I’ve been busy.

And sick.

And a lot has gone on and I just cannot keep up.

On Thanksgiving Day I got sick.  I haven’t been sick since I left the classroom.  It was terrible.  And since I don’t normally get sick, I took it hard.  It was very hard for me to rest.  It was very hard for me to even accept that I was sick at all really.  It was possibly the worst sore throat I’ve ever had.  Yet it wasn’t strep.  Go figure.

I started feeling better until Christmas Day and once again I realized I was really sick.  Finally, I went to the doctor.  Yes, I won’t tell you how many weeks I let this drag on before I wen to the doctor, but it was a lot.

But despite being under the weather.  I got a lot done.  There was a lot more to be done.  Nothing like a nasty cold to help you scale back on Christmas.

We got the important things squeezed in.  Like gingerbread house making.

Missy sealed her gingerbread house up tight to keep the witch inside.  She won’t be tricking Hansel and Grettel ever again.  At least that’s what I was told.

I did manage to make around 300 chocolate covered cherries.  Here’s the first batch laying out ready to go.

Making them is time consuming but not hard.

I have a few people that actually ask me for my chocolate covered cherries around Christmas time.  Ya, a little surprising because they are adults and they haven’t outgrown the gimme’s.  This year, I actually had two people that my husband works with that were new to get chocolate covered cherries ask if I would sell them more.  Nice compliment.  So I gave my ugly ones to them.  And no, I didn’t sell them.

I also got the best Christmas present.

I got a Bernina.  And I love it.  I’ve drooled over these sewing machines for a very long time.  It was very nice of my family to get me one.  I got an Aurora 450.

Our local Bernina store closed.  Sad day.  My mom went in to pick out a sewing machine and they were sold out.  So she had to use another dealer an hour away.  This particular Bernina dealer is  fairly new and they have not a clue.  I went in for my first of two lessons. Let’s just say it’s been a week and I haven’t scheduled my second lesson.  I need to let my blood pressure go down before I do anything else related to that store.  Yes, they are that good at raising my normally very low blood pressure.  I will tell you one of the shockers and then refrain from complaining about them more.

I read the manual.  That’s how I am.  It tells you how to clean your machine and included are a couple of black and white photos.  I went to my lesson only to find out…the manual must be wrong.  Gasp!  I didn’t say anything.  I thought maybe I misread or looked at the pictures but still misunderstood.  So I double checked the manual it hadn’t changed.  So I went to YouTube and found a couple of blogs.  I found reliable Bernina endorsed sources.  Everyone else seems to agree with the manual.  Go figure!  So I pretty much don’t have a lot of faith in this dealership.  Sigh…and now lots of people are coming forward telling me of their bad experiences with this particular store.  Sigh…again.  But I love my Bernina.  And at this rate I’ll be sewing a lot longer than they will be open.

Bernina is a great machine and you can’t go wrong with one.  The issue is not with my Bernina.  I have sent an email to Bernina and they haven’t responded yet about this dealer.  So we shall see what happens.

Since I have a new Bernina…I’ve sewn like a mad woman.  It’s great.  I made a little flower bowl yesterday.  I’ve never done applique before.  But I gave it a try and my next bowl will by much better.  I did a small bowl just for practice.  I’ve decided applique is something you must practice.  I’ve watched lots and lots of YouTube.  You can learn to do just about anything from YouTube.  Seems they have a video for everything.

We also had a birthday party.  My Little Miss turned the big 4.  So we celebrated in pink.

In the last month, despite all the holiday chaos and lack of routine, she has really taken off in reading.  And if this mama could get back her routine, I’m sure we could make a lot more progress.  So Monday morning, we will.  We’ve done some “school.”  She still thinks it’s just playing, which I’m thrilled about.  But not as consistent as I’d like.

So there you have it.

What were your holidays like?  Any suggestions about the Bernina saga?

I’ve clicked and clicked.  And read and read until my eyes are dry.

Let’s start with organization.  Again.  And I might mix in some cleaning, but I think I might be done with that one for awhile.

Cherry Blossom is doing 31 Days to a More Organized Life.  She has a new baby and is a SAHM now.  Congratulations on your promotion.  She mentions “giveaways.”  I don’t really need to say anything else…do I?

Sweeter Still is working on the same topic for 31 Days.  She actually defines clutter and puts it in different classes.  I guess I always looked at clutter as just clutter.  But she does really make you think about why you are hanging on to you “clutter.”   And by figuring out why you’re hanging on to it, you might figure out how you can let go of it.  I will so be tuning in for Day 3 when she reveals her after pics.  I like before and after pics.  Okay, I might just like pics.

Mommy Kudos has some profound thoughts on 31 Days to Becoming an Organized Mom.  I find myself thinking the same thing.  My master bedroom is often the last room that gets my attention.  Our bedrooms in general are the first thing that gets neglected.  She’s right.  What kind of message is that to the important people (our family) in our lives?  Why wait until we have a visitor to make your kitchen sink sparkle or a fancy meal for dinner?

You have to check out Raising Colorado.  She’s funny.  I can really relate to her.  For some reason, I have a tough time putting a nail in the wall too.  Don’t really understand why.  We moved into a house that the previous owners obviously, did not have a problem poking a bajillion holes in the wall.  I think it must have been the solution to avoid painting.  The walls were pink, but I don’t think anyone noticed they were pink since the walls were covered with “wall art.”  Despite all the holes in the walls, it didn’t hurt anything.  It made for a lot more labor for us when we painted over the pink since we had to fill them.  They used big honking screws a few too many times.  Despite knowing the walls will not disintegrate right before my very eyes, I, too use those nifty 3M gadgets to hang things on the wall.  And the remodeling of the kitchen…that’s how we remodel too.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m decor challenged.

So, of course, I have to hit up Dish on Design Gal.  I originally clicked on her because she said she could help my lack of design throughout my house.  But then I started reading her juicing posts more and more and last weekend I juiced.  Yes, I actually dug out my juicer and juiced.  I juiced whatever was in the fridge including a huge zucchini.  I also had a huge box of apples given to me.  So I threw some of those in as well.  For a juice-what-you-have-on-hand kind of juice, it was pretty good stuff.  And she’s giving updates on her weight loss.  Ya, one more reason to juice.  In fact, I might just have to juice again.  And again.  I’m wishing I had taken her more seriously from day 1 and made the necessary changes like slowly eliminating certain things like sugar, so as not to be shocked from going cold turkey.  Not that I’m going to go cold turkey.  And she does actually have juicing recipes on her site.  So you don’t have to use my recipe of juice anything not fuzzy.

31 Days to Make Home Uniquely You is another worth clicking over just for the pics if for no other reason.  I would never be gutsy enough to paint the wood like she did.  But that was a ton of wood and it did need to go.  Would I have realized this without her before and afters?  Nope.  I saw the before and thought it was fine.  Yes, it was fine.  Until I saw her after picture and it was much better than fine.

And there you have it.  A little of what I have enjoyed reading this week.  This is just a tiny tip of the iceberg.  You can head over to Nesting Place and see what you find.  There are over 1200 blogs linking up.  You’re bound to find something you like.

Was there something I missed?  Tell me in the comments and include the link.  I promise to click.

I love this series.  I’ve followed it for a couple of years.

No, I’m not participating.

Why, you ask…Well…why ruin a good thing?  If I wrote everyday for 31 days…I don’t know that I would be able to enjoy all the others.  Especially since there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them.  I’m predicting she’s gonna hit a thousand before the day is over.  I’ve followed this series of hers before and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t this big in the past.

So first thing this morning I had to check her out and start perusing.  It was officially on my list of things to do.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t the only thing on my list of things to do today.  I really could have stayed there all day.

And since I didn’t, I’m now forever behind….

At 5:oo AM my time, I logged on and found over 300 blogs linked up already.

Then I went to Story Time at the library and came home only to find over 600 of them linked up.

I’ve bookmarked a few of them (okay more than a few) to follow over the next month.

Last night while I couldn’t fall asleep I thought of a great idea.

You’ve heard of Cliff Notes and now I’m gonna give you the Allie Notes.  It’ll be fun.  And I’ll feel a lot less like I’ve wasted my time perusing.  It’ll have purpose.  I can justify it a little better.  But really I’d be doing this anyway whether it was purposeful or not.  And really I do lots of things I can’t justify.  My husband can verify that.

And in the time it took me to write that, 16 more blogs have linked up.

1000 here we come.  And no, I don’t have any bets on this.  Just in case you were wondering.

I know I can’t possibly get to all of them, but I’m going to pick through a few or so and check in every so often.  Don’t expect a post everyday.  It isn’t 31 Days of 31 Days.  I just can’t seem to write every single day for 31 consecutive days.

Anyway….

So if you’re looking to get your act together for cleaning or organizing…boy are you going to be busy.  You could literally spend days and days clicking away and never reading the same thing twice.  There are several for inspiration on too many things to count.  If you are looking for weight loss success stories and how they did it, you’re in luck.  Crafts galore.  Tons of you have time to fit that all in moments.  And if you’re looking for a new recipe, you’ll find it.

A few of my favorites for cleaning and organizing….Ya, this might be one of my faves.  Just maybe…Or maybe I just need it the most.

In no particular order….

A Slob Comes Clean…gotta love that girl and her excuses.  If you are a neat and clean freak and can’t sleep at night until your dishes are done, well, she’s not for you.  I love reading her blog.  It makes me feel so normal.  Yes, she makes perfect sense to me.  I’m like her in many ways.  Our biggest difference might be my label maker.  Ya, it makes sense to me to label my mess.  It’s out now.

If you’re looking to make a home management binder or just update the one you have, you’ll want to check Organizing Homelife.  I already printed her cover since mine has never had a cover.  I can’t wait to see what else she has in store for us.

If you are looking for a little meal planning and love color coded things this girl’s Day 1: Homemaking is for you.  Woodlawn Lane is writing about domestication.

I’ve read a little on Clean Mama.  She loves clean and has a printable for everything.  She likes checklists and labels just like me, but she sticks to hers a lot better.  If you don’t go to bed, no matter how tired you are, until your sink is completely empty of all dirty dishes, she’s your kindred spirit.  I did print her list for this month and I plan to do it.  I haven’t done today’s task of dusting the edges and corners.  But I’m gonna do it tomorrow.  Tomorrow’s task is dusting/vacuuming the vents.  I can do them at the same time.  I know what a lame excuse to skip today.  But unlike her I plan to use my vacuum attachment and not a broom to dust the edges and corners.  So this way I only have to get my vacuum out once for both tasks.  I’m really good at excuses.

A lot of these blogs, I’ve never read before and From Overwhelmed to Organized is one of them I haven’t.  But I think I will be.  I think we can all relate to feeling overwhelmed and would love to move to the organized side.  So I clicked on her Day 1.  I have the exact same printable.  Uummm, but mine is two pages.  Ya, some of them are slowly being checked off, however, I’m always adding faster than I’m checking off.  But it works for me.

Now I don’t know how I didn’t find this blog before now, but Nony, my new friend from Raising Colorado, and I should have coffee.  I can relate to her.  She may have an office in need of help for the last year, but I have a room in my house, that no one and I do mean no one ever sees, that has been in desperate need of help for almost two years now.  I did work on it a little last week.  And honestly, I hadn’t been in there in several months.  Yes, it’s really that bad.  But I need that space now.  So I’ll be visiting to see her progress on her “hot mess” in hopes of finding some inspiration.

And that’s not even a fraction of them.  There’s no way I could get to all of them.  There are only so many hours in a day.

I also checked out some on crafting…because that’s how I am.

I already put felt on my list.  I love the title…31 Days to Shut Up and Sew.  She gives you some simple directions to make a little tissue pouch for your purse.  I think Missy would love to make this for a Christmas present.  And it’s so simple, I think she could do it with just a little help.  I looked at her line-up and she saved the  best for last.  Well, unless you don’t think home decor is the best.

Another new blog for me is October Morning.  I’m a real sucker for handprint art.  I love stamping fingerprints and making them into little animals.  So, of course, I have to see what ideas she has.  And I’ll probably steal them.

I was a little disappointed that I didn’t find more on papercrafting.  I could not have possibly missed them.  Maybe someone will link up soon or maybe I just haven’t found them yet.

 And I am very decor challenged so of course, I’ll be following a few of those as well.

Wow, you must check out Chic on a Shoestring Decorating for her kitchen redo.  She’s gutsy.  Her pictures of her beautiful kitchen are so worth clicking over for.  Even if you aren’t looking for some decor ideas, her transformation for her kitchen is amazing.  I’m so getting her ebook to read about it.  I want all the details.

Dish on Design Gal says she can help me.  31 Days to Decorate Confidently here I come.  I’ve got my notebook ready for tomorrow’s assignment.  I’m not sure where I’m going to get the pics.  That might be one of the problems I have with decorating.  I never pick up those magazines.  They intimidate me.  I look at them and think that could never happen in my house, therefore, it never does.  I love that she has homework for you.  If you don’t like that, well….It also appears she’s doing 31 Days of Juicing.  Busy girl.  I must admit.  Juicing is not my thing.  But I skimmed this and I flagged it for later.  She’s lost 50 pounds and maintained that.  That’s intriguing.

And last but not least…Since I’m a fan of Small Notebook…(in case you don’t know she’s the queen of no spend month)

October is a great month to do a No Spend Month.  I think I’ve read every post from Michelle on No Spend Month and I always think, “I’m gonna do that.”  I actually even think it might be fun.  Have I done it?  No.  For some reason I can never get my husband on board.  He doesn’t seem to think we need to evaluate our spending or change it in any way.  I think he’s just afraid of the meals he might have to endure.  So when I saw Mommy Goes Green was writing about her 31 Days The No Spend Month, I really couldn’t resist.  And I so wanted to join in and not spend with her.  But I messed that up already.  After Story Time, we grabbed a bite to eat.  And not at home.  Plus, there’s that little husband not on board thing.  But I could cut spending drastically.  So here’s my goal.  I usually spend around $150 a week on groceries.  This includes things like shampoo, contact solution, everything.  I should also say we live in a very expensive area.  I never knew that until I started looking at other people’s price books and coupon sites that gave their stock up price.  Ya, my stock up price was more in line with their not-a-chance-I’m-buying-it-right-now-because-it’s-going-to-be-cheaper-price.  What if I did the same amount but for the whole month?  Would my husband notice?  I’ll let you know.  Anyway, my point here is that maybe, just maybe, we should be a little mindful of our spending.  The holidays are coming and what better way to save a little money for them.

So this is just the tip of the iceberg.  As I predicted, there are over a 1000 blogs to peruse through.

I’ll be including more later on.  I only checked out blogs in the first 500.  I have to pace myself, you know.

Maybe I missed one….or two.  If you think there’s a blog I should be following for the 31 Days, leave a link in the comments.  Especially if it’s on papercrafting.  I’d love to see 31 Days of Cricut.  And if that doesn’t make any sense to you, please don’t start that particular 31 Days.  It’s not for you.

In my life this week…

My dishwasher is still broken.  You can read about my dishwasher sagas here if you so choose.  I wrote that mostly to make myself feel better.  I had to vent.  It just didn’t seem right to vent to any of my friends this week since most of them had bigger problems than a broken dishwasher.  The one friend that I could have vented to….well, she doesn’t have a dishwasher.  She probably wouldn’t be very sympathic I’m thinking.

In our homeschool this week…

I’m beginning to notice a trend.  We are most productive after we eat and sometimes while we eat.  I’m not sure how this happens but it’s working for us.  We sit down to breakfast and I read her a story and one thing leads to another.  Frequently, we can work for an hour or two and not even realize it.  And then we have another productive moment with lunch.  I like it this way actually.  Missy is much too young to formally school in my opinion.  It really is best when we do school because she’s eager to “play” school.  She actually calls it class.  I think it’s adorable.  She even talks to me calling me “teacher” and I, of course, play right back and call her “student.”  It does make things more fun.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

Read lots.  This has to be our favorite.  Missy has always loved to read.  And I’ve always loved reading to her.

Kids need to hear fluent reading.  Kids will also pick up on little things like holding the book right side up and turning pages in the correct order.  Eventually they even realize we are reading words not just making up a story.  The light will soon come on that we read words that make up sentences and we read those sentences starting on the left and moving one word at a time to the right.

Little prereading skills like this will prepare your child and could even save you a little on curriculum.  I was able to skip the prereading program for All About Reading.  This saved about $80 for just the basic package.

I am inspired by…

I’ve been watching YouTube again.  I made some lotion a few months ago.  And now I’d like to try some soap.  I think about all the chemicals that go into these “soaps” you buy at the store that are really detergents.  I don’t remember her name but she mentioned that the packaging doesn’t say “soap” on it.  I checked my bar and couldn’t find it on the packaging.  It’s because it isn’t really soap.  And then I’ve read in several places that the glycerin is being removed as a byproduct during the soap making process and sold separately.  Soaps high in glycerin are the best soaps.  So why would we take it out?  To sell it for even more profit.  I’ve checked out a few books and I think I’m ready to make soap.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

I managed to sneak off to do water aerobics on Monday.  I’m hoping to do it again on Friday.  This is a first for me.  Since Missy was born I haven’t had a whole lot of time to do these kinds of things.  So it was nice to get away for a little while.

My favorite thing this week was…

We bought a tub of ‘ target=_blank>Crayola Air Dry Clay at the beginning of the school year.  We finally opened it up last week.  It took a good three days for our clay to be completely dry.  The color changes slightly as it dries.  We got a couple of good rains around this time, so I’m sure this slowed the drying time.

We had a good time experimenting with the clay.  I used rubber stamps and made some interesting charms.  We painted them yesterday and I hope to give them a little touching up tomorrow and put some glitter paint for a final touch.

What’s working/not working for us…

Well, we moved my school stuff from a small and very packed full shed to the garage as a temporary home while I sorted it out and attempted to make some sense of it.  And then it was moved to another much larger and empty shed in the back yard.  It has electricity and an air conditioner.  Our plan was to put heat in the form of a pellet stove and set it up as a classroom.  The previous home owners actually had their oldest son living in this shed.  It has carpet (it’s pink and has some stains) and a thermostat for a pellet stove already.  It wouldn’t take much for it to be transformed, however, it seems to be collecting things that are not classroom related.  It started out as just a few things and they were only temporary.

And then I found a black widow spider in my box of posters.

And that was it.

When we moved in the previous owners were kind enough to take the stove out they were using for heat and leave a gaping hole in the wall where the chimney was.  The house had been empty for over a year and during that year little critters had found a nice cozy place to call home.

Since I don’t do mice this shed sat pretty empty for the first year we lived here.  We were pretty certain the mice were gone after several months of sticky traps and of course we sealed up the holes.  We started filling it up pretty quickly after the mice were gone.

First mice and now black widows….

So I’m now a much more motivated to make room somewhere else for my school stuff.  I’m rolling over several ideas.  Hopefully, one of them will work.

Things I’m working on…

I’m trying hard to organize my child’s room.  In the morning, I’m planning to go to Lowe’s and spend my gift card on some organizing “stuff”.”  Not sure exactly what I will end up with, but there are too many toys on the floor and something has to give.  And soon.

I’m reading…

Not much in the form of adult reading.

I’m cooking…

Not a whole lot since my dishwasher died and went to dishwasher hell.  It seems I forgot one night that we didn’t have a dishwasher.  So I whipped up some steak fingers with mashed potatoes and gravy.  Oh yeah, and peas and carrots by request.

I was about half way through when I realized that those bowls weren’t going to clean themselves.  I was going to have to wash all that egg and bread crumbs off.  And I just dirtied a ton of pans.

Note to self….steak fingers is not a dinner to make while your dishwasher is broken.

I’m grateful for…

for the arrival of a new dishwasher on Saturday.  Fingers crossed.

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After several phone calls….and yes, I threw a few fits, I found out they hadn’t even shipped two of the parts.

I received an automated phone call telling me to return their call. Why not just have a real person call me to begin with?

They want to cancel my appointment.

Noooooo…..you cannot cancel my appointment.

I waited four days for a repairman to show up late and then nine days for parts. And they want to cancel?  In the mean time, I’m washing dishes.

I found pick your own tomatoes for $5 a bushel and I have no dishwasher to sterilize my jars. I finally get the guts to make my own soap.  The thought of handwashing all those oils from the dishes is a good excuse for me to once again chicken out.  Using my dishwasher to sanitize saves me so much time and effort. 

I know you can sterilize without a dishwasher, but who wants to do that. Not me.

I asked for parts to be overnighted since really they goofed on this one. They refused so I threw a tantrum after nicely requesting to speak with a supervisor. My tantrum got me no where. They refused several more times to transfer me to a supervisor and then…. he hung up on me.

Yes, he hung up on me.

So I called them back only to get no where again. So finally, I called the local store manager where I bought it. She didn’t have a whole lot to say after I told her they hung up on me. She just said, “Oh, wow. I’ll check on this and call you back.”

So then someone called who spoke English as a first language and told me they never should have ordered three parts for such a new dishwasher and they would replace it. It should be here on Saturday.

Hopefully, they stick to it this time.

So once again my husband gets to install a dishwasher.  He’s thrilled.

In my life this week…

My husband has worked some very long hours this week…

Meaning I haven’t had a whole lot of adult conversation.

I also much admit, I’m not feeling very motivated.  Dinners are sucking.  Big time.

The dinner issue could be a combination of dinner for two and the lack of a dishwasher.  Yes, last Thursday my dishwasher quit.  It was installed on July 10.  So we are well within the warranty period.  The repair guy came, but only had more bad news.

I’m without a dishwasher for at least a week while waiting for parts.  How I wish for a magic wand!

In our homeschool this week…

We have been working on All About Reading.  I really like it.  I think we have got a routine down a little better.  We should by now, right?  We are splitting our lessons into two sessions.  We do a quick review on the second day before starting the second half of the lesson.  This works for us.  Each time whether we finished a complete lesson or just half of one, we read for at least 20 minutes.  Missy loves to be read to.

This week we started reading Sideways Stories From Wayside School.  I have read this whole series every year.  My kids always loved it.  I loved coming back from lunch and letting my kids sprawl out on the floor for a story.  And Missy is no different.  Well, except she’s a bit younger.

Usually, I finish my lunch first and we start reading while she finishes up eating.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

We are doing a modified version of workboxes.  This idea is not new by any means.  Lots of homeschoolers do this.  And this works for us even for preschool.  It really helps to keep me in line more than my kid.

I got dish washing tubs in a nice bright pink at W*l-m*rt in the dorm room section at the beginning of the school year.  Since my child really loves pink, I couldn’t pass them up.

I separate out things in what usually turns out to be three tubs sometimes four.  Some things stay the same.  So our morning routine is pretty much the same everyday.  So I just move the paper clip in our book and it’s ready for the next day.

Then we have a tub for our All About Reading stuff.  This is where I keep our read aloud books.  We usually do a chapter book and then a couple theme based picture books.

Then we have the other stuff.  Anything else goes in the other tub.  This tub changes much more frequently than the other tubs.  It’s stuff that I’m not as concerned if we get to or not.  With such a young child, I feel like we should go more at her pace.  So we do.

Sometimes I have a fourth tub.  In this tub there might be something we are working on for the week or until we finish it.  A lot of times it’s something messy for art or just something that is ongoing like an alphabet book.

I like that my tubs are portable.  At some point I might move on to the drawer kind that I see are very popular.  At this point I’m afraid we have too many things that are too big for a drawer.  A tub of pattern blocks can fit in my tub but probably not so well in a drawer.  At this point I need everything ready in one or it’s too tempting to do it later after I get the pattern blocks out.  And sometimes I’m just too afraid later won’t come.

I am inspired by…

Is it really sad that I don’t feel very inspired lately?  I feel run ragged.  So Mrs. Run Ragged needs to find some inspiration I suppose.  I smell a visit to Pinterest.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

Well, this week we didn’t have to go anywhere to see people.  My in-laws came for a little visit on their way through to see the fall colors.  They’ll be back again on Sunday for another little visit.

My favorite thing this week was…

I’ve squeezed in some papercrafting.  I got a Cricut for my birthday.  I’m not telling you how many months ago.  I’ve cut lots of paper, but I felt like I was just making messes.  I’m on my second blade and cutting mat and I don’t really have much in the finished products department.  I still don’t, but I have some very nice looking pieces that will soon be finished.  I think my Cricut and I may end up being good friends after all.

What’s working/not working for us…

Well, my dishwasher is not working for us right now.  Doing dishes by hand does not work for me.  I feel like this is a never ending chore.  Oh, wait, it is never ending.  It’s worse than the never ending laundry.  I am this close to declaring this house a no eating zone.

Questions/thoughts I have…

My brain is empty.  I have no thoughts.  My husband would not believe this statement, but it’s true for at least a few seconds.  And he isn’t even here to see it with his own eyes.

Things I’m working on…

I’m putting together some paper crafting projects.  One happens to be a card for the Moppets volunteer in my child’s class.  Just a little note to show her how much we really do appreciate her.

I’m also making a little alphabet book, which I will share later.  I let Missy look at all my books that show what is on each cartridge and she picked what she wanted and now we are putting them in her book.

I’m reading…

green this! by Deirdre Imus  She defines the different shades of green products.  I like the idea of using something that may not be the perfect green product, but if it works and is better as in less toxic than I’m happy.  I choose green cleaning products mostly because I have a little helper.  So using a little borax doesn’t bother me.

I’m cooking…

Not much.  But as soon as I master cooking without dirtying any dishes…I’ll be cooking up a storm.  Until then or the return of the repair man, whichever comes first, I’m trying hard not to make huge amounts of dirty dishes.  It’s not uncommon for my dishwasher to run twice in one day.  It must run at least once a day as a bare minimum or the dishes take over my kitchen.  I don’t know how this happens.

I’m grateful for…

Working appliances.  Usually, when something goes wrong, it’s only the beginning.  In July, when my very old and on it’s last leg dishwasher cratered…it took a few others with it.  My ice maker stopped making ice and my kitchen sink decided to leak.  To top things off, my air conditioner quit too.  So I’m glad it’s only the dishwasher this time.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

I opened my MOPS email this morning to find this… “It takes the same time to crack a smile as it does to blink.”

Don’t forget to stop by to visit others at iHomeschool Network for other Homeschool Mother’s Journals.

September 14, 2012

In my life this week…

I went to the dermatologist last week for a plantar wart on my foot.  Ya, this might be TMI.  However, so many times we skip over those little things that are gross and we just don’t want to think about.  So I’ll give you just a tiny bit of TMI.  Sometimes we need to know we are not alone.  I promise to skip the pictures.  So I tried and I tried to get rid of this wart without any success.  Although the doctor seemed to think my efforts were not wasted.  After all, I did manage to keep it from spreading or getting any bigger.  So…this was my first visit ever to a dermatologist.  Not as scary as I thought.

Generally, a plantar wart will disappear on its own within two or three years.  Ya, not so in my case.  Now that I have a little girl, who finds that spot on my foot interesting, I thought it needed to go.  I tried every OTC treatment.  Nothing.  I even tried some-crazy-as-it-sounds, but might work ones like duct tape, lavender, and coconut oil.  Nothing.

So next step….the dermatologist.  She froze it at -200 degrees three consecutive times. Just so you know the OTC freezing stuff ONLY gets -20.  Then she put this stuff on that is synthetic ground up beetles.  Some refer to it as “beetle juice.”  She then put a band aid on it and sent me on my way.  And this torture cost me only $153.  Well, so far.  I have another appointment in a month.

In the meantime, I have a crater on my foot where I used to have a wart and a week later I’m still in pain.  She said I would get a blister under the wart and to clip it off with nail clippers.  So I did.  And under the blister she failed to mention would be a crater.  This wart is or rather was on my big toe, right where it bends making it painful to bend my toe.  Do you know how much you use your big toe for walking and balance?  I now do.  My big toe doesn’t function as well as it did before.  Which has led to a slip in the tub.  I was hobbling around like an old lady who forgot where she put her cane before the slip, but now…I hobble around like an old lady who refuses to sit in her wheelchair but disparately needs one.  And it’s been a week.  Did I mention that already?

Bottom line:  I wasn’t inflicting enough pain.  Yep, no pain, no gain, therefore, it wouldn’t go away.

Remember I’m not a doctor and I don’t play way on TV or in Blog Land.  This is just my personal experience and not a good one at that.

On a more positive note, this is a good excuse not to exercise.  My toe is in constant pain and I would hate to cause more injury than I already have since my balance isn’t what it used to be, not to mention I can’t bend my toe without causing even more pain.  (Boy, my English teacher would be proud of that sentence.)  And for those of you who know me in real life…stop laughing.  My lack of balance now makes my previous balance ability pretty darn good.

In our homeschool this week…

We started All About Reading.  So far I love it.  I was a little unsure if my kid would really be ready for this.  She’s only 3, but she has excellent pre-reading skills and is so very motivated to learn to read on her own.  I used their checklist and posted in their forum for a second opinion.  I got a very quick response I might add.  It turns out, whether I’m ready or not, my kid is ready.

It was slow starting, she wants to instantly read the little story books.  I told her eventually she would read them to me instead.  She’s a little disappointed I think.

My child isn’t into coloring right now.  She’s more of a pasting kinda girl lately.  I had cut some things out of card stock leaving me with very small rectangular slivers.  I gave her tweezers and some glue.  She thought it was great.  I checked off fine motor skills for the day.

She’s grown tired of her tablet games.  So it’s time to download some new ones.  I’m hoping to find some that challenge her in reading a bit.  Suggestions?

She is also really loving the Bible stories from Rod and Staff.  She even likes to read them on the weekend.  I’m shocked at how much she really retains and how well she can retell the story.  She has even memorized the verses.  We put them on index cards in different colored marker and she says them with very little, if any, prompting.  There are only 60 stories.  So it won’t be long and I’ll be looking for something else to take its place.  Once again suggestions?

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

One thing that has really worked well for us is saving our spots in our books with paper clips with a ribbon tied on them.  They are pretty and help us save time by not having to find our place every time.  It also helps us when it isn’t the same person helping with the workbook.  Occasionally, her dad will help with one of the workbooks at her request.  This way he knows exactly where he should start.

I am inspired by…

Mindy at Cute Girl Hairstyles.  My little one isn’t cutting her hair anytime soon.  At least that’s what she says for now.  So I might as well learn some cute hairstyles for her.  Mindy is awesome at braids.  And braids are what my little girl is into right now.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

To the pool we shall go….we are lucky enough to have an indoor pool.  So we are going to the pool, which is why I didn’t get this post done until much later in the afternoon.  My hair is still wet as I type.  But so glad we went.

My favorite thing this week was…

We got in a little sewing this week.  It was nice to see her pinning scraps together.  She asked me to sew a heart on one of the scraps and used it as a blanker for one of her dolls.

What’s working/not working for us…

We need to move our calendar.  Its location isn’t working for us at this time.  I also have too much stuff piling up.  I’m simply not getting to all that I’d like to.  I’m working on this.  Truly I am.  Hopefully our plan for next week will be more usable.

Questions/thoughts I have…

I’ve started to look for Christmas ideas and putting a list together for what needs to be done.  I really like to encourage my child to make as many of her gifts as possible with as little help from me.  So I’m looking…I want them to be fitting on both ends, which presents a bit of a challenge.

Things I’m working on…

I purchased the iHomeschool Omnibus Bundle, which is no longer available.  Included in this bundle were some file folder games from Mama’s Learning Corner.  So I’m putting some of those together.  And slowly sifting through some of the other ebooks that came in the bundle as well.

I’m reading…

For my birthday I got a Cricut Expression 2.  I’ve never had any papercrafting machine like this before.  It is awesome and frustrating all at the same time.  So in hopes of easing the frustration, I purchased the Kindle version of Cricut Expression: A Comprehensive Guide to Creating with Your Machine.  It’s only $0.99 right now.  It’s also available in a paper copy as well.  But for $0.99 I didn’t feel like I could really go wrong.  So far, it has proven very helpful.  She walks you through lessons that include the cutting settings for blade depth and speed.  I’ve watched some YouTube videos, but oftentimes I’m looking for something to reference when it comes time for me to cut.  I really need some reference points for my settings.  So a book is much more practical.  I’m hoping to come up with some finished products without making a jillion mistakes.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve learned a lot from my mistakes.  But really, I’m ready to stop learning the hard way.

I’m cooking…

An Angle Food Cake.

I’m grateful for…

An approving husband.  He sees the progress our child is making and is amazed.  That makes me feel good to know that I’m doing a good job.  Not everyday do I think I’m doing a good job.

One funny thing…

While walking into the grocery store, Missy commented that it looked like it was going to rain.  The next thing out of my very observant child’s mouth was, “Good thing we always keep our roof on.  That way our house doesn’t get wet.”

Yes, thank goodness for keeping the roof on.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Cute quote…from my little girl.

“Daddy knows everything…and he says mama is the boss.”

I must agree daddy knows everything.

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As one season comes to an end another one begins.

I find myself buried in books planning for the upcoming months on this long weekend.  I’m taking advantage of this day off.  My husband is off for Labor Day, therefore, I’m collecting our books for the coming weeks while my child plays Lincoln Logs with her Dad in the den.

So I thought I would share my favorite top ten books for fall on…

1.  Our favoritest favorite is Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper. It is about a duck, a squirrel, and a cat. They each have assigned jobs, such as adding just enough salt to the soup.  Everything is peaceful in the old white cabin, until the duck decides he would like to trade jobs. The others are not open to this and so it causes conflict in the old white cabin.

And no election year would be complete without a couple of election books…

2.  With elections coming who could resist Duck For President.  We could learn a lot from a duck.  This book will be well liked by kids and adults alike.

3.  Otto Runs for President is a simply book on electing a president.  Even though this book is a children’s book, there’s more truth to it than what we would really like to think.  Two candidates make promises that they really can’t fulfill while the underdog listens to the voters.  Unfortunately, the underdog doesn’t always win in real life.

It’s apple picking season in many places.  Every fall we like to make a trip to pick up our Dixon apples.  It’s a long day trip for us, but well worth it.  And who can go through apple season without Johnny Appleseed?  There are so many Johnny Appleseed books, I couldn’t possibly choose just one.  There are just too many apple books out there as well.  One of our favorite activities is to “stamp” with apples.  And don’t forget to show your child the hidden star inside.

4.  Ready-to-Read Max & Mo Let’s Go Apple Picking!  has a simple recipe for applesauce and shows you how to slice an apple to see the star and also for apple stamping.

It’s not just time for apples…Gardens are plentiful at this time of year.  Oftentimes, I think we focus on gardens frequently in the Spring, but not so much in the Fall.  Perhaps, we are too busy canning and preserving from planting too much in the Spring.

5.  Mrs. McNosh and the Great Big Squash by Sarah Weeks is a wonderful read with lots of rhyme.  I love Mrs. McNosh books.  You could do a whole theme on them alone.  This book would easily work for multiage.  For younger kids, they can search for rhyming words, while older kids can apply their math skills.  Put your measurement skills to the test to figure out the ratio of a squash to a house.

6.  and 7.   My child has already started enjoying some little leveled readers from Scholastic.  Pumpkin, Pumpkin on a Vine by Maria Fleming is to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.  One Little Pumpkin by Maria Fleming is to the tune of Ten Little Indians.  Music appeals to my child and anything set to a tune is easy for her to remember.  So these short books make her feel like such a good little reader.  Every child needs a little bust of confidence when it comes to reading.

During Fall time, bats are an ever popular topic for themes in schools, whether, public, private, or at home.

8.  Although I’m not a huge fan of bats this one is my favorite when it comes to these nocturnal creatures.  Stellaluna is wonderfully written and equally illustrated.  It opens the door for a great comparison between bats and birds.  A Venn diagram would work well for a visual comparison of the two animals.

9.  Why Do Leaves Change Color?  This is a Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 2 book.  This book answers this question perfectly.  It also gives some simply activities to do using leaves.  So get ready for a nature walk to collect your leaves.

10.  And last but not least, There Was An Old Lady That Swallowed Some Leaves!  This is a spin off from the popular tale There Once Was a Lady That Swallowed a Fly.  A nice, silly book…just the way we like them.

What’s on your reading list for this Fall?

Make sure you visit Angie over at Many Little Blessings for Top Ten Tuesday.

And yes, those are affiliate links.  I’m much too lazy to take good pictures of each individual book.  

Which means we survived the first week.

{Insert happy dance.}

So now I have lots of changes and lots to do.

So where to begin…

We have a pretty good routine for starting our day.  We eat breakfast and while we eat, we review from our index cards.  At this point, we just have memory verses in there.

We read a little Bible story.  I found this great pack from Rod and Staff for preschool.  My daughter thinks they are “real school books.”   I purchased them through a publishing company called Lamp and Light for a very reasonable price.  (I would link to them, but they don’t have a website, just a catalog.)

Then we do calendar.  It’s a very simple version that as we go we can elaborate on.  For right now, this is what works for us.

Then usually she gets dressed and ready for the day.  Sometimes she’s ready for more school work, somedays not.  But eventually, she always ends up doing more of her schoolwork.

We work on our schoolwork two sometimes three chunks of time out of our day.  She is only three and I really feel that it is important for her to decide what we get done and when.

She’s really too young to be sitting and doing school for hours at a time.  My goal is to really keep this fun for her.

So we play lots of games.  Many of which I collected from my teaching days and some others recently acquired from Confessions of a… Homeschooler.

On Friday afternoon, her Dad got home early.  So they played a few games together while I finished up a few little chores since the laundry doesn’t do itself.  Then I joined them for one last round of Old Maid.  I think Old Maid is his favorite game of all time.  Daddy got to play Candy Land this time too.  Not his favorite game.  But he played with a smile on his face.  They also played Go Fish, the I Spy version.  Missy is a huge fan of I Spy.  Those were some of the first books she started “reading.”

I must confess…

We didn’t get everything done that was on my list.  But we came close.  We got most of the important stuff done.

So far we’ve made play dough and slim.  It’s been a great experience.

One thing that I’ve worked on this week has been organizing everything.  And getting into my own groove of things.

I need to figure out a grocery shopping and errand routine that doesn’t throw us off.  I’ve considered planning monthly and making a big grocery shopping trip instead.  Currently, I go once a week.  Every other week, we hit several stores including those warehouse ones and on the other week s we usually just hit one sometimes two stores, depending on sales.  So sometimes this can take a very large chunk out of our day.

We rearranged some of our supplies and books.  Added a couple of  tubs to separate out some of  our materials.

And I’ve thought a lot about what we can do to make things run a little smoother.

Our second week has been better so far.  Our routines are improving.  We do seem to start out strong and dwindle away as the day progresses, which bothers me just a tad.

This weekend, I plan to make some more changes.  So we’ll see what happens.

So have you started school?  How did your first week go?