictures of my baby chicks! We got them on June 12th. (they are now 6 months old), You can see they have grown into 4 beautiful little ladies : ) They are not laying yet, but we sure look forward to the day when they will supply us with fresh eggs : )














Sunday, December 11, 2011

Trimming Of The Tree Party









We had our trimming of the tree party tonight and it went very well! We got a fire going in the fireplace even tho as you can see my son was wearing shorts.... but I thought it added a little something to the evening. I threw in some frozen pizzas so I wouldn't have to cook, this allowed me time to enjoy my company instead of running around the kitchen like I usually do. I also made chocolate chip muffins and had ice cream but nobody wanted any : ( We bought all white lights for the tree this year and gold garland which made the tree look a bit different from other years. I didn't bring out any of the many other different Christmas decorations that we have just trying to keep it simple this year. I placed a white shower curtain that I got from the dollar store aound the bottom of the tree, I thought it would look like snow but it kinda looks cheezy, Oh well I'll have to try something else next year. It was a fun evening and even tho I have no holiday spirit at all, I am so glad we did it! Happy Holidays!!
















Saturday, December 10, 2011

One Year Anniversary of Our Fire!

Can you belive it has been a whole year since that fire which almost took our home! It seems like only a few short months ago... Here are the before and after pics. (We didn't get many of the fire when it was happening because we had left the camera in the house and couldn't get it until they felt it was safe for us to go back into our home). I just went outside and took the "after" shots, you can see how nature mends itself and wants to restore things to the way they were. Almost all of our 2 acres where burnt, but you can see that the palmetto bushes have all grown back already. Most of the trees that got burnt are dead. The woodpeckers are loving it tho, you can see in some of the pictures how they are stripping the bark right off the dead trees.


Sure was a scarry day, and I "Thank God" for saving the house!! It really was only by the act of God that the fire which was racing right towards the house slightly moved to the left and missed our goat house by inches.... My husband & I talked about that the other day and he said "Somebody sure was watching out for us that day"!

AMEN!!




























Thursday, December 8, 2011

MOH Lesson 15 Joseph

We watched "The Bible Collection: Joseph" dvd. It took us a few days to finish it since it was over 3 hours long.... It was very good BUT there was a few uncomfortable "mating" scenes since alot of the topic is "be fruitful and multiply" ect. (nothing to hot and heavy). I know the dvd stuck with Kelly because when we walked the dogs, she spoke of Joseph and all he had to go thru and that's the most I can ask from a dvd : )

One of the activities for this lesson mentioned in MOH is to make multi colored cookies, but I was thinking of maybe making those rainbow cupcakes I need to find the directions for that again. As we move along with our MOH lessons I really wish we would have made a time line to go with our learning, it is getting really hard to remember who is who and what time frame each one is in... I didn't want to start one with all our "property tax issues".

Heard from my son and he and my daughter-in-law want to take Kelly ice skating this weekend, so she will be leaving Friday afternoon after my son get's out of work. It will be exciting for her she has never skated before....

I thought since it is getting closer and closer to the holiday I need to do something... So I suggested to my son that when he and my daughter-in-law bring back Kelly on Sunday night we will have a trimming of the tree party at our house. I figured that will make me have to get my butt in gear and get the tree out and up. I also want to get a few of those logs that when they burn they change colors and use them in our fireplace for the party, giving it a bit more of a Christmas feel to the evening. We haven't gotten any presents yet, not sure when we will get those.... but my heart was happy when Kelly said "Mom how the heck did we get from Christmas being about the birth of Jesus to it being all about a santa and buying gifts"? Honestly, I don't know why we all have gotten so far away from celebrating the true holiday : (

Until Next time - God Bless!!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Simply Charlotte Mason - Your Business Math Series




Whooo Hooo!

Kelly & I were able to get a hold of an e-book version of the "Simply Charlotte Mason - Your Business Math Series (Pet Store)" I couldn't wait to get started with it! I plugged in my printer and got out enough paper to start to print out the student book, which is 179 pages and wouldn't you know it it has blue ink in areas : ( I was so disappointed. I only have black ink, so I looked up on the Target webpage and the price for a black/color pack of 21/22 combo ink is $31.99 YIKES! It's bad enough I was trying to put the $13.99 aside for another black ink, but now I need both... I guess I will have to wait till after the holidays to print, hopefully by then I can get the color ink.

Kelly said to me "Mom, Have you noticed that we can never get the correct stuff together to make our homeschooling day roll". It is so true! I just can never get the right books when we need them, either I am waiting on an inter-library loan book which I never know how long those will take sometimes a week someimes 3 weeks or the library doesn't have the correct book and I try and see if we can buy the books which takes for ever in this house or we have to wait on Netflix to send the next dvd we requested (sometimes they inform me that the "dvd will be sent at a later date"), or like now we have the correct curriculum but can't print it out! Yikes! Ahhhh but life is good and we will get it all together eventually - I hope : )

Like they say "Don't sweat the small stuff"!!!!

Have a great day & God Bless!

Monday, December 5, 2011

Life Skills: Disaster Preparedness

We started working on another one of Kelly's Life Skills: Disaster Preparedness. We are using "Handbook To Practical Disaster Preparedness For The Family" by Arthur T. Bradley, Ph.D. Kelly was very interested in jumping right in with this book, she didn't want us to spend to much time reading over the first few intro. chapters. I thought that this was going to be a bad sign for this book, but she settled right in when we got to the actual "what to do" sections. We covered tornadoes today, We worry about those alot since hurricanes here in Florida tend to spawn a number of tornadoes. Thank God we have never seen one or had to deal with one so far. Just the thought that we live in a doublewide mobile home always makes me worried, We have no area that is safe to go to if a tornado does come our way. The book says to go outside and find a ditch to jump into and cover your head with your arms... We will go outside tomorrow and scout some ditches, but not sure how much time we would really have to be able to make it over to the ditch. We would have looked today, but the dam goats got out of their pen today. Kelly & I spent a good part of the early evening tonight getting the fence fixed and getting them back in. I hate when I have to wait for my husband to come home to fix something. I want to be able to do it myself, but this time I could not hammer down the stakes into the dirt far enough : ( I would really love to get rid of the goats, but with the way things are here in our area the people who would be interested in taking them would be using them for meat and I could not live with myself if that were to happen to them!
We also watched "Greatest Heroes and Legends of the Bible: Sodom and Gomorrah", It was animated which I wasn't sure what Kelly would think of that but she seemed to have liked it (It did have some really corny singing in it which I thought we could have done without). In one part it showed Lotts people stabbing Abraham in the arm/hand, Kelly looked at me and said there was no mention of that in the other dvd we watched about Abraham. That made me really happy to know she really is watching and taking in the info. and remembering it too!! Whooo Hooo!
We read one of the book I had gotten out from the library on "The Human Body". We are getting going on our Biology course which includes the body. We have been really slacking on science since we are so enjoying history lately. We need to get the ball rolling on it....
Until Next Time - God Bless!!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

A Year by the Sea

WOW! What a book!!!!
If you all get some free time during this hectic season to read, I would like to suggest: A Year by the Sea by Joan Anderson. So seldom do I find a WOW book these days but this one is it. It's one of those you can't put it down books. It really opened my eyes and I hope you get a chance to read it. There sure is nothing better then a good book!!!!! Well maybe a few other things, but you know what I mean ; )

22 More Days till Christmas....

Can you belive we have only 22 more days till Christmas! I'm one of those people who can't wait for the holidays to be over.... I LOVE Jan 1st. with all it's new possibilities, Of course if you are a beliver in the Myans prediction that we only have till December 21, 2012 until life as we know it ends then it's not such a good thing - Yikes!! Anyway, We haven't gotten the tree out yet - I'm pretty sure that will be the only thing we put up this year. My son came over a few days after Thanksgiving to put up the outside lights but my husband said no. I might be getting a "new to us" sofa from one of the guys my husband works with (it's a sleeper sofa & heavy as heck), So I am going to wait to pull out the tree it might be in the way when we try and haul in that big sofa - I sure hope I get it tho!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day today!! : )

Friday, December 2, 2011

Star Gazing

We got down to 42 degress on Wed. night, Getting a bit nippy here in Florida...

I have been having to wait outside after I feed my horses in the morning because we have been giving my horse special food and Kelly's horse keeps coming over to eat it. I'm out there at 5:30am, It has been crisp, cold & magnificently beautiful out!! The stars are AMAZING at that time of the morning (still dark out but the sun is trying to rise in the east). Our entire area has very little outside lighting so you can really see the stars in all their glory. I just marvel at how beautiful and breath taking it is to really just look at the stars. Okay, I know your asking yourself did she add alittle something to her morning beverage.... but I so seldom take the time to REALLY stop and look at how beautiful it is to be surrounded by these sparkling balls of beauty. I also saw a shooting star yesterday & this morning in almost the same spot which was an added bonus : )

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

MOH Lesson #14 Jacob & Esau









We watched a dvd yesterday about "Jacob & Esau". Kelly was getting lost and it was hard to figure out who was who especially since it was so simular to the Abraham story. She looked at me when the story dealt with Jacob being with a total of 4 women whom he had children with.... Esau also had 4 wives and had many children with them also. We didn't go into more detail about that, I really didn't know what more to say about it.
We are getting a dvd on
"Sodom & Gomorrah" it is animated and geared towards children so we will see how that goes.
Before we get that dvd we have to watch
"Horton hears a Who!", No, Kelly nor I requested that video - my husband did! The other day at work the guys (men well over the age of 40) were discussing Horton and who he was. My husband had not heard of him and came home and asked me about him. When I said I had seen the dvd he wanted to get it. It really makes me wonder what else my husband and the "guys" talk about when they are at work - Yikes!!
Have a great day & God Bless!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

To The Mud Pit And Beyond : )

Our school day was rolling yesterday! We both got up early and the weather was fantastic! We had some computer time then we took a long walk and explored a "mud pit" back in the woods where some kids have started taking their 4 wheelers and older trucks to ride around in. It was a great outting : ) When we got back we finished up the "Abraham" dvd., I liked it. Kelly said being that is was a "movie" type dvd about the topic brought it more alive for her and she could understand it better. I just love when she says stuff like that..... : ) We read a bit more about Abraham in the History of Mystery book and then went on to our "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" book. We have a easy version of that book, so we are crusing right thru it. Kelly is enjoying it, of course not as much as the "Swiss Family Robinson" book.
We did a few other things also but the day went really well... Still lagging on math. I really want to get a copy of "Your Business Math Series: Pets" I know it states for 8-12 age group but I really think seeing how math is involved with any type of business you own or work at will help Kelly understand how impotant math is in life instead of the constant struggle we have each day just to do the basics.
Anyway, Hope everyone has a fantastic day today - God Bless!!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Happy Day After Thanksgiving!!



Whew, Glad that holiday is over..... I cleaned and cooked "wait" is that a holiday????? Anyway, It was wonderful to have my son & daughter-in-law over for dinner. My husband called his father and he had plans with his neighbors and friends, He is doing very well since the passing of my mother-in-law. I asked my husband to invite a friend/former co-worker of his over (this fellow like alot of folks around here hasn't worked in ages and is losing his house and his health from all the stress of it all) I didn't want him to be alone during the holiday but he said he had plans : ( Dinner I have to say turned out to be one of my worst to date, I burnt the rolls & the pumpkin pie! My son said "We are having Christmas at our house" I think that said it all about my cooking this year....
On another note, My son and daughter-in-law are inching to be moving out of Florida and they want us to follow them. Now you all know my thoughts on Florida, this state has brought us to our knees so I'm like where ever the heck you decide to go we will try and go with you. I just love that my son wants his family to be close to him : ) I must have done something right raising that boy! It turns out they are thinking of moving all they way back up north - Yuck! He actually wants to buy the 1st house we ever bought, the home he grew up in. It happens to be for sale and my son is crazed about getting it. The really funny thing is that the house right behind our 1st home is also for sale! He feels it is a sign from God that we are ment to be there together. Now remind you my son & daughter-in-law have not saved one dime towards buying a home yet.... So how he feels he can move on this I do not know. He is calling the realestate office today to ask more questions, I hate to be a negative nelly but they just aren't ready at this time but I guess it is wonderful to have dreams to strive for!!
In school news we are working on lesson 13 "Abraham" in our Mystery of History book. We are watching "The Bible Collection: Abraham" dvd. I wasn't sure how Kelly would like a "movie type" dvd on the topic, but she has been drawn in. She actually said to me "Mom, Don't forget we still have to watch the ending of that dvd." : ) What an amazing man and what trials he had to face... In the one part of the movie Lott (Abraham's nephew) and his family welcomed in strangers to their home, We talked how we treat stangers and to be honest we are very garded. I think most in society today are fearful of strangers but people are so nasty now adays you just don't know. We did think about how when our neighbor (who almost ran me over with his truck and the same family who calls the cops/animals control on us) lost thier dog they other day we helped them look for it. Not sure if the two tie into each other but we know we did a nice thing.
We also got on inter-library loan the two books we need for the Elemental Science Biology curriculum I was given. The funny thing is the one book came in right away and the second one took another week to get here so since the take out time is limited to 4 weeks we are really only down to 3 weeks so we need to get rolling on it! If it turns out that we enjoy it like I think we will, I will need to bite the bullet and buy those two books....
Hope everyone is having a wonderful day today!!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!!

Well here we are at Thanksgiving Eve, Are you all ready?????
I have all the fixins but the house sure isn't ready for guests : ( Today will be spent cleaning..... I think this is a large part of why I hate holidays I am always worn out by the time the day gets here. You think I would learn and get the house in shape before hand but in our house that is impossible if it looks good today it will not look good by tomorrow just how it is.
Anyway, We plan on taking the big table outside and having Thanksgiving out there. I love having it outside we did it once and it turned out fantastic. The weather is supposta be in the 7o's with a breeze - Can't ask for better than that!
Hope everyone has a great day today getting ready for your feasts tomorrow!!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Happy Monday Morning To Ya!

Hope everyone is primed and ready for Thanksgiving.... only 3 days away - YIKES!
Being that Kelly & I are vegetarians, I was upset to have to buy a ham : ( But my son, daughter-in-law & husband are not in our frame of mind about meat so I will have to cook that for them. I saw a glimmer of hope tho from my son, he was telling me about the egg plant and the way they treat their chickens, he had seen a little bit of the video about it and he said "Mom it was BAD". Back when I was buying my baby chickens he thought I was crazy when I asked him if he wanted me to get extra so I could supply him and his wife with fresh eggs also, now he is like "Got any eggs Mom"?
I had a surprize outting on Sat. night my daughter-in-law came a picked me up and we went to the movies! I have not been to the movie theater is years so it was really nice to get out. We saw Breaking Dawn, it was okay but I liked the book a whole heck of alot better. I couldn't belive how expensive it was to get in $7.00 for each ticket and the 2 large sodas & large popcorn was another $14.00 - Yikes $28.00 dollars for a movie night.... just doesn't seem right : (
Kelly is still sick! It seems to be sticking with her and not letting go. She is a real crank pot when she is not feeling good so school work is on the back burner.
Hope everyone has a wonderful day!!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Next Week This Time Is Thanksgiving : )

Can you belive we are a week away from Thanksgiving.... Yikes! It turns out we are going to have dinner at our home this year so I need to get planning.
Have you read about how Facebook tracks your every move, Isn't that scarry! Like my episode with Walmart calling my son's phone number trying to collect our debt when we never gave them his number, things are getting out of control! I'm not sure if this is related or not but I have been viewing "The Omnivore's Dilemma for kids: The secrets behind what you eat" on Amazon a number of times because I want to buy a copy and use it as part of our Life Skills: Nutrition course. It seems every time I look the book up it keeps going up in price... Now of course I know others thru out the world are also looking the book up and buying it but it just seems strange that when I first started looking at it I could buy it with shipping for $6.56 now it is up to roughly $8.28! I guess that is what I get for not buying it right away.... I am now thinking of going the inter-library loan route, that will cost me $2.00 instead of $8.00.
School has been going slow, naw lets face it it has been in a stop mode the past couple of days : ( Kelly got back from her brothers totally wiped out. The child was staying up till after 1am each night, came home with a cold also. Needless to say we are going to be tip toeing around school work getting what we can done...
Hope everyone has a wonderful day today!!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Pinterest

Okay, I know I am always the last one to jump on a band wagon and Pinterest is no different. Jennifer from Toad Haven had sent me an invite awhile ago and I signed up and kinda gave it the once over but didn't really spend alot of time there. I have been seeing posts from a number of my blogging buddies about finding some real goodies over at that site, so I thought I would give it another look see.... Holy Cow!! I am addicted to it! I spent most of yesterday on there just going from one thing to the next. You find a craft you think looks interesting and then you end up on that persons blog or website and then you get drawn into what they have to say on their site which is amazing. I have pinned a number of things, but I can see how you could spend your time pinning and not doing.....
Kelly is gone for the weekend over to my son's house so it just me and Pinterest... no no I ment to say just me and my husband : 0 ) hehehe!
Have a wonderful Sunday!!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Sorry For Blogging Issues!

I'm very sorry if you had come to read my blog and were subjected to that "music" or just plain nasty talk that took over my blog!
Some how something was able to attach to the "my weather" gadget on my blog and was able to cause trouble from there, not sure how that happened but I have removed that gadget!!
Sorry : (

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Don't Forget To Set Your Clocks Back Tonight

Happy Saturday to you all!
Hope everyone is having a fantastic day!
We are having great weather here, coolish but sunny - can't ask for more!
Don't forget to turn you clocks back tonight - Gain and hour of sleep : )

If you all get a chance you have to read this post over at Homemaking on the Homestead, I think she hit the nail on the head with this post "Life isn't about what you don't have... It's about making the best of what you do have" AMEN!

On the lawyer front, this new lawyer is really grabbing the bull by the horns and getting busy with it! Just what I like : )
I really don't know what the last lawyer was up to but he was pulling alot of wool over my eyes... He told me that the two sisters estate had $80,000 dollars in it, this new lawyer tells me they have $470,000.00 dollars! I was floored and kinda a saddened that if they had that kind of money (they also had been paying roughly $2,000 a month at the assisted living place for the past 5 or 6 years they lived there) they could of just hired a live in nurse instead of going to that place, but that's all water under the bridge now.... The pervious lawyer said I was to get a fee for my survices for being a co-executor of the will that I was NOT mentioned in the will, well my husband and I are mentioned in the second paragraph of both wills - the ladies are giving us $10,000 dollars each for a total of $20,000 dollars!! Praise God!! These ladies have always been our Angels and they are STILL trying to help us even from their graves... So it turns out we will be getting the $20,000 plus 3% of the $470,000.00. The lawyer gets 4% for his payment, which I find to be really high but that is the going rate - Yikes! The three people the ladies listed in their will will be getting a really huge amount of money from this estate so I expressed my concern to the new lawyer that time is of the essence since I am sure if the ladies where 97 & 101 years old when they passed that their cousins must be in their late 70's or 80's we need to get these people their money ASAP.
I don't know when we will get this money, it would be enough to cover the property tax sale so we would not loose our house & property but if it doesn't come in time and someone else buys the note so be it, I am leaving it all in Gods hands.

Life really is something, We make decisions thru out or lives thinking was are doing whats right for our families but then find out after time we have made huge mistakes! I wish there were do-overs in life, but there aren't : (

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Time Flies - Last Sat. In October!

I know I say this often about the months passing so quickly but my gosh where the heck did October go?????
We are having a rainy day today here in our part of Florida, and I am LOVING it! I have already baked some chocolate chip muffins, made a macaroni salad, washed the kitchen floor, worked on "My MidLife "Green Crisis" blog and it's only 10:30am!

Do you all remember my mentioning back on June 20th about my being a co-executor on a will and having trouble getting the lawyer moving on it (the lady has been dead 2 years already)? Well I have called left messages, wrote a letter ect. and heard back from him once. I have been in no position to hire a lawyer on my end of things to see what the heck this guy has been doing so I felt pretty stuck. Well this past Wed. I got a call from the lawyers brother (who is also a lawyer), the original lawyer I was contacted by (this guys brother) passed away! He went in for routine surgery and never woke up, he passed Sept. 18th. (eerie coincidence - the same date 2 years earlier as my lady friend who's will he was holding up)! This new guy seems like he really wants to wrap this all up and I'm with him! I have been really worried since the people mentioned in my lady friends will are also elderly that they would pass on before being able to enjoy this nice chunk of money they are going to be inheriting! Anyway, I pray I can get this all settled for all involved!!

I have to tell you about the A&E Noah dvd that we watched, Wow - I wished I had watched it before Kelly saw it!! Holy Cow, It was moving along very informative and interesting then BAM! They talk about how Noah's second son Ham went mad on the year long stay on the ark and when they got off in one scene in the dvd they say he either sodomised or castrated Noah!! I brushed over it and did not discuss what these two words ment, I felt there was no need for her to have that vision of Noah when she thinks of him. YIKES!

We are watching a cute dvd about the different time frame of dinosaurs called "Prehistoric Planet: The Complete Dino Dynasty" It is narrated by Ben Stiller, he makes funny comments thru out which we have enjoyed.

Hope everyone has a wonderful last weekend in October - Until Next time!!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Life Skills: Cooking & Art

We have been kinda off track this week with schooling, We have been doing more of the "Fun" type of learning.
For Kelly's Life Skills Cooking course she made this to die for chocolate cake! She did get a bit of help from Betty Crocker but I figured she could make one cake by using a box mix and then try and make a cake from scratch and see which one we all like better. I hope to attempt the scratch cake next week - If anyone has a "simple" and I mean "simple" cake recipe we could use please send it to me justme32110@yahoo.com




We also tried are hand at some Art, I saw this post over at
Art Projects for Kids on how to make a "Batik-esque Maple Leaf Drawing". The first one posted is Kelly's & the second one is mine. I thought Kelly's came out fantastic! Mine was a bit washed out looking, I don't think using the water colors you get from the Dollar General store is what the gal used but we tried. We both enjoyed adding art into the school day I really need to get more craft supplies and do more projects like this one!












Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Noah and the Flood





We are reviewing chapter 4 in Mystery of History - Noah and the Flood.

Have I said how much I am loving MOH! LOVE IT : )


We received our second dvd from Netflix: "A&E Biography Noah" and midway thru it didn't work, they are sending another copy out to us which we should get today.


We also watched "The Incrredible Discovery of Noah's Ark", Kelly & I both liked this dvd. They have newer dvd's out about finding the ark but Netflix didn't have them available (Don't you hate that about Netflix - Why do they show dvd's that you can't order????). I am glad we are going back over the chapters for review it lets the info. sink in a bit more.


Kelly read out loud the version of "The legend of Sleepy Hollow" that we had gotten from the library, LOVED IT! I was really pleased with how well she reads : ) As I have said it is hard to get her to read out loud or for that matter read at all so I can see how she is doing, but this story caught her imagination and she stayed with it.


Have a Fantastic Day!! God Bless : )

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Absolutely Beautiful Day Today!!

Wow! If I was able to bottle a days weather, it would be today!! I woke up early and have just been enjoying the fabulous weather ever since : )
Days like today my grandmother would always say "It's good to be alive"!! AMEN!
I'm always scared to let myself start to feel happy because something always pops up and ruins my good mood, but not today!!

We had a great week this week:
We were able to get Netflix back up and running, which always adds a little something something to our school day.
We watched the Disney version of "Swiss Family Robinson" made in 1960. Holy Cow, If you want a perfect example of why you read a novel and then watch the movie made about it, this is it! Both Kelly & I felt that the movie did not do the book justice at all. Kelly even went so far as to say they "ruined the story". They used only 3 boys when the book has 4, no pirates actually seen in the book, tons of pirate attacks in the movie ect ect ect. Way to many changes and not enough sticking to the actual story in our opinion. Don't get me wrong we enjoyed the movie just were disappointed with the many liberties they took with the story.
What I really enjoyed was the many topics of conversation Kelly brought up about compairing the movie to the book. For the first time I think she realizes that the movie is NOT always better then actually reading the book - Hell Yeah!

We also did further reading about when your car has mechanical issues or what to do if you are in a car accident, We have really been enjoying "The Lady Mechanic's Total Car Care for the Clueless". I am really hoping to get Kelly going on driver's ed soon! I have told her to drive the car around our drive way to get the feel of it, but she really hasn't been that interested in doing it yet.

We also watched a dvd "Biography: Adam & Eve", I figured since we now have Netflix to let me go back over the Mystery of History chapters we have completed and get a few dvd's to review those topics. While the dvd was interesting I thought, Kelly did not like it all. She didn't like that it showed nakedness thru out the whole thing (it had a mix of painted depictions & an actual actor/actress protraying Adam & Eve). She was very uncomfortable with it.... so needless to say I don't think she got much out of that one : ( We will be getting a bio on Noah for Monday that should go over better, I hope!

Still really struggling with getting math going on a daily basis!!

But all in all a fantastic week : )
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, God Bless!


Thursday, October 20, 2011

Pumpkin Time : )



While Kelly was down visiting my son & daughter-in-law they cut out pumpkins! This fine fellow is the one Kelly did herself. She said to me "Mom, this is the first time I did the whole pumpkin all by myself!" I thought about that and it is true I always have to get involved with everything we do, I'm just that kind of person. I need to step back in the future and remember the excitement in her voice about her doing something "totally" all by herself from start to finish.
I got a few spooky Halloween books from the library to read this week, (It's hard to choose which ones to get when I can only search the library system and then without seeing them put them on hold for my husband to pick-up). We have "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", a real easy read edition that has word searches, fill in the blank questions ect.. Then we also got "Salem Witch" (My Side of the Story) series which I hope we enjoy. I did also pick a dracula book but we had read it last year and y'all know my daughter she HATES to do anything twice.... so that book will be going back to the library unread this year : (

As for school work: I am so very happy to say, I begged and pleaded to get NetFlix going again and my husband got soooo sick of my complaning that he relented and we got the 2 dvd's out at a time for $11.99 a month plan. I know when we so need every dollar that it seems silly to spend some of it on Netflix, but Kelly just does sooooo much better remembering the things she sees instead of I reading it all until I'm blue in the face and it all goes in one ear and out the other, this will so help our school day!

Needless to say I am now very pressed for time to buy the black ink needed to make copies of the school paper work & the $30.00 to get Kelly registered for this 2011-2012 school year by Oct. 30th. at York Christian Academy

One day at a time is my moto : )

Have a wonderful day today!!








Friday, October 14, 2011

Books, Books & more Books






This spooky looking fellow is Kelly's cat Jasper. She took this picture by keeping her finger over the flash, it gave it a scarry feel to the picture perfect for the Halloween season : )

Kelly is going down to my son & daughter-in-law's to spend the weekend with them. I'm so glad they ask her often to spend time with them. It gives her time away from our daily routine which is always a good thing, she comes back refreshed and cheerful.

I had been searching my library's search engine for Halloween books, but I've waited to long again this year most are out. I am getting a copy of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" I thought that might be fun to read this time of year.

Speaking of my library, they just never seems to have the books I'm looking for. Also with them charging $2.00 for each inter-library loan request (and only being able to keep an inter-library loan book out for a max. of 4 weeks) makes it real hard for me to get the books we need : (

So I have made a "Wish List" of books I am hoping to find cheap copies of: Encyclopedia of Nature by DK Publishing, We need that book to be able to start our Biology curriculum from Elemental Science.

Also, I would love to get my hands on The Usborne Art Treasury by Rosie Dickins. It sounds like such a great book to use for art lessons and activities, I've heard nothing but rave reviews about it.

And Your Business Math Series Pet Store, It sounds like a wonderful way to tie in real math to real life situations which might really help Kelly understand just how much math is really needed out in the workforce.

If anyone sees a copy of these books for cheap please let me know - Thank You!

Have a wonderful day!!




Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Life Skills: Auto Care/Repair

We started on our Life Skills topic of Auto Care/Repair yesterday.
We are using "The Lady Mechanic's Total Car Care for the Clueless" by Ren Volpe.
We started off by reading the introduction, which after reading it we just knew we are sure to enjoy this book. She mentions how when she told her parents she was studing to be a mechanic her father said to her without missing a beat "But you have no mechanical aptitude!", She said "Thanks Dad for the encouragment", I thought isn't that so true how a few words from someone can squelch the excitement and enthusiasm for something you want to persue. She stuck with it even tho she had a terrible time with the fellows in her trade school giving her grief over everything she did. I thought that part of the book alone was well worth reading, it gives good insight to what life is like out in the real world when you go against the grain or live outside of the "normal" box.
We jumped right to chapter 5 which was how to jump your car using jumper cables. I have been driving for 31 years and have never used jumper cables. I always have stood back and let others do it which I find sad : ( Since this is an issue we just had with our jeep Kelly was very interested in learning more about it by actually looking at the car and where we are to place the cables correctly. So when my husband got home I asked him to clarify where to put the "ground" cable on the car that is not working for us. Do you know what he said to the both of us "Like you would ever do it yourself"! I felt so deflated not just for me but for Kelly and thought back to what Ren Volpe the author said about her father giving her no encouragment. I remember seeing an episode of the Dugger's where the girls all had to learn to change a tire. the father and bother taught them and then let them try it themselves. What a different experience that would have been instead of hearing her father say "You won't ever do it yourself".....
But hey, I just have to read more and figure this out for Kelly and I! I want to show her she CAN do what ever she sets her mind to and don't let others tell her different!!
If you read about a jeep going on fire in Flagler County Florida you know it is just Kelly & I working on the car : o )

Monday, October 10, 2011

Velvet Ant






I thought I would share with you all an insect I thought maybe most of you haven't seen that we have running around here in my part of Florida - The Velvet Ant.


It's not really an ant it is a hairy wasp, they are also called a "cow killer" because of their painful sting. The ones around here are a bright scarlet red and black, they move around so fast that it is hard to get a picture of them (I got this one from the internet). Kelly & I caught one and placed it in a jar, but it was too hard to get a shot of it. They are pretty large and with their coloring are very easy to see, they are really a very beautiful insect. You sure wouldn't want to step on one - Ouch! If you would like to read more about them I have included a fews link about them: Here & Here.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Soggy Sunday

It has been raining on and off all weekend - I LOVE rain! Now I'm not talking about flooding and all that, Just a nice gentle rain. I think in my past life I must have lived in London or some place that rained alot.
I baked some chocolate chip muffins but the oinkers that we are we wolfed them down already. I also mopped the kitchen floor that I never did after the bleach incident, not a great idea when it is pouring out....
Still procrastinating on the school schedule. It's funny, I have a plan and when I go to work it out I find something else that looks interesting and get side tracked.
I think we really just need to get Netflix going this will add the "interesting" factor back into our day. I'm going to see if I can borrow some money from my son to get it going this week, they have a plan for $7.99 a month for one dvd out at a time or $11.99 for two - I'm thinking the two out will work for me and that's not too much to borrow.... we will see.
Kelly and I walked around the block and we saw that someone stole the gate off of one of the driveways where the house had been empty. We have been wanting one for our driveway forever and I mentioned that. Kelly said "Mom we don't steal, that would be a sin". I worry so much about what Kelly is not leaning then I hear something like that come out of her mouth and I relize she is learning and knows some of the most important lessons needed in life... : )

Friday, October 7, 2011

Bleach In The Eye, Oh My!

Yep, That's how I started off my Friday morning slashing bleach into my right eye : ( I was filling up my water bucket to wash the floor and poured some bleach in and it splashed up right into my eye - Hey good way of getting out of cleaning I guess.
Kelly hasn't started the day any better, the poor thing was up all night with a nasty toothache again. She has been swishing with salt water in her mouth and taking some Advil. My husband who actually has work for today (Whoo Hoooo!) is going to bring home some of that stuff you rub on the gums to help ease the pain. I sure hope the pain subsides soon, I hate to see her suffering.
As I mentioned my husband has worked Wed., Thurs. and today - Three days this week. I pray that the work continues next week, It is sooooo hard living on one day a week of work. Our food stamps are available on the 8th which we are so thankful for, We are sooo out of food it isn't funny. I should write a book on how to live on next to nothing and still survive....
As far as school goes, That is put on the shelf for today. I can't expect Kelly to concentrate when she is dealing with a toothache. The rest of the week was a snorefest! Our school day is just way to dull, I need to pep it up a bit. I really pray I can get Netflix back up and running for us, Kelly is such a visual learner that reading from books just goes in one ear and out the other. That's basically what happened this week, I read until I was blue in the face and I could see she was in lala land with it all. I hope to find something to jazz it up a bit since I now have a long weekend to work on it.
Until Next Time, Have A Great Day!!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Family In A Tizzy

This is Birdy, Kelly's parakeet (she really went out on a limb naming him don't ya think). He was her birthday present when she turned 16 on Feb. 19th so he is almost 8 months old. To be honest we aren't really bird people (besides chickens) so I didn't hold out much hope for a long and happy life for him but so far so good : )

We had a scare today which thru the whole household into a tizzy. My husband who is still not working and may not have anything for this week either went down town to pick up a few things. During his trip he started to have car trouble. Now as I have mentioned our jeep is old and she has tons of miles on her but she never lets us down. He made it home and she would not start, you can imagine the fear that went thru us. We have no money for a car repair, even if they could fix it my husband has no job to pay for the repairs and if he had no car he could not get to a job if he is called.... you see the circle of panic. Anyway, He called a friend of his and he took a look at it and they got her running "Praise God"! I will be including the car in my prayers from now on, after todays eye opener of how much we need her. While all this was going on Kelly mentioned that she would really like to learn about car repair. Have any of you done a study on car repair? I'd love to see which books you have used for it. My library had "The lady mechanic's total car care for the clueless" by Ren Volpe which I requested, I thought we would start with that. Any tips or ideas would be appreciated - Thanks!

Have a great evening!!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

What Glorious Weekend Weather : )

Loving this weather we are having here in Florida! 50's in the morning and 80's in the afternoon, You just can't get any better than that!!

Here are a few pictures of one of the experiments we did for the Mystery of History's lesson 5 - Ice Age. Kelly made a greenhouse in the jar, Just a simple activity but added some fun to the day : )























































Thursday, September 29, 2011

Shaving Cream Colored Paper Art Project

The other day Kelly worked on the Shaving Cream Colored Paper Art Project. She had a blast with it! We used a cookie sheet to put the shaving cream on so she could go wild with it and she did : ) Here are a few pictures of her creations.
I also see over at "All Things Beautiful" Phyllis and family had fun today making Milk Colors that sure looks awesome, We will have to try that one soon! I noticed adding some art projects in really adds to the day and makes it go alot smoother : )



























Wednesday, September 28, 2011

First Day of School Pictures















I say better late then never....


Here are the pictures I took on the first day of the 2011-2012 school year.


I couldn't decide on which one was best so I posted them all : )