Notes and such

Thanksgiving went better then I expected. The food turned out great and the table looked good. We enjoyed our meal and had a good day. At the end I counted my blessings for the things that went well. I suppose that is all that anyone can really expect. Colin and Conner both helped with various things and of course Colin made at least one dish, green bean casserole. Austin "helped" by asking when the food would be done, lol. Austin is not one for the kitchen. I suppose I need to relax a bit and enjoy things and not worry so much about whether it compares to whomever I am comparing myself to at the moment. I am always looking to improve.

So I took time out to put the new recipe's we tried and liked. I really like the red garlic mashed potatoes and the savory stuffing. The pumpkin cake was so great and is also a wonderful addition. The turkey came out so beautiful, I wish I had gotten a picture when it came out of the oven. Everyone agreed it was too salty but it was gone in no time so it must not have been that bad. The brine recipe that I used called for 1 cup of water to 4 gallons of water. I found some turkey sized roasting bags at the grocery store so we put the turkey in it and added water till it was just about covered but we still had plenty of plastic left to tie off. Then we let it marinate for two days. I am going to change it to one day and 3/4 cup of salt in a roaster bag full of water. I hope this will be the wining recipe for christmas. I typed all this up into my "master chef" software. I love this software. I even got my sister to love it. It keeps all my recipe's. At the time I was thinking back to a time I remember seeing my grammy do this. Of course she did it with paper and pencil. She always put notes in her recipe's to get them just right. You know that little hint to make the recipe taste just so. We even talked about the amount of egg in her rum cake and how she has tried a few different ones to find one that worked. I've never really done this till now and I can see how invaluable this minor thing can be for adjusting my recipes for the better. Of course that doesn't work when you aren't sure where you went wrong. I am not sure where I went wrong with the pecan pie but no one wanted to eat it. The crust was great and the pecans were good we picked them ourselves from all those pecan trees in the yard. The filling was ok but it wasn't right it had this sort of odd taste not like I used bad ingredients but like mabey something got put in there that shouldn't. I have always had problems with this pie and I am on a mission to get the thing right. It's all in the practice right?

On Thanksgiving we went to Marsha's, her mom is my husbands great Aunt Dottie. That would make her....?It was a decent crowd with lot's of family showing up throughout the day. Even though I don't know half of them. There was so much food I felt silly for worrying about what I was bringing-green bean casserole, candied yams and pumpkin cake. The food over there was good too although they sure don't make yams like my grammy. Later the boys along with the teenagers and Marsha's grown boys played football. I got a few good snaps and will try to post them soon. The boys really had a good time and I was sooo glad. Here a few shots of our Thanksgiving.

This is the pumpkin cake. It's a new recipe and it was so delicious. Like pumpkin bread in a cake. nice and moist.

Pumpkin pie. Looks good. I am getting better at the crust aesthetics's

Green bean casserole and garlic red mashed potatoes. The potatoes were the creamiest I have ever had. Yummo. There are some crescents and the stuffing in the back

Grammy's candied yams, and savory stuffing in front. Mac and cheese in back.
Ham and Turkey. It's funny because at first I thought I did get a pic of the turkey. Upon closer inspection though I see that my hubs carved the turkey and placed it so, it looks like the whole thing.

Planning Thanksiving

I took time out Friday to plan our Thanksgiving menu. In a way I like the planning and thought process that goes into doing the whole holiday thing but I sure miss the simplicity of going to my Grammy's. Let me tell you about the holiday's at my Grandparents house. I have been going to my grandparents house since I came to the USA back in 86. We took a three year break when we were stationed in Florida. My Grandparents have perfected the art of the holiday meal. Everything is special and we always know what to expect although we do have alterations and of course the regular surprise thrown in. I cannot fathom the holidays without all of that but I must work with what I got. And so it would seem that I can either sit around pouting(boy I sure have gotten good at that one the past few months) or I can try and make myself busy being productive. I know at the end of the day if I feel I have gotten alot accomplished I can sleep ever so much better. So even if it will be different I will be making familiar dishes. I have also thrown in a few new ones I want to try out. I mean if I am going to start our own family traditions I want to have some recipes of my own. So what am I making? Here is the menu

Turkey

Ham

A somewhat modified version of my Grampy's Giblet Gravy

Grammy's Ham Glaze

Savory stuffing

Garlic Red mashed potatoes

Grammy's Candied Yams

Green Bean Casserole

Black Eyed Peas

Salad

Crescents

Pecan Pie

Cranberry Sauce

Pumpkin Cake

Yuppers it's a dozy but my Grandparents make way more then that and it's all so yummy. Sunday we talked about that at Marsha's (cousin to Chris I think). It was mentioned that my grandparents success at holiday meals comes from years of practice. I know this must be true so I have adjusted my thinking to expect much less so that hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised. I will get another opportunity to practice at Christmas time. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here though so back to thanksgiving. I had the defrosted my turkey this past weekend and then let it marinate in brine for two days. This morning I put it in my oven and should be ready around 3-5 pm tonight. We made the stuffing as we stuffed the bird so it would come out nice and juicy. Colin put together the Candied yams and Conner and I will be making the pecan pie in a bit. I also want to get the Pumpkin Cake done today. The ham I got was an already done type so I will just carve it tomorrow and then heat it up.What does that leave? The mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, green bean casserole, both gravies which I need drippings for before making, the black eyed peas are already done and salad and cranberry sauce is the ready to serve type. Last is the rolls but the will go in 20-30 min. before Dinner time.

I had a great time learning about turkey brining and preparing and roasting yesterday. The Internet is a wonderful tool if you know how to use it. I even watched videos on prepping and carving. I also got the tablescape and I hope it will be wonderful. I will try to take pic's for you guys. Be sure to share your menu, I love trying recipes.

Low Country Tour

I know I have been promising those pic's of where we now live forever. Well here are a few shots around the house. Please remember that no one has live here since 89', which means no one has done anything around here other then nature reclaiming. That is 20 yrs that no one has weeded, raked leaves, mowed the yard, trimmed trees etc.... My FIL came here at least every other year if not every to do maintenance on the buildings. The house burned down several years ago, I will find a picture of it for you guys if you promise not to laugh, I'm all of 17 in those pictures LOL. Watch for it in a future post.

Here is our Barn. As you can see the stairs are gone and there are some temporary steps which we are going to fix sometime. The field on the left of this building is our possible Garden site.

This is where we house wood and all the animal feed. Not sure what the building was used for but it is in the best condition out of all of them.

Our driveway. It needs desprate leveling and some general cleanup. On the very far left is the grapevine growing by the "garage".

The kitchen clean. I had to take a picture so I would remember what that looks like, lol. Kidding. I could put some chairs around the island. I am considering this for more seating.

Here is a a view from an angle at the front of the house. See the bare landscape, not to mention the years of growth we need to clean up.

Here are some bricks I got from the piles in our backyard. These used to make up all three chimney's on the old house

Our fine chickens produced these, aren't they wonderful.

Our pig. We just put fencing around this pen. The pig is having a blast rooting the place out.

This is the backyard coming from the front yard. There are two huge piles where we had them put as much of the wood in one and as much of the brick in the other. All that was left of the old house that burned down several years ago.

This is our "garage", it works even if that was not it's original intent. There is a grapevine next to the building that has been so overgrown I'm afraid of killing it if I try to cut it back.

My wonderful chickens in their pen. This pen needs work but the chickens are safe so it will do. I let the chickens free range as much as possible as this makes for happy birds. They thank me with almost enough eggs for all of us. I have never had a fresher egg.

That is our tour for the day. I am off to do some yard work and to work on my Thanksgiving menu and grocery list. I will try to write later. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

A switch and project

Well things have been a bit stressful around here and hubs is just about fed up. Actually let me take that back, hubs is fed up. He is in process of switching the boys to K-12. Yup you read right we are going back to K-12. We know the system and how it works. The teachers have always been so accomadating. Anyway it will be so much easier for him to work with and I still get my boys in hs. Dh wants to send Austin to ps in the second semester. Austin has been expressive about his dislike of hs the entire time. To be honest he has worn me out but that is no excuse to put him in that enviorment. I think that by giving in and giving him that type of influence that he will just get worse. I will pray, as a matter of fact I need to do that here in a few.

Chris and I came out of the ps system. We came out alright but we sure had that time that the influence of our peers made our pre-teen through teenage years quite rough on our parents not to speak of our values. I also don't like the skewed representation of History and Science due to taking God out of our schools. I do not suggest I want to keep them in a bubble but I want to equip them with the neccesary skills so that when they do come upon a time they should need such skills that they will be there.

I will keep you guys posted

Lowcountry Tour

Down here they have a term for the area, Lowcountry. It's sort of whimiscal. Anyway I have been coming back to the blogging world and found some good ideas for my blog. With that said I am attempting to come up with topic's so my family and all my wonderful friends can find things easier. I hope anyway. I also thought with trying to get some pic's of our new "home" that it would be great to give you all a tour of where we live. I will call it "Lowcountry Tour". I hope it will help my family back home see all we are up to. It will also give you a great view into our lives.

We will start the tour with the new house. This particular one will host the trail on the back fields. you can see how outgrwon things have gotten. It takes us about 20 min. to walk it. I have yet to get out there with a pedometer to figure out the milage for my workouts. We have been training the puppies to walk with us using this trail. They are in some of the pic's.

Deer tracks, I think this one is a Fawn and her mom. These are all over the trail behind the house.

This is looking towards the house somewhere in the middle of the field

A Deer stand put there by the Hunters club that used to rent the land for that purpose

This is towards the back field. Austin is ahead walking Kenai on a leash while the little puppies follow

This is towards the right field. Great shot of the pups with Kenai

Next time I will be showing the grounds and house. See ya'll later. (lol)

Connections Academy

OH what can I say that would be nice?? Well they sent us the curriculum in record time. They have been very friendly and their teachers are too. But the website is not user friendly. Sometimes the boys have a hard time getting videos or assignments to pop up. And it's not my pop up blocker I assure you. This leads to the discussion my husband and I had about just purchasing a curriculum. I know he doesn't feel comfortable to put it all together by himself so to rely on a ready made one would be the best way for homeschool to work in our home this year. I know it is very late in the year to be talking about getting a curriculum but I have tried to stick with Connections Academy only to find myself aggravated at their site every time I go there. In the meantime I will try and quickly find all the things the boys will need and the boys will have to endure Connections Academy for the time being. That being said I think we are in for a bumpy ride but we will make it through.

When I have the stuff together I will post the boy's curriculum and a schedule of sorts that will enable them to finish the year "on time".

Mist

I must share this wonderful thing that happens in the morning. Most mornings I have gotten up to a mist covering the field behind the house. It is very magical. It also makes morning walks with the puppies a bit hard because they get wet and then cold. Speaking of the puppies they are doing really well with our training them to follow us around. We are still working on potty training though.

The boys have caught two raccoons within days of each other. The last one was in a trap in the back fields. It looked so scared and innocent I felt so awful when my boys were talking about killing it. I know people around here like hunting and all but I don't think I will ever like it. I like my meat in packages thank you very much. Apparently these creature , like the armadillo's, are a nuisance to the farm. I have heard bad stories about raccoons and chickens. Oh speaking of chickens our chickens are starting to lay eggs. We got our first egg yesterday morning. I was so overjoyed as we have had them over a month and were wondering if we were doing something wrong. I am still looking for a good movable pen for the chickens so I can get them to clean up some of the yard.

Chris went back home(Colorado springs) to get his truck. I miss him terribly and am very worried as the weather there has been in the 30's and was supposed to be getting much worse today. This prompted him to leave early, so he wants to get out of there sometime this morning. Yeah. I had him bring the camera because as crazy as it sounds I wanted some pic's of home. For some reason I never took pictures of the town we lived in for so long and the town I think of as home. I can't wait to see what he got. With him gone today will be especially crazy. Conner has a game at 10:30. Them Austin and Colin have pictures at 12:30 and their game at 1:30. I still need to make a couple of dishes for Sunday dinner with the extended family. I am trying to decide between goulash and schnitzel. Colin wants a green bean casserole. I also want to make a desert.



Our work with connections academy is keeping me on my toes. It is just not a user friendly site. They need major work in that area. Unfortunately our Internet connection is also part of that problem. Hughes Net is not what it says it is . It is very slow and truly not much faster then dial up. We keep getting timed out and alot of things don't show up that the boys need to read in order to do the assignments and it is causing alot of frustration. I have some ideas about how to fix this problem. I will share them at a later date if it comes to fruition. On this note if you have a great christian curriculum that you love tell me about it please.

I can't believe it has been almost a month since I the last post. I'm so sorry for keeping you all out of the loop but things have been just cuh-razy. We had to wait a week and a half for our movers along with a home phone. We are discovering people around here don't seem to move quite as quickly as I am used to. LOL. It has been frustrating but we finally have everything. I am still unpacking but I got most of the things where they need to be now its down to organizing. We have had a steady crop of people stopping by and that has been nice although it has ruined some nice plans we have had on occasion.

I have been lost in trying to get the house the way I want it and it has been just about the only thing on my mind. The boys are getting situated as well. We got a four wheeler that they have been having a blast with but it will definitely be very helpful around here. We also got a riding lawnmower as our yard is now much bigger then before. There were several bigger branches in the yard we had to cut up but are going to come in handy for firewood. Also the old house was put into two piles out behind the house. One is as much of the wood and the other as much of the bricks as possible. That has been interesting. I was surprised to see how easily the mortar (sp?) came off of most of the bricks from the old fireplace's of the old house that had burned down. I don't know if it was because the house had been about a hundred years old or if the fire that burned it down just has that affect on mortar but it sure has made my job easier to get the bricks sorted. I want to use them for something since they are going to be the only thing remaining of the old house. There are vines all over the ground that I hope will start going away as we cut and live here. The boys also saw and shot their first armadillo. I had no idea how fast those things can move. I know everyone here says they are a pest but I would love to find out more about them, mostly we were told they would dig holes around the yard and in our outbuildings essentially creating a lovely way to brake your ankle. Needless to say we don't need that.

I haven't managed to get out all that much because of all that has been going on. Also Dh's condition has him tired and in alot of pain which has also had us miss out on some things. But it is the way our life has been for some time so we are used to it. Other then obviously being concerned for dh I find myself apologizing alot for things we have missed. I also found that unless you have dealt with chronic illness people either don't understand and look at us as if we are making it up or they make Dh feel like he is completely incompetent. Other than that I have officially signed the kids up for Connections Academy (public virtual school) since dh will be taking over most of the schooling. Austin is still requesting ps and dh and I are considering it for high school. I hope the boys get their stuff soon so we can start. Once that is done I am sure things will be getting into the swing of things.

I am also trying to take some pic's for you guys so you can see our new digs. I can't wait to share. Please update me on what's been up with you guys. I can't wait to check your blogs and see what you all have been up to. Hopefully I will start to have more time for my blogging soon. Have a great week everyone.

Got him

Thought I would let ya'll know that we found kenai, some really nice people took care of him for the night. We are grasping at straws for what else to pack. So we just need to get all the stuff we need for the trip and load up the car. Other then that I will be up to my elbows in hot sudsy water-in my opinion still the best enviormentally friendly cleaner with a bit of old fashioned elbow grease. The movers will be here in a few hours. I must run again.

Have a good day.

A quick note

The boxes are packed and we are down to the nitty gritty. The movers are on their way. There is so much to do . I know I haven't posted much latley but it looks as if I may need to take a quick break. I won't have internet for a little bit. I'm not sure when but since we are moving to the sticks the only way I could get high speed internet was to go with Hughes Net. And they are not cheap.

I think Chris's cousin has some chickens for us. We have to put up fences since those are long gone, then we can get a cow. Chris and the boys plan on doing some deer hunting on our property. The land has been rented out to hunters for years. So I guess there must be some there. I have as of yet to see all of the property. I am super terrified. The what if's are dancing around me in circles. I will be on the hunt for a job, I will attempt to make sure we still won't have to file bankruptcy. The past year has not been pretty to my bank account. All those copay's add up quick and when you have to see that many specialist (higher copay)it gets a bit crazy. Other then that I need to learn as much as I can about being farmer jane. LOL> Oh yeah that's my new nickname, lol. I wonder who all will show and how it all will turn out. I keep hearing that there may be quite a few people there when we finally appear. I will be sure to update.

So know that for the next week or two I am packing, moving, driving to our new home, unpacking, job hunting and a slew of goodness knows what else. We are going to have our husky, two dachshund's, one cat, Austin's bird, Colin and Conner's turtle (its itty bitty and we brought it up here from our trip to south Carolina so really we are just bringing him home). We will have us and our three boys and all the basic necessities for about a week and a half. That is alot for one mini van. We have a top thing (name is escaping me).

Tuesday we went to say goodbye to my grandparents. They are taking care of my nephew who happens to be the same age as Colin and the boys and him get along fabulously. My grandpy cooked out on the grill. It was a great meal and I tried hard not to think that this was the last time I would see them for a while. I know we can't come here for the holiday's this year as we will just have moved. So it is going to be extremely difficult for me and the boys. We had a good time and I of course took pictures. Grandmy fixed up a plate to take back with me to Chris, who had stayed behind to pack. My in-laws had been helping us pack up that day. The boys and I felt pretty guilty rolling into the house at 9 ish at night knowing full well we weren't getting much accomplished that evening. Chris had bad news, Kenai got loose . We are desperately trying to find him. We are leaving on Friday and I don't intend to leave without that dog. The boys are very upset and I am so scared for him as he needs medication (he has epilepsy).

Half the house is packed. Colin got his haircute ,ahem I mean haircut. I hated cutting all those curls off but he really needed it. You should have seen all the hair under his chair. The hairdresser even mentioned it. He has pretty much the haircut he used to have before he started growing it out. He looks very nice, he lucked out with fabulous hair that seems to look great no matter what length. I dropped off two of my cats with my mom to watch for us till October when Chris will come back and drive his truck down to South Carolina. We have said our goodbyes to just about everyone. My mom is coming over today or tomorrow for coffee and goodbye. I am trying not to be sad, I know I will come back to visit as much as I am able.

I must now tell you a little secret of mine. When we moved here to Pueblo I hated it. There were no sidewalks, no parks in our neighborhood, and no decent kids around. We found a small brand new hs group that helped me find others but practically all the kids were preschoolers. I more recently found a wonderful christian group that has plenty of boys my boys ages and my boys started to make friends. But , and here is the secret, I still don't like it here. It's all so dead looking. Even the yards because most of those are nothing but rocks, ahem I mean xeriscape. Although I still feel as though I am moving to the moon there is something really great about where I am going. I can have the small town where I live. 45 min South and I have a huge town at my disposal. Savannah is 45 min south of me and it's huge. I wonder if it's bigger then Denver, which by the way should I mention is a 2 hour drive for me right now. So going to Savannah will be like going to fountain (where we used to live and about 10 min from almost all relatives). There is a huge hs group that is very active. I am excited to meet them and get the kids situated. MY MIL said only for the 5 time that we should probably put the boys in ps down there, you know just to make some friends. Umm here's a newsflash I am almost positive those are not the kind of friends I would prefer my kids to have. Kwim?

Well I should really go. I need to keep packing and cleaning, I also need to prowl the neighborhood for my dog, I need to call the pound and see if he is there. Not sure if this is my last post for a while but if so I will be back soon . I hope.

Summer smiles

Today we took our friends to Glenn Eyrie. This place is the coolest. William Palmer Jackson founded the city of Colorado Springs and Glen Eyrie's Castle was his home. This place is smack next to Garden of the Gods. OH by the way I think this place would be perfect for a letterbox. You can hike on the grounds, take a tour of the castle or have proper English tea in the castle. They have retreats and conventions and speakers that I would love to see and hear.It is run by the Navigators. Navigator's is similar to Awana if you are more familiar with Awana's as we are. They run summer camps for kids as well and you can actually stay there too. I think its' not much more then a hotel would cost. All of the grounds are exquisite. There is a rose garden I have yet to see, perhaps one day. A couple of years ago my sister and I took my mom there for mother's day tea, it was fun and fancy and we had a fabulous time. The boys and I have hiked the back forest several times over.

So with my boys, my friend, her son and one additional friend we headed off this morning to go hike at Glenn Eyrie. We got there about 11 ish and my friend was astounded at the grandness of the grounds. I bet they have over 50 acres back there and all of it is just breathtaking. OH and I think it would be such a great place to put our very first letterbox, I have been looking for a spot to put it. We drive all the way to the last parking lot as it is the closest to the hike.

We cross bridges, streams and riverbeds. Along the way a group of visitor's spotted some mountain goats and we managed a picture. About an hour or so we finally get to the end where there is a wonderful waterfall. At this point we decide to stop and enjoy that we got there and eat some lunch. I knew there were some punch bowls at the top of the mountain. Technically we were at the bottom of the waterfall but not the top of the mountain. The last time we were there I didn't feel comfortable hiking up to the punch bowls but this time my boys were more then capable so we did. The trail is rocky and slippery and you are at about a 80* angle to the top. About a quarter to half a mile through some incredibly rocky and slippery terrain we finally made it although not without a few extra scratches and bumps along the way.

What is a punch bowl? I didn't really know to be truthful. Appearntly it is a part of a stream where the water has created a sort of bowl that you can take a dip in. All the kids at first chickened out and I knew how cold that water would be (really we were in the mountains of course it will be freezing). Well the dominoes fell-one took the plunge and they all followed suit. After that it was next to impossible to keep them out of the punch bowls. They were like little monkeys crawling around and getting out and egging each other on. It was a wonderful time. It took me about 15 minutes to get them to finally stay out of the water and start going back. I actually had to start going on the trail to really let them know it was time. There was so much fun chatter among the boys all the way back to the trail about the punch bowls.

I am including a little slide show of our trip. I hope you enjoy.

Letterboxing 101

Have you ever letterboxed?? If not you are missing out. I discovered letterboxing some years ago. I was reading one of those smaller newsletter type papers that some cities have. You know the free ones. Anyway this article caught my eye. Being the mom of three boys the idea of treasure hunting in nature definitely seemed like our cup of tea, or whatever the boy equivalent is. So what is letterboxing you say? Well let me inform you. Letterboxing is AWESOME. LOL. Seriously though, letterboxing involves

1. going to the letterboxing website

2. Finding letterboxes in your area

3. Getting the clues

4. Follow the clues to find a hidden box

What is inside this box??At the very least you will find

~a stamp

~a logbook

and possibly

~a pen

~an ink pad

So what do you do? Well you have your own log book. Ours is about 5 by 7 ,spiral bound, hard cover notebook. You will also want a stamp. You can go to your local hobby store and grab one that is meaningful to your family. I had one professionally made with my dh's family crest for one of his father's day presents. It is special to us and has meaning. Next you stamp their stamp in your logbook and your stamp in their logbook. You can write a small note and the date you found it. You may also go back to the letterboxing website to tell the owner that their box is still there and in good shape, this helps them immensely in the keep up of the letterbox. And that is it lady's and gent's. These boxes are hidden everywhere.

One such box led us to our favorite family hike. The trail is called "Seven Bridges" and it is gorgeous. It is about four miles of kick butt hiking. At the right time of year there are wild raspberries that my boys LOVE. Trust me I cannot emphasize that enough. We hadn't been there for almost 2 years, due to dh getting sick. A friend of mine wanted to go letterboxing since she hadn't been and I raved so much about it. So we all gathered up and headed out on thursday. It was the perfect day for a hike. We had 7 kids ranging in ages from 4-13. It took us about an hour and a half to get to the box. My friends and I had a great time and they are officially hooked on letterboxing now.

We love the fact that our kids had a great time in nature. No T.V., video games, computer, mall, park. Just plain outdoors. Beautiful, wonderful, magnificent Nature. The kids had a terrific time and even the 13 yr olds admitted they were tuckered out. Half the kids fell asleep on the way back. We ended our day with me taking them to the German Deli I love. Both my friends are military and had been in Germany not too long ago. Here are some pic's of our hike.

Austin, Conner and Josh go in the river. The ice cold river. Can you see Conner's open mouth? That is him gasping at the coldness. Their feet turned pink and numb in a matter of 2 min. tops. It was quite funny and of course a great lesson in hipothermia.

Lindsey, her son, Colin, Lindsey's daughter and Brenda. This is our last bridge, Bridge # 7. We hung out, ate lunch and caught our breath. The boys spotted some small fish trying to swim upstream and attempted to catch them. Unfortunatly you had to get in the water to do it. So they got wet and a bit cold. The weather was hot so it just cooled them off.

Conner finds a spot to hang out in.

Austin Climbs up this hill. It is quite tall and he is far up there. That is why he is so small.

Colin loves nature and he does very well in it.

Family Talk

To South Carolina we go. WE had been planning this trip earlier and the plans fell through as the doctor's did not think it was a good idea. Now we missed the Family Reunion that not even Chris has been to. The objective of the trip is to see if dh gets better if we live here. Obviously three weeks is not the same as living here but last time we were here for two weeks and an ulcer dh had on a finger went away. Granted it was not as far along as dh's toe.


Doc still didn't think it was a good idea but dh had other plans. He figured if they are going to amputate half his leg anyway why not come down here and see if he gets better. Well the jury is back...sort of. He is feeling much better. The burning sensation he has has been MIA and he has taken walks with us. Also the ulcer on the toe next to the one they amputated went away, cleared up, left the building, healed what ever you want to call it. The toe looks great, nice and pink no black anymore. Also where they amputated healed considerably more in the amount of time we spent there then in the amount of time since the amputation. So the final part of the experiment will be to see if he gets worse again. If this happens our plans for moving down here just went to the express lane. This comes with very mixed feelings for me. Obviously if hubs is better there I am willing to go. All of my family lives here. Well not all of it since there is alot of family that my dad has around the U.S.A. But my parents, grandparents, brother and sister all live here. Dh's parents do as well. I like having my family around and being able to get together if I want. All those holidays and the simple things too. But if dh improves the decision is a no- brainer.
Anyhow the trip was fun and very relaxing. We had no agenda just a list of people we want to spend time with. A majority of the two weeks there we spent on the beach. A cousin of dh owns a condo on the beach. It was very nice. We got burned to a crisp our first day out. I could swear I put on sunscreen. We went to some u-pick farms and got the freshest fruit, yummmm. The boys loved picking the strawberries the most. I think Conner only contributed to his tummy but he is still 10 so I let it slide. We saw an island that was a bird sanctuary and a loggerhead turtle nest. We saw millions of sea snails and slugs ( so gross they look like poop, snicker) horseshoe crabs, ghost crabs, jelly fish, birds, dolphins, hummingbirds, the smallest frogs ever, lightning bugs- such a huge hit, love bugs- so funny the reaction of the boys to these ones, lizards, butterflies, turtles and I'm positive I missed some. We spent a couple of days out on a hunting ground that some cousin's of dh use for weekend getaway. They all brought 4 wheelers and the kids would ride the trails. They did this every weekend and about 20 people would come. It was a good time and the boys loved 4-wheeling. One of their kids feet couldn't even reach the floor of the 4-wheeler and he was 5. I thought wow not sure I would let my kid at that age but that is none of my business. I finally found the gulah gulah island baskets. I remember in my research reading about a small island that was cut off of the mainland till only about 20 years ago or so. Anyway there was a completely different community and they all did things in very old ways. It was neat learning about them. They are supposed to make some wonderful baskets and I do want one. Colin caught animal after animal. As a matter of fact I'm not sure I would have seen so many different animals had it not been for him.

Distant cousin's invited us out for BBQ's and family dinners. Apparently pretty much every Sunday they go to a house and does pot luck. Its very neat to see a family do this. We would live about a mile down the st from their homes so I am sure we will become part of the tradition. A friend of the family, dh's cousin's family, is a pastor and prayed over dh. It was very nice and the next day the skin came off like a scar would. Kid you not. Oh I already told you about it. Sorry, I still can't quite grasp it. We did look at some modular homes. This would be a very frugal option and eventually we could build our dream home on the property. I can not believe how nice these homes are. It is definitely not what I pictured. There are wood burning fireplaces, garden tubs, huge kitchens with island, stone work throughout. With any luck we can be debt free in a few years.

I used this "vacation" to give the boys a break from school although they did learn alot during this trip. I will be having them do reading lists ,3 math lessons a week and we will do science projects . What are some of your plans this summer?

what didn't work

This year has been, well not my best in the homeschool department. I don't mean your usual "I'm not doing enough" type stuff, although I do tend to have that . I'm talking about I have really let alot slide by. Let's see yesterday the boys got done with "school" by lunch, well a while before. I looked at the clock and we went through what they had done. Math, check, Literature, check, writting, check, grammer, check. We alternate days for history and science and that day was science. They hadn't done that so they wanted to watch the Magic school bus. Well that's all fine and dandy but in order for me to feel like we did science I would love a little hard proof. So I found the lessons for that particular episode and printed out 13 pages for them each. We still got done with time to spare for lunch. Then I wallowed in the whole I should be doing more. What can I do? I finally hit on that I do need a good plan.



As with history that had been floundering for a good portion of the year once I had a plan in mind, I had a direction. But science has been a bit more whatever the kids feel like doing for science works for me. Now that has lead to some wonderful projects and neat studies such as the time they made rock candy. Unfortunatly none of it tied in with anything else. I really like when our subjects touch on each other. A good example is when we were reading "Daniel Boone" and studying Native Americans. They were great companions. I need a good plan otherwise I know this will happen again. I would love to get books that we can read that relate to our history or science projects that do.



Do I then get a Science text ? or what? I really feel like I wouldn't have floundered so much had I had a text to fall back on in the event I hadn't been prepared due to our life getting in the way. Then I feel that perhaps I am using that as a crutch to fall on when saying I haven't done enought this year. Kwim? Half the year the boys went to co-op every other friday that would involve 3 science classes that were about an hour long. I really didn't worry about science then because we still did what we normally do plus that. I almost felt like I had no need to concern myself with science. Then the other half the year we just do random things that interest the kids.



Over the past year I have been mulling over getting Apologia Science. I have heard good things about it. Now to figure out which one I want. I know they generally go in an order of some sort. I would like to use them with all three kids. They will be in 6th, 7th and 8th next year. So which one will fit? They love creatures so it would have to be one of those. I am leaning towards the land mammals one. I think they would enjoy it. Should I get three of the same book? That seems a bit nuts too, and expensive. But I definetly can see that there could be fighting over it at some point if there is only one. If I buy three why not buy different ones. That way I have three years of Science, I'll just switch them around. I would like them to work a bit more independently and if I do three I have an inkling that won't happen. But if I have one they can help each other out which will be great for critical thinking. There are pro's and con's to having one or three. Overall I think mabey one for the two younger kids and one for the eldest may work best.



I truly have enjoyed the reading portion of our school time. It is the only time no one is fussing. Honestly I wonder if other homeschoolers have all these squabbles. Oh that is a whole nother post. Anywho I know the kids really enjoy this time as well and they are listening to books that otherwise I know they would probably not read. We will continue checking off our list till it's done. Then I will need a new list. Since the reading of "Daniel Boone" worked out so well at the time I think I will try to get some books that relate to other areas of our hs'ing. This way I can tie things in together. Of course this will require me to get my ducks in a row and get a plan.

What are some things that worked for your homeschool this year? What did you find did just not fit within your school year? I would love to see your responses.

Absent

Boy I can't believe I haven't written anything since the beginning of the month. Two weeks ago hubs had a toe amputated so that is my reason for being absent. Things are better now and again we have adjusted.

We finally finished our Native American unit. Yeah. We just started New World Explorers with the program "History through the ages" by Time Travelers. Let me just say it's is looking to be a very nice study. We are currently going through what it means to be a sailor. The boys will be learning some knots sailor's used. I think they will enjoy this. I hope they do.

On the science front one of our tadpoles died and we got another one. It was a bit sad but what could we do.We watch them and are waiting for their little legs to sprout but nothing has happened so far. Colin found a great site that went through the process of metamorphosis. That day we learned alot about what frogs eat, where they live, and other neat facts about frogs. I haven't managed to get started on the lapbook on frogs but I am sure glad that I already have it. When I am ready it will be there.

Both Colin and Conner finished their Math books for the year. I ended up getting them new because I was only going to save roughly $20 at most by getting used versions .I am glad I did. I have always just gotten the used versions so I have never given them the tests because I didn't have them. I can see how the tests will be very useful. There alot that just cover basic facts so the kids know them well and wont get bogged down with doing simple math and can focus on the problem they are learning. I let Conner try Teaching Textbooks and put him in 5th grade book. Now I know he should have gotten the 6th grade one since that is what he will be in next school year. I felt that all the work done this year to eliminate some of his math anxiety has really worked and he seems much more relaxed in this particular area now. I don't want to go back to the way it was. We will continue working through the summer so he will be done with the book before the year ends. It has only been about a week since he started his new book and just the other day he got done with math and he said "Mom, I'm good at math now see how fast I got done?". We graded it and he so far is doing a fantastic job only missing one or two out of about 25. I love the new attitude and it reassures me in knowing I picked the right book. We have never used this curriculum so I will give you a better review of it in about a month or so time. That way I too know if it is still working and what I like and dislike.

We just finished the second book in "The Chronicles of Narnia". The Lion , Witch and Wardrobe. We managed to get a cd version from Focus on the family and it was so fun to just sit around and listen to the story. Even though the boys watched the movie it was great to show how different a movie can be from the book. I had told the boys this with other books turned to movies and they didn't get it. They sure got it with this one. Probably because they liked the movie and payed attention. As has been the case of late, Austin whom voices his dislike of hs somehow manages to be in the room when I am reading to the boys. I read the last chapter as opposed to listen to the cd, it just seemed nice. This time was a bit different as he wasn't floating around the room pretending to be busy and just listening for the time being. He actually sat down with us and looked at the pictures when they came up. He even joined in the discussion of the book vs the movie and such. It is moments like this that make me firmly believe he doesn't mind hs as much as he tells everyone but just wants to go to ps so he can goof off with friends. It is with this in mind that he will stay another year and then we will re-evaluate. The boys are also moving along great in their grammar. We do need to write some papers as we haven't done all that much writing but Colin is getting good practice with his hs'ed pen pal. I am still on the hunt for pen pals with the other two kids.

We are finishing up with CBS and Awana in short time and have already signed up for the following year in which CBS will be covering Revelations. So we are going from the beginning -Genesis to the end. The boys have made many friends and have enjoyed the studies. I am considering vacation bible school for during the summer. Its still up in the air as it is a commitment and we want to go camping a bit during the summer. What to do what to do?

The boys are also doing a unit study of sorts. We are planning a trip to South Carolina (yes we just went there this past summer) for the family reunion. We have never gone and dh also has never gone. Since he is home (healing from surgery) I thought why not. We are working out all the details in that department. The boys will plan our route , our stops, figure out how much gas we will need and how much it will cost. I am also going to find some fun activities for the states we will be going through. I have unit studies for all the states but I don't think it will be much fun to do them all in the car. I will pick and choose for sure. I know the boys are very excited to go to the beach and see some family. I hope to update as we go so when I get home I can scrapbook it all.

Well got to run the house work beckons.
Have a great weekend.

Just because

I fell in love with this and if you haven't seen or hear this then how big is that rock you are hiding under anyway??? enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE6EkAvV4-Yhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE6EkAvV4-Y

Getting things done....finally

With our short break done we are back to the books. I am finally getting the Native American Unit done. Gesh I really dropped the ball on that one huh? Anyway we are going to do a review in the morning and an assessment in the afternoon. I think that way it's all fresh in their minds. I am going to buy time travelers history "early explorers". I have been looking at this product for some time and I really like all the hands on stuff. I think it will make it real for them. Unfortunately the one I have is the American Revolution and I really want to go chronologically. So it's off to find a copy at a decent price.

I got Conner's new math books. I ordered from christianbooks.com and it was all around pleasant experience. I went with Teaching Textbook in 5th grade. He will be working on this through the summer. He just finished his third lesson and has not missed a single number. I am so happy and no crying. Now I will send a thanks to God. I hope it continues and we have found a math that works for him. Colin informed me he would like to stick with Saxon. He is about to finish his second book with this math curriculum so if he likes it I will let him have it. I had asked him to think about it if he did want to try another curric, I guess thats my answer.

I am also excited as we just finished reading "Daniel Boone".Austin has somehow managed to be in the room to listen to me read several times. Until today it seemed coincidental, he would be eating or doing something in the kitchen. Today I knew, he sat down with chips and said "I'll sit here and listen till I finish my chips". Then he preceded to add in what happened in the last chapter as I did a small review. How funny huh? The boy who said I want to read on my own is now sneaking in to listen to me read. Trust me my heart sings and boy do I need to send out a big thank you to God for that one , huh? Anyway the story was nice and it sort of relates to our Native American unit since Shawnees and Iroquois are in it. I found the movie through Netflix (that place is becoming quite invaluable for school). So we will sometime this week be watching that. Conner is still deciding on what's next but our reading list is up top on the shelfari. It will be one of those. The boys thoroughly enjoyed this movie.

Well I got to run and put some bread in the oven to go with dinner(in the crock).

extra lessons

It has been decided that we are taking spring break. I signed the boys up for Ice skating lessons, but Austin had other plans. He went to his friends house, well that meant it was just my two younger ones. We missed the first day but that's okay. Tomorrow is their last lesson and they are having fun and learning a few things along the way. They made friends with one of the boys who is quite a neat kid. I really enjoyed talking to him and it impresses me when young kids can talk to adults and actually hold a good conversation.

We got some tadpoles to add on to our science. Remember last year when I got those great pics of tadpoles of various lengths. It was so cool so I wanted to be able to see the process. I promise I will get pics of them and hopefully post them weekly. I had considered getting Praying mantis eggs but I just came across these tadpoles so it was decided besides metamorphosis is just cool to watch. Maybe one day I will actually get the eggs. and watch the process from the egg to frog. I am looking at some lapbook ideas covering metamorphosis and frogs. Hopefully it won't break the bank. Here are some links I found if you want to do something along these lines.

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/Frog_Lapbook.php

http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/lapbooks/frogs.htm

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/frog.shtml

http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Themes/frogs/frogs.html

this one is geared to the classroom but still has some great stuff.

http://www.squidoo.com/FrogUnitStudy

Unfortunately spring has not shown up for spring break. Can you believe it? We instead get some chilly weather. We are supposed to get together with some friends to do a sort of cooking class with some pre-done dough. I think we were going to make doughnuts. Colin asked me on the way home today if we can make a pastry. How cool is that? He said he wanted to make a bear claw. Now I think that is a pastry. So it is off to find out just how hard this will be. I would like to make some soft pretzels (German style). I am sure you will soon find a post about this very soon.

Spring is looming in the air teasing me with wonderful days. I long for warmer weather. then my bubble is burst as I yet again have to have some sort of confrontation with my oldest son now 13 years. The days my sweet boy and I got along so well are well not really around anymore. Don't get me wrong we do have our good times it just seems of late we have been butting heads for a while.

What is the latest? He "hates" homeschooling. His words. When asked to produce a reasonable reason to return to ps he gave his friends. MMMM that is one of the reasons we pulled him back out. Believe me I have seen him enjoy the benefits of hs ing. he sleeps most days till about 9:30-10:00. He is in charge of what he wants to work on as long as the list of things to do is done. We got a nice science book and he has been doing the chapter tests in them. History he has been writ ting a paper on the revolutionary war, world war 2 and civil war. This started a big fight. so here it is and you can tell me if I am nuts, wrong or right.



I gave him two weeks to get this done. Do you want to know when he finally started worked on it? Friday the day it was due. He did read(research?) his history book and find some information on the net. The problem here is he went straight to wikepedia and that's it. No further search for another source. needless to say when he turned in his paper that I saw him work on for all of an hour I was unhappy with the result. I'm sorry if I give you two weeks I better see that amount of work in your paper. He got all upset when I said he had to redo it and type it up. Then his buddy called and I said he couldn't spend the night because he failed to put in 100% in his history paper on the civil war.

So he rewrites it and types it up. Let me tell you here what I saw he came up with in the amount of time he worked on was impressive I just didn't feel that it was worth 7th grade work. So I said he could spend the next evening if he rewrites the paper yet again and looses the attitude. The following day he got up fairly early and rewrote the paper. He handed it to me and said can I go now? Ugg he obviously didn't get the point did he. I think that is the part that bothers me the most. Because if he doesn't get the point he will continue making the same mistake over and over. How do I show him the error of his ways in a way that he can see.

I got one more copy of the paper and I was still unhappy . Honestly I felt with every rewrite I saw how well he could write and I kept wondering how great of a paper I would have in my hands instead I got a total of 3 hrs tops and that was with the "oh my god" and "This is so stupid" and the ever present sigh as I take apart his paper. Would you guys like me to share the paper with you? I can type up the first and last copy. I still think that his paper could have been better but I am also tired of fighting over it.

15 years

Wow. We made it 15 years today. We are high school sweethearts, yeah I know ick. I remember it all so very well. We are just going up north to find whatever we want to do. Is that what they mean by "paint the town red" ? yeah that is our plan. I like it. I get to spend two days enjoying my favorite guy. What are some ways you have spent your anniversary?

Yes you can

For P.E. I generally just have the kids play outside. Then about 6 months ago they joined Karate so twice a week they went to practice. And a more recent addition would be ice skating which we have been doing almost weekly for two months now. Crazy huh? I am also considering a YMCA membership as I know there is alot that they can do in way of P.E. . Anyway.


Just a week ago the kids got their yellow belt. It was announced that they would be able to try and break boards and bricks. Well Monday was that day. All I heard all day was 'we needed to be ready to go' so they would be there on time to break the boards. I had them remind me about dinner very early and they even helped make it. They did their chores in a timely manner without too much fuss. They even asked if I needed help. (hmmm I should ask sensai if we can have board breaking day more often? of course then the magic will wear off)I had two choices

1. bring the camera

2. bring the camcorder

I brought the camera and the kids did a bit of Karate. Then the moment finally came. The class gathered by Sensai setting up. We watched a deomonstration on how to do it properly then we were off. At first only one hand went up for an attempt. Now Austin went first and of course after brittany (the youngest girl) went the two boys had to go. Surprised looks and amazed faces come to mind as each child managed to break the board.It was such a fantastic moment, one girl had been quiet all along when finally she got the courage. As she broke the board her eyes lit up and her mouth smiled in an astonished sort of way. I think that face was the best. Everyone was happy for her because by her expression just said it her shoulders rose and she had a more confident air. I think that type of parent moment is one of my fav's it is so good to see your kid or another kid in that switch from I can't to I can.

We stayed way over. Karate is held at our church there had been a birthday party so alot of people we knew saw the boys and their class break boards .I think it was the boys' favorite P.E. class by far. What do you do for P.E.

OOps it was late when I posted this. I meant to include these pic's

Sensai Matt chops a brick in half

Colin breaking his wood blocks made of Pine.

Austin mooved too fast for me to capture in the moment.

Success

Success. In a word that describes Ameritowne yesterday.

We get up early to make sandwiches for lunch, showers and a general getting ready to go. We head out just before 8 am. 2 hours later we arrive and at a glance I realize there is something wrong. I was at the wrong location. See they have two locations and I was at the Belmar location. Luckily they had the address to their main building on their door. I punch this into the GPS and it turns out it's only 15 min. away and we were already 5 min late. Owell can't do anything about that now right? On we go. Finally 30 min after we were supposed to be there we enter the door to Ameritowne. It is so cute. Honestly, there are things that every town needs or really wants. It is a permanent towne set up for kids. The teller tables are smaller, the newsroom is teeny and it's all the mom's can do to contain that inner child and not play too. NO Fair. LOL. I talked to at least 3 mom's who also wanted to play in the make believe towne. I will share all the pics. Perhaps in a sideshow, hmmm . Oh yeah back to the task at hand.

I find were all the kids need to be and apologize to the parent volunteers about our tardiness. Luckily almost all knew I was from pueblo so we had a very long drive for this. I got a volunteer packet. It had goodies for all those dedicated parents to enjoy. We got coupons in the packet for a drink, chips or a cookie and a newspaper. There was info on what else the Bank offers in way of Bank services and the description of Ameritowne and International Towne. After this I rotate around to spend time with each of the kids. I walked around with them during breaks and helped them decide how to spend their paycheck. Isn't that cute. They each got a paycheck they had to take to the bank. They had to fill out a deposit slip and wait in line. Oh and they had to quack as they entered the bank. This gives the police officers opportunity to do their job by giving you a ticket. Isn't that just the cutest thing ever? Anyway the kids were to leave so much in their accounts when depositing their paychecks. So the kids got $20.00 in Ameritowne dollars to spend around towne. After they ran out of money they had to write checks. All this they were to keep track of in their registers. I waited with each kid as they went to the bank, I snapped pictures and made threats of bright lipstick kisses if said child wouldn't at least look at the camera. I swear my boys are so hard to get a picture of these days. See what I have had to resort to? I mean really do you think I look good in bright red lipstick?

The college offered classes. This was done by watching a short video on the college degree of their choice. Austin watched broadcasting and got a laminated degree. Again how cute?!Conner had the most free time as he had to go out and about to survey citizens of Ameritowne as to which shop had the best customer service. He also needed to gather the donations to various charities. Colin had to write about 20 checks for the college. I think he has it down pat now. LOL. Austin served endless customers soda, cookies and ice cream. All the time he had to wear an McDonald's cap. The mayor and judge had given speeches and cut the ribbon for towne hall calling Ameritowne open. I was at the wrong angle for that one. Several Bank employees were there to help out and make sure that everything ran smoothly. One of them talked to me briefly about putting Austin in International Towne. I said we had done this about a year ago. Most shops sold trinkets and the boys bought some cute stuff. At the end of towne the managers of the shops gave out certificates of appreciation to their best employee.

On our way home we hit another mall. I am going to go to all the malls there just so I remember what a real mall looks like. Trust me if you lived here you would understand. But that is another story. Austin was so stinking cute. We had a nice chat about their day. Here is a bit from Austin and my conversation that I just have to share.

Austin: Man this one kid made me maaaddd
Me: Really? How is that?
Austin: Well he ordered a coke so I get the cup and start to fill it up. Just as I get about half way the kid says "make that a diet coke". (It must be stated at this point Austin had the look of a veteran fast food worker that had to deal with irritating customers all day. It was so funny)So I pour out the drink and start to fill it with diet coke and half way through the kid says "Oh you could've mixed them".

I could barley contain myself at how much this affected Austin.Colin said he had to write at least 20 paychecks and thought the yearbook photographer was overpaid. I guess he got the gist of what it takes to run a college.Conner said he had alot of work by having to ask all those citizens which shop had the best customer service and then getting the donations. He also said this enabled him plenty of free time to enjoy the towne. All the kids said they wanted to do the same exact job again next time. We end up at Park Meadows Mall and boy it's a nice one. They even have valet parking. We walked around that and then headed out and home. We had such a blast.

Here are some pics

More training

Yesterday I woke up with flu/cold like symptoms. I pressed on. This morning I woke up feeling even worse. With plans of going to Denver for another Ameritowne training looming I again pressed on. I was mostly in a daze and on auto-pilot for most of the day. We got to the training late , of course. The boys learned their jobs and were then directed towards their group. All the children were divided among volunteer mom's and dad's each with a different area to teach. The idea is that the kids all have jobs that run a different part of town. There are many here are a few Towne Hall, T.V. station, snack shop, Bank, Medical Center and newspaper among a few others. At the bare minimum 60 kids participate in this event. There are generally two trainings and then the actual towne. So I suppose you want to know now what the boys will be . OH ok then. drumroll please.

Austin is in sales at the snack shop
Colin is an accountant at the college
Conner is a Community Relations Director at the towne hall

Austin's job entails offering refreshments to hungry and thirsty citizens.Quality control is important because customers expect to get what they ordered. Proper hygiene is of utmost importance. Colin keep writing checks for business expenses, keeping a register sheet and making deposits as well as recording them. Conner's job responsibility is to collect all donations for the six Young Ameritowne Non-profits. You will record all donations and announce amounts at close of business day. Also responsible for Quality Service Survey and report of.

Conner's title just cracks me up. All the kids were like your a what? It was so over their heads. Colin had a great time in training. All I kept hearing was and then I had to subtract all this money and did you know I had to pay the photographer $25 for the yearbook? He was incredibly animated, turns out he likes his job so far. Conner still is unsure of what his job entails but we know it will be customer service. Austin was also in Customer service. So I helped the parents out while we taught the kids about good customer service and advertising. I didn't really help all that much , seems my symptoms were getting the better of me.

Conner and Austin in their group for customer service training

Colin is in another room with his group, this one all accountants for different area's of Ameritowne

This is the advertising signs the kids came up with.

The kids had a good time and learned some skills for their jobs and Ameritowne. Next week we will go to Ameritowne. I can't wait to tell you all about it. Bear with me as this is our first Ameritowne.

All the way home my poor aching (the flu like body ache, kwim?) body sniffed and sneezed and coughed wishing for a nice warm bath or bed. Two and a half hours later I pulled into our house thanking God for getting us there and me to a nice bed. So I did the bad mommy move and made dinner leftovers or whatever they could figure out on their own.

This one is just for fun, while getting their lunch we came upon a Nestle Toll House Cafe. Can you believe it? I had no idea they had these shops.

Ameritowne- Hands on lessons for "free enterprise"

Friday sent us to Denver for the first of two training sessions for Ameritowne. Now if you haven't heard of Ameritowne it is a phenomenal "hands on " lesson in free enterprise. We did International towne last year and the kids had a blast so now we will venture in Ameritowne.

You can get more info about these events and if there are some in your area here. We got up and left the house about 7 am. We were unable to get the materials before the training session so when we got there we had to fill out job applications and fill out our checks and registers. We turned those in and then came the speeches for mayor and judge from the running mates. It was so neat these kids had truly worked on these speeches and it showed. There were about 5 kids up for each position in suits to boot. It was fun. The running kids all sat down and groups formed around them at which point we got paper and colored markers to make posters for our running mate. WE lucked out that the guy we were going to vote for, for mayor, sat with us so making the posters was fun. One of the parents gave a finance presentation and we had a general election. We gave our ballots and left. I did want to get home around a decent hour. Next week we are to come back and the boys will find out what their job is and get training among other things. I am so excited about it all and the kids seem to be as well. I got this huge binder that is a complete lesson plan for this.

The boys making campaign posters for our Candidate "David"

Austin came up with "David is Haven" Poster. Oh and if you look close at Colin you can see his cheek has a scrape. This is from him falling on the ice the day before while ice skating with friends.

The boys make friends

Its funny because just the other day I was reading a blog and ti was talking about getting homeschool burnout. And it hit me I was in a rut and had burnt out and needed something to spark my interest and the boys too. I think going to Ameritowne is doing just that. I am going to do the lessons to get the boys ready and hopefully I will have enough time. I can't wait to share some of it with you guys.

Oh and share if you want what inspires you to keep going when your homeschool meter has run out.

Yellow and more

My boys tested two weeks ago to get their Yellow belts in Karate. Monday they found out they all passed the test and now have earned their yellow belts. You should have seen their faces it was great but of course one glimpse of my camera gets the ole' eye roll so unfortunately I did not capture the moment. I did manage to get a couple shots of them trading in their white belts for their new belts.

They have been going for almost a year now and have worked hard at learning. I actually count this for some schooling as it serves for P.E. and Foreign Language (Japanese). Occasionally Sensai throws in some history about Karate as well.

Sensai Gary passes out the belts while Sensai Matt hands out the written portion of the test along with their certificate showing their rank.
Austin was actually happy about this. True to his age he is starting to fight us on going to Karate.

The kids managed to talk me into trying a science experiment involving a microwave and grapes. Yup I am a mom of BOYS. Lol. Apparently if you cut a grape in half and put it in the microwave they spark at each other. We found that they only did this once or twice so if you missed it you need new grapes. A whole grape will "scream" during microwaving. This one is sort of creepy if you want to make it creepy but really all that is happening is the air is making that noise due to the heat the grape is experiencing. This is very similar to a marshmallow experiment they did last week. That was quite fun . They put marshmallows in the microwave and the marshmallow expands. We added food coloring and it doesn't expand where the food coloring was. It was neat to see what we could do with the marshmallow.

The boys look on as their grapes spark at each other. This is followed up by a series of "cool", "awesome" and "now let's ......, no no lets do this.....". It was fun to watch their creativity go wild as they went through the scientific method trying all sorts of things, having a good time and learning.

Marshmallows Before

Marshmallows After


Marshmallows with food coloring, notice that all the parts with food coloring is sort of dented inwards and the parts without food coloring still grew.