We Interrupt This Normally ♥Sweet♥ Blog.....

.....for a somewhat frivolous and useless post!  Only somewhat frivolous because I'm linking up with The Homeschool Village today for February's Fantastic Finds.  If you're visiting from The Homeschool Village, please feel free to ignore the first part of this post and scroll down to my Fantastic Find (look for the Homeschool Village button), and may I offer my apologies ~ my brain is all over the place today and if you notice my blog header.....I suppose I'm feeling a little more Sassy than Sweet! ; )  I do have a GOOD find.....be patient with me.

First, my rant:

Why, oh why, oh WHY must they discontinue products I have fallen in love with???  Seriously....WHY???  I recently found out that the company who makes my skincare and make-up products has gone out of business.  This is a major ordeal for a girl with problematic skin that stages a rebellion at the mere thought of changing products.  No kidding.  I took me YEARS to find the perfect line.....and I log on to reorder, and literally told my computer screen, "Noooooo!!!  You can't do this......I need you!" 

I love this skin care line.....because my aggravating, oily, sensitive, break-out prone skin loves this skin care line.  I also loved the fact that it was a small, independent company in a world of corporate  monopolies.  I ♥ the little guys.  And I woke up this morning to yet more rebellion at trying new products when I looked in the mirror ~ and I know true beauty is on the inside....but it's really nice when the sight of you doesn't scare people. *Sigh*.

In light of this devastating disclosure, I'm giving a shout-out to a few of my very favorite products (and I am not in cahoots with the product manufacturers ~ I am just a big fan):

I'm not sure why it took me so long to try this, but I am hooked!!  I think I avoided it, thinking it was something along the lines of the sugar-laden energy drinks that are all the rage now.  I'm a label-reader, and once I took the time to read this one, I discovered that it's full of good stuff!  Wow!!  It's amazing!!!  I think I might be able to conquer my to-do lists with this little mighty booster!  I also think I need to find it wholesale.  I need lots of it.  It's awesome. 

Next, we have my absolute most favorite hairspray.  And I've tried lots of hairsprays.  I ♥ this one ~ it only takes me a little dab and I'm done.....and is the only one that will hold my hair (long hair is heavy!).  I know it says Instant Freeze, but I seriously only use a little bit and it leaves my hair less stiff than the others because I don't have to use as much.  It smells good, too.  I like it.  A lot.

And now, because I ♥ CHOCOLATE, and ♥ it VERY much.......my indulgence that leaves me feeling not-so-guilty:  Zone Perfect Double Dark Chocolate Nutrition Bars.  *Sigh*  The let me have my chocolate with a little less guilt.  Without ruining my protein-to-carb ratio that I try to maintain.....and are sometimes a quick meal replacement when I'm too busy or am on-the-run and don't have time for a real meal.  I may be slightly addicted.....but I'm okay with that.

And now, I'll stop.  But I think you should buy these products.  I'm absolutely sure that you should......because I don't want them to ever, ever be discontinued.  I need them.  Every day. ♥

I wonder if I've lost my Homeschool Village linker-uppers yet.  If not, your perseverance of reading through all that nonsense has paid off.  I promise I'm not this flaky all the time, so please come back!  Here's the real find:

 

One of my children is a very reluctant reader, much to my dismay.  His weakest area is also spelling and grammar, regardless of the fact that we drill him and focus on it A LOT.  With his two siblings being good readers and also much better spellers, I 've always thought if I could find a book series that he could "get into" that his weak areas would naturally improve (at least a little).  It worked for my daughter and my other son.....but they also seem to be naturally inclined that way.

Have you noticed that there's not a whole lot of good fiction series out there for boys?  I had been checking out a youth sports series from the public library, but when my other son (they have the same reading level....his is above-average, while his older brother's is average) brought me one wanting to know what !@#$% meant, I was less than impressed.  Seriously, is that necessary?  I realize that I probably should have been born 100 yrs. ago, but I really despise profanity.  I despise how profane, rude and crass our society has become.....and even thought the actual word wasn't printed in the book, it's like saying "this is a bad word and when you're older you can read what it is, because when you're older it's ok.....and that's what grown-ups do".  He was half-heartedly reading the series anyway, so I kept searching.

I wanted a series that would appeal to him, but also reinforce good values and character traits.  We homeschoolers, we're so picky ~ aren't we?  A good friend of mine recommended a series she recently discovered, and I bought him the first 4 books for his birthday.

He was actually excited to receive them.  Frank Peretti is one of my MOST favorite Christian fiction authors and I have many (if not all) of his books in my collection, so he was fully expecting them to be good.  Lo and behold, over the next few weeks, I would find him curled up in his bed, propped up with pillows, happily and contentedly READING.  He would often come to me, telling me how good the books were and giving me a play-by-play of the story line.....and asking when I could buy the remaining books in the series.  This is the child that we would have to threaten with dire consequences to get him to complete his required reading time each day.....and reading ONE WHOLE CHAPTER was an effort (not because he couldn't, but because he didn't want to).

I also found several series for kids by Jerry Jenkins, another of my favorites, and have them bookmarked for when he finishes this one.  I knew he had the Left Behind Kids Series, but was unaware of the others.

Also, for some good non-fiction History reading, we've found these by Peter Marshall to be wonderful.  There's a series of three books.....and all three of my children used these as part of their reading time, without complaint!

Now that I've got him hooked, I think perhaps a whole new world has been opened to him.....I hope, I pray.  We shall see if his spelling, grammar and writing efforts improve.  I'm ordering the next 4 very, very soon.  :: )

"Tis the Season to Spread a Little ♥ Love ♥.....

.... and I'm Linking up again today with The Homeschool Village for February's Fantastic Finds. 


I have an addiction.....and it is Tip Junkie.  I just can't help it ~ she speaks my language and her posts inspire my creativity.....more so than I have time for!  ; )

With the busyness of my life the past couple of years, I have let some of the fun, hands-on activities I've always done with my kids fall by the wayside.....and it turns out, they miss it ~ and miss it GREATLY.  I am determined to add more fun back into our days and in the past have often used holidays ~ big ones and little ones ~ to incorporate fun (and sometimes silly) activities into our "school". With Valentine's Day around the corner, two of her recent posts have inspired me:

I have downloaded and printed the envelopes for an adorable Valentine Advent Calendar ..... click on the link to see lots more super cute pics and ideas on this one.

It's already February 3 and I'm getting a late start, but my three favorite Valentines still want to do it.  My ♥sweet♥ girl (who is now a very grown-up middle-schooler and I thought perhaps would think these cutesy things a little beneath her these days) happily cut out all the envelopes for us......although, it seems I'm missing one!


With our 4H meeting being cancelled due to a very rainy day, we'll get started on this as soon as they're done with their regular assignments (and I print out that missing one).  We're going to look up scriptures and write them inside that apply to love (God's love for us, loving others, etc.) and include an activity to do on each one (make a special card for a friend, bake Valentine cookies....and share them with someone.....surprise a relative far away with a phone call, etc.).  Since we're getting a late start, we'll have to double up a couple of days, but I don't think my kids will care.  ; )   I have a roll of pink tulle that I'm going to use to hang the cards up with.

I'm also going to print out these Valentine's coupons  for them (and me!) to give to those most special to us.....as well as each other.  They have been driving me crazy with the sibling rivalry/arguing/complaining/tattling/picking-on-each-other/war lately and I have been looking for an idea on something to spark a little ♥ love ♥ and appreciation for one another.  Funny thing about serving others.....not only does it make them feel special, but it has a tendency to change the selfish nature of our hearts. ♥

I'm feelin' the ♥ love ♥ already! ; )








 

Plans Interrupted......and a "Stylish Blog Award" ; )

Linking up once again with The Homeschool Village for their January Thursday theme of linking up and posting our weekly homeschooling accomplishments......although this week, I feel we didn't accomplish very much!

Last Thursday, we had our bi-monthly meeting at 4H and Jacob gave his very first devotion as Chaplain.  He learned how quickly you forget what you want to say when all eyes are upon you and I suspect that next week, he'll have notes in hand ~ just in case! ; )  I still think he did a fabulous job & pray he always desire to be a leader for Christ.

Friday is Co-op Day, and then the weekend hit.....bringing with it coughs, sneezing and high fevers that interrupted the plans we had for this week.  I have to admit, although I truly hate it when my kids are sick, it's been kind of nice to be stranded at home for several days.  Some schooling got put on hold, but Mom has accomplished a lot!  Several stacks and piles of things that accumulated here and there and never got put away due to the hustle and bustle of life got sorted and organized ~ meaning no more piles and stacks stressing me out by their presence!

My home is more organized than it has been in months and cleaner as well.  While deep cleaning my kitchen to the point that an Amish woman would be impressed, I found a cleaning chart taped to the inside of one of my cabinet doors.  I made it years ago when my children were too young to be really helpful in the whole cleaning process, taped it to the cabinet door and eventually as life got busier and busier with each passing year.....I stopped following my schedule.  It was replaced by a rather random clean-it-when-I-have-time-or-it-looks-like-it-needs-it routine that doesn't actually work very well and stresses me out!  Now, with 3 more-than-able-bodied helpers, the cleaning schedule is back full force.  Now someone can stop by my house unannounced without that dreaded feeling of, "Oh no....the house is a mess!" (although that doesn't mean it will always be nice and orderly due to these people that live with me and leave their belongings scattered all over the place!).

Like I said, it's been there for years and I need to print a new one.....thought we'd follow this schedule for a couple of weeks to see if I need to adjust it before I replace it.

We did get a lot of academics in, much of which looked a lot like last week, but due to being sick it was mostly do-only-what-we-have-to-do and nothing more.

Also, since I believe that tons of learning takes place outside of "school books"......

The day I made banana bread, I ground some flax seed to use as a healthy egg substitute which (as always) brought The One With The Inquiring Mind (aka: Robert) to the kitchen.

Flax seed, pre-ground....

 ....and post-ground:

You're not supposed to grind flax in a wheat grinder (too oily), I grind mine in a coffee grinder.  I usually grind more than I need and store it in the freezer for quick additions (makes a great thickener for fruit smoothies) and substitutions.

Whole grain banana bread with flax substitute for some of the eggs.  I do this quite often and it works wonderfully!

Flax Egg Substitute:

For each egg you want to substitute, use...

1 Tbsp. ground flax seed

3 Tbsp. water

Combine and let sit for 5-10 min, until water is absorbed.  Then, add to recipe as a substitute for eggs.

Although they've seen me do this countless times, on this day it peaked their interest and ended up being a lesson in itself, prompting opening the same book as last week to see why I go to the trouble.  Jacob, with a fever topping out at close to 104 on this day, suddenly found this book quite intriguing.....



....and because I don't think watching lots of movies {a couple were fairly educational ; ) } and laying around lethargically while our world was drowning in tissues, thermometers, essential oils, herbal teas, soup and jello qualifies as accomplishments, I think my "homeschooling" list is done.

I also received a lovely little award this week from Brenda at Therapeutic Crafting!

I love the way it color coordinates with my blog ; )  ......and, since I always follow the rules.....

To accept this Award you must:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.  (below)

3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers.

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!

1.  I almost drowned when I was two-ish. I can remember very distinctly watching the bottom of the pool get closer and closer and watching the drain get bigger and bigger the closer I got. I don't remember being scared.  My sister saved me, although sometimes I'm sure she regrets it ; )

2.  I like the beach but am afraid to swim in the ocean. There are creatures in there that I can't see.

3.  I hate to cry in front of people!  I am not a person who "wears her heart on her sleeve" and prefer to shed my tears in private.

4.  I have never in my life told my "testimony" or life story, but I love to hear others' stories. I find it fascinating to hear what the Lord had done in people's lives, how events and circumstances have shaped them into who they are, etc. To me, that's what a testimony is....not just someone telling when they got saved. If I know that telling your life story is expected before I go to an event, I usually won't go because I will get emotional and cry (see number 3).

5.  I can write about things that I can't talk about.  ???

6.  I flat-out refused to blog when everyone jumped on the blogging band-wagon.  I have friends who have been urging me to blog for years and I wouldn't consider it.  And yet, finally, here I am. 

7.  I have a very real need to laugh every single day.  I am always trying to teach my children that life is so much more fun when you can laugh at yourself and the stupid things you sometimes do. God is good and faithful - He is constantly providing them with first-hand examples of how someone should do that through the ridiculous blunders their mother continually makes. : )

I actually hate talking about myself and I'm glad it was only seven things!

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater

Okay......so no one in this house is actually named Peter, and this nursery rhyme has actually nothing to do with this post.  BUT, the activity we did this week that my kids most enjoyed DID involve pumpkin......and every time we do this activity (usually in the fall), I think of this rhyme.  Because I am WEIRD.  And I homeschool, so I'm entitled to be weird.  Most homeschoolers are, you know.  ; )

Linking up with the Homeschool Village to share our schooling accomplishments and activities for the week.

Math:  We multiplied, divided, reduced fractions, added, subtracted, multiplied, and divided fractions, worked with measurements, labeled geometric shapes, and did word problems.  I have to add that in doing some word problems with my 7th grader, I had to teach her the most round-a-bout, confusing method of solving them that I have ever encountered (Saxon 8/7)!  I didn't say much about it as I was teaching it ~ just kept plowing ahead, keeping most of  thoughts to myself  (aside from a "Hmmmm, I don't remember doing it this way when I was in school" because it's what the book said to do.  Finally, towards the end of the lesson, my exasperated daughter says in her exasperated voice, "This is confusing!  What's the point?!" to which I started laughing and said in MY exasperated voice, "I have no idea!  It confuses me, too!".  She wanted to know why she couldn't do it the way I do it because it makes more sense to her.  If you've encountered this with your curriculum, please tell me the answer to this dilemma because it's not the first time we've encountered this issue.

Spelling:  Yep, we did it!  I've found that my boys are often done with their schoolwork much earlier than my daughter, so in Spelling I often let them read each others lists, dictation, etc. to one another.  It gives them extra reading and spelling practice that they don't realize they're getting, and keeps them busy for a little bit longer while I help Ashlyn with more difficult things (see above).

Language Arts:  We diagrammed sentences, practiced our punctuation and capitalization, worked with subject/verb agreement, compound subjects and compound verbs.....sometimes with the company of The Very Bad Cat, who has a way of making the mundane a little more bearable. ; )

Jacob made the bed, covering it with his favorite blankets.  At this point, I take all the help I can get and try not to complain about the results. ; )

We completed all our work for co-op in Science, History and Writing as well. Last week, I mentioned that I had to help with a Turtle project.  Robert had to do research and make a display board on Australian FlatbackTurtles, as well as make a model out of clay:

The finished board:

 He had some help from his cousin on the clay turtle:

And, what about the pumpkin?

This lovely little pumpkin has been sitting  decorated my kitchen since the week of Halloween when I bought it, intending to carve it.....and never did because I am a Very Bad Mom.

I finally found the time to gut the gourd-like squash (yes ~ it was still good!  Perfect, actually....these babies last for a LONG time!)  This kind of thing is right up 2 of my student's alleys and they were quite eager to help (esp. my little chef on the left).

This led to much discussion on what nutrients the pumpkin and its seeds give us, how much pumpkin we could get out of this one compared to what comes in a can, and the benefits of composting the guts as well as the shell after it was done roasting (we wasted not one bit!)

Approx. 12 cups of pumpkin

After we washed the gunk off our hands, Robert grabbed this book off the shelf:

It has a huge listing of everyday foods, herbs and spices and provides tips on how to select the best,  how to store and best use them., nutritional info on each one, health tips on what ailments they are best for and treatments suggestions, as well as recipes.  They find it fascinating to look up foods we may be enjoying and see how God provided for our needs through them. (They don't do this all the time.....the curiosity hits them randomly.)

They were also rewarded for their efforts with a pumpkin dessert after dinner that night.  : )  Since I'm feeling the urge to be extra sweet this week, I'll share the recipe with you ~ and it's not even Friday (the day I usually post a recipe)!  It's one of their favorite pumpkin desserts....tastes like pumpkin pie, but easier to make because you don't have to make a pie crust (I'm not a fan of the store-bought variety) and goes further than one pie does, too. One pie around here is good for about one evening......this dessert is good for two.  : )

Magic Pumpkin Buckle:

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

FILLING:

3 cups canned pumpkin

1 cup evaporated milk

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon each ground ginger, cloves and nutmeg

TOPPING:

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Pour butter into a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish; set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in milk and vanilla until smooth. Pour into prepared pan.

In a large bowl, beat the pumpkin, milk and eggs. Combine the remaining filling ingredients; add to pumpkin mixture. Pour over crust mixture (do not stir). Dot with butter and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 350° for 55-60 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean and the top is golden brown. Yield: 12 servings.



Homeschooling While Fighting the Desire to Hibernate....

 We may live in the only state in the USA with no snow......but it's still COLD!!  I happen to be one of the few that is actually enjoying the Winter experience, but it is wreaking major havoc on my productivity levels!!

Hibernation sounds heavenly, and there's nothing I'd like better at the moment than to stock up on hot tea, honey, hot chocolate, soup & sandwiches, cozy blankets, family movies, good books, shut the world out and hole up with my three bears (and my Grizzly).......and just rest, relax and freeze some moments in time for some stress-free family togetherness. 

Linking up with The Homeschool Village today to share our Accomplishments for the week, because the world stops for no one ~ especially not a weary and frazzled (but determined) mother bear ~ and I must keep going.....even if it's at a bit more sluggish pace than usual.  To my children's delight, all their activities ~ including church, choir, co-op, etc. ~ are "up & at 'em" again.  Their favorite at the moment would probably be the 4H Club that just started.  I'm actually delighted with this one as well as I've been looking for this type of club in our area for over a year ~ and ALL THREE of my children can and WANT to participate.  We met last Thursday and voted on officers as well as an official name for the club.

We have the best location ~ at a local horse stable, where the owners have been so gracious and generous in sharing their facilities....and their horses!  Here, the clubbers are taking nominations for officers.

 For a couple of siblings choosing not to participate, there is a very interesting checkers game in progress with my favorite horse, Jazz. : )

Saying the (4H) pledge....

The officers for the remainder of the school year (my children - Jacob(orange jacket) Chaplain; Robert (red hat) Recreation Leader....very appropriate for the One Who Can't Be Still; and Ashlyn (next to Robert) Historian):

I promise I didn't rig it so that all my children were voted in as officers!

A pic of the entire group.....capped off at this number to allow enough time for interaction with the horses.

 Some pics of our favorite 4-legged 4H members while the clubbers were observing their behavior for their books:

Seminole

Hershey

Jazz

Gypsy, who wears a hot pink halter ~ a girl after my own heart ; )

And, Ashlyn's favorite ~ Bubba:

We also managed to plow ahead through the mundane Math (yawn - not my nor Ashlyn's favorite subject) and all the other not-so-exciting basics, and I was rewarded with a surprise by finding my VERY reluctant reader curled up on his bed & propped up on pillows......READING!  Reading WITHOUT my  having to threaten him or bribe him ~ thanks to discovering this fiction book series written for kids by one of my personal favorite fiction authors.

Ashlyn also started official sewing lessons with me after I bought her a machine from Craigslist.....

....which stopped working just a few days later.  : ( 

I took it to my local dealer and, as suspected, I can buy her a new similar one for the same price as getting it fixed.  She'll have to wait a bit for that new one, but can use mine until then.  Meanwhile, I dissected the one that gave up the ghost ; )

Ever wondered what the inside of a sewing machine looks like? Now, you do!  Kind of cool to see all the parts work together when you turn the hand wheel {and I totally took advantage of that teachable moment by inserting some comments about how when we all work together, blah, blah blah..... : ) }  One of my children found this fascinating......the one who always has the tools we're looking for stashed in his room, whose mind never stops thinking & body never stops moving!

 We threw in a quick Science experiment for co-op regarding earthworms.....

.....along with some running to and fro, some really good episodes on Nova after dinner & other things here and there ~ like cleaning those blinds (I didn't even ask how they got dirt on them) & that ROOM.......boys are a mess & it drives me CRAZY ~  that's pretty much it.....or, all that's worth posting about anyway!  Recollection of anything else is currently trapped in the part of my brain that resembles a frozen tundra and is stubbornly refusing to cooperate at the moment.

*Yawn*

Going to make some hot tea now and work on a sea turtle project.....slowly, but surely.  : )