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For Christmas my dd got some cool educational gift. A Telescope: this was a biggy on her list of wants. We didn't get an expensive one, but even the cheep ones are expensive, epecially when your on a tight budget. New Years Eve, at -7 degrees, we went out and looked at the moon and one of the planets. Someone said there were actually 3 planets that you could see, but we had trees in the way. Here are some sites I have found about astonomy, I haven't had time yet to really check them out, but they do look interesting: http://www.kidsastronomy.com/index.htm fun games, activities, and resources http://thetelescope.net/ Telescope And Stargazing Guide http://iya2009.org/ International Year of Astronomy 2009 website http://www.skymaps.com/ free starmaps each month Planet Earth DVD game: this is a great game for the whole family about the planet earth. There are catagories about the seas, deserts, jungles, etc... A friend of our got this for our dd for Christmas. The only drawback is, when they are talking about how old things are, they are talking millions of years. Disney Scene It:: o.k., this one isn't educational, but like the one above, it is interacting and great for the whole family, no matter what age group. Did your children get any educational gifts? |
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Today is the first day of "No Token...No T.V." for dd and I. I came up with this ideas yesterday, that if dd or I wanted to watch t.v. we had to have a token for each 1/2 hour. How do we get these tokens? By either exercising for 15 minutes or drinking 8 glasses of water during the day (can only get one of these a day). So today so far she has walked on the treadmill, jumped on the trampleline, and has drank half her water. We will also go out later and shovel the drive. She really likes the whole idea. We will take Sunday as a break, can watch movies as a family without giving up tokens. We can save our tokens up if we want.. I just wanted to somehow add some exercise or movement into her and my life. I was helping her try on some clothes the other day, it was time for me to admit that my daughter is overweight. Her dad and I are severely overweight. I need to help her get moving. I don't want to put her on a "DIET", but drinking the water will help cut down on the eating. I'm going to try and discourage second helpingsfor her and I both, use smaller bowls, so if we do want seconds, it won't be so bad. I'll also use the tokens for computer time for me if I'm using the computer too much unessasarily. I have things that I need to use the computer for, like yesterday, I spent 2 hours doing work for the co-op. The other benefit is I can use anytime earning tokens as school hours, two birds with one stone. |
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Since my husband is out of town on another interview, I'm going to try and get a bunch of Christmas stuff done today. He called me last night to let me know it was in the 70's.
Yes, we got alot of snow this morning, suppose to stop in about 2 hours. I got the impression from my husband that he would like to have the driveway shoveled by the time he got home late tonight. We only got about 8 inches so far, surely he could drive though it to get into the garage, lol. |
Posted in General
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I just can't believe how fast it goes. I had plans on Monday to do one of those Simply Today post, but just got too busy. As far as migrains go, this week was good, only 5 days. I know I need to go and see the doctors about it sometime soon, but I would really like to wait till husband has a job. So far no job, but he does fly out for an interview next week, and another phone interview when he gets back. He found out that he will be able to get unemployment for another 13 weeks, which will put us into March. So this is how our week went:
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You can read more Simple Woman's Daybook entries here FOR TODAY December 1, 2008
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Posted in Homeschool
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When a few of us decided we were going to start a homeschool co-op this year, I knew exactly what I would teach. I wanted something that would help draw in families, so I thought about dissections. So many families hate doing dissections labs. I have always loved doing hands-on science, didn't always do well on the textbook part, but I loved the labs. The great thing about dissecting is that you can see just how wonderful Gods hand is in everything. Once you see how everything works together, how there had to be a plan, there is no way you can still believe that things just happened to collide into each other and formed life. There had to be a plan, Gods plan. Basically, I'm just going to tell you where my resources are from for each lab we do. There really is alot online. You can get your supplies: specimens, tools, tray, etc.. at HomeTrainingTools or Nebraska Scienctic . One book I use often is "How to Dissect" by William Berman. It has 11 specimens, including a fetal pig, which I won't be doing. For Earthworm: http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/earthwormdissection.htm This was the worksheets I copied off for us to follow along with. I made sure I knew what each of the bold words were, and I also made a volcabulary crossword puzzle out of these bold words. You can do this online for free at http://www.puzzle-maker.com/ . Then I printed off the one copy and made more copies somewhere for my students. Other sites you can go to are: http://www.middleschoolscience.com/earthworm2.htm http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/earthworm.htm http://sciencespot.net/Media/yuckywormwkst.pdf http://www.hometrainingtools.com/articles/worm-dissection-project.html http://kentsimmons.uwinnipeg.ca/16cm05/16labman05/lb6pg2.htm http://www.gonzaga.org/teachers/dfreedbe/newweb/labEarthwrm.htm Virtual Labs: http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/virtual_labs/BL_14/BL_14.html http://biog-101-104.bio.cornell.edu/BIOG101_104/tutorials/animals/earthworm.html I told the kids that I wasn't an expert on dissections, which I'm sure I proved quite quickly, but that we were learning together. Have fun with it. Just explore and see what you can find. Also remember that this is not the time to necesarily (I know, bad spelling) understand each and every organ, but to find them and see where they lie, follow the digestive system, etc.... They can go into more detail at home in their own biology studies. Next.....Crayfish |
Posted in General
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Wow, it just amazes me at how fast time does fly by. I have so much to update, but I know going in detail on one post would be so long, not to mention boring. So I'll just briefly mention some and go into details later.
I guess this will do for now, hope I didn't loose anyone. lol..... |
Posted in Family
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......just very busy. My husband will know Friday if he gets this one job in San Francisco area. Please Lord, we need a job.......
Update: It's Tuesday and we never heard from that job. I guess instead they will send a "I'm sorry but you didn't get the job" letter soon. But my husband still manages to see a light at the end of the tunnel. He said he found some more leads. Will see. For me, the tunnel looks dark and hopeless right now..... |
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What if you had/needed to go back into the workforce or go back to school so that you could eventually contribute financially to the household. This is something my husband and I are discussing for me. I am having a hard time processing this right now. I don't want to send my daughter, who is starting 2nd grade to public school. How about only for a year or two? I was thinking of doing Medical Transcription, would need to study it for about a year online, then I would probably have to go out and work for a year or so for experience. But then I could work at home parttime making around $20,000. I don't know. I am kind of stressed right now about it. But I know he is really stressed right now with not finding work. It has been almost 6 months, he thinks part of it is because he is over 50. He wants us/me to have something to fall back on. Well, I have wedding stuff to concenstrate on today..... |
Posted in General
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Am I tired, my feet hurt, and I really need to go take a nap. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures, but I'm sure I'll get one later from the brides family. The bride and family loved what was done, decorations. The one sister who was visiting from England asked if I did it for a living.......um.....no! But it did make me feel good to hear. Next, I need to start working on my daughters..........but first, I need a nap. |
Posted in Menus, Recipes, etc...
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I would like to try as much as possible to only spend $25 on food this week, not counting a box of peaches that didn't come in last week.. In order to do this I need to plan our meals. Luckly I'm still pretty stocked on things. Breakfast:
Lunch: this is usually what ever is leftover from the night before. Back up will be p&b sandwiches. Dinner:
Dessert:
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Posted in Family
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Yes, I'm kind of up to my ears in wedding decorating. Not only is my own daughter getting married the end of September, but I was asked to do the decorating for another girls wedding from the church. Our families have been close since we moved to this area, our girls are like sisters. Her wedding is next weekend, so I've been kind of concentrating on hers today. So today I went shopping for the last bit of stuff. For the wedding itself, she just wanted an arch, which were renting, with vines and red carnations. Then she also wanted pew bows, and I had to get the flowergirls baskets and petals. For the reception, the tables will be set up in threes. In the center will be a bridesmaid boquet, then a few votives off each side, then a bud vase with two carnations, and a few more votives. Also red petals will be sprinkled down the center and there are also bells that I have been putting their name and date on (still working on this). I also have to wrap a box for the cards. Nothing extravagant, just had to do the finishing shopping. The hardest part was finding the right red, not Christmas red, more like a burgandy red. She's expecting 200 guest.
I'm also going to make the bridemaid (sister to girl getting married next week) and flowergirl (my youngest daughter) their dresses. I really need to get started on those next week. I also need to finish making and sending "shower invitations" out. Got about 35 sent today, have another 35 to do tomorrow. So this is just one of my many things I'm involved in right now. I happen to be one of those people who have to have my hands in everything. But I'm also a great procratinator, so this can be kind of stressing at times. But things are going well right now. Friday I will for sure be stressing.
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Posted in Homemaking
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Today I have been busy canning. I canned green beans: 16 pints, 7 quarts. Still have another batch to go, will probably get another 5-7 quarts done tomorrow. I also did pickles: 6 pints, 2 quarts. I have never done those before. Someone told me to just use one of the mixes you find at the store. It takes 4-6 weeks of sitting before we can try them, so I guess we will find out then what they taste like. Tomorrow I'm going to see if I can get some peaches and pears at the country store. I also want to get some more kidney beans to cook up and freeze. I save so much money doing that. I can make two crockpots full of chilli and spend less than $2.00 on beans. Can't do that buying them already canned at the store. Food I've already put away: I froze 10# of blueberries, 20# of yellow cherries, 1gallon-size bag of cut up rhubarb, and 2-1gallon size bags of strawberries. Usually I'm able to get sweet corn, but the farm I get it from didn't grow any this year. They are so generous to us, thats where I get my rhubarb, greenbean, and cucumbers for free. I have no where to grow really, so this comes in really handy. They are members of the congregation we go to, we also have class with them each week at there house, so we do all the driving. But this helps out with that. |
Posted in Family
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Yes, my husband is still looking for work. He has been out of work since early March. He has been diligently looking ever since. Mostly within a 60 mile radius of our home, but also out of our state too. Yesterday he took a skill test for an apparatus company, wish I knew what that was, not really important. It's an hour away, but in a cute little town. We drove through several neighborhoods, didn't see a junky house. Some may have needed some paint, maintance, but they had clean yards. Wouldn't mind selling and moving there. He also has a phone interview on Monday with the state college for their power plant. This is about 40 minutes away. At any rate, we will sell our present home when he finds something. We want to find something much cheeper, maybe even smaller. Come September we will be down to 3 people, so we really don't need 4/5 bedrooms anymore. So thats where we are at right now..... |
Posted in Homeschool
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Today was the first day back to school, didn't follow the schedule exactly, but that was o.k. I did get up at 6am, started the coffee, did some computer and then did some weights. Started the dishes and woke dd up at 8am, she had a late night so wanted her to get a few more minutes. By the time we got chores done, breakfast, dh wanting me to play cards with him, we didn't get school started till 10am, but that was o.k.. Reading is still going along well, I can see that math isn't going to be her favorite subject. We played a math game and did some addition flash cards. I'm going to be ordering Singapore Math next week sometime, well start at the beginning, see how it goes. We also did some piano, we really haven't been doing much since the end of March when we stopped taking lessons. Right now I'm just reviewing with her what she had all ready done with the teacher.
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Posted in Homeschool
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Last year I made up schedules according to what was going on in our days, I've taken and updated them. We basically have our home days, h.s meeting days (1 X/mo), and co-op days (2 X/mo). School Schedule:
Home Days: 6:00 up, dressed, meds, make coffee, drink glass of water, exercise 7:00 check emails, start laundry 7:30 chores- switch laundry, put dishes away, quick pick-up, wake up E 8:00 breakfast, clean up, clear table, what’s for dinner? 8:30 school- MFW 10:30 break 11:00 school- math, science, nature walks, piano, computer 12:30 lunch 1:00 PBS- Word World, Mom works on extra cleaning 1:30 school- finish up everything, read, activity cards 3:00 E- Wishbone 3:30 E- Quiet time Mom- Bible-work on projects- making cards, sewing, scrapbooking, etc... 5:00 quick pickup of house, help E pickup room 5:30 dinner 6:00 clean up kitchen and dinning area, mop floor, make juice 7:30 E's bathtime 8:00 E's bedtime
HFC Meeting Days 6:00 up, dressed, meds, make coffee, drink glass of water, exercise 7:00 check emails, start laundry 7:30 chores- switch laundry, put dishes away, quick pick-up, wake up E 8:00 breakfast, clean up, clear table, what’s for dinner? 8:30 clean out car 9:00 gather everything needed for meeting, 9:10 leave for meeting 9:30 meeting 11:30 library, groceries, errands, etc..... 12:30 lunch 1:00 PBS- Word World, Mom works on extra cleaning 1:30 school- MFW 3:00 E- Wishbone 3:30 E- Quiet time Mom- Bible-work on projects- making cards, sewing, scrapbooking, etc... 5:00 quick pickup of house, help E pickup room 5:30 dinner 6:00 clean up kitchen and dinning area, mop floor, make juice 7:30 E's bathtime 8:00 E's bedtime
Co-op Days: 6:00 up, dressed, meds, make coffee, drink glass of water, exercise 7:00 check emails, start laundry 7:30 chores- switch laundry, put dishes away, quick pick-up, wake up E 8:00 breakfast, clean up, clear table, what’s for dinner? 8:30 E- computer, piano, silent reading, etc...... Mom- gather everything for classes and read over lessons 9:40 leave for gym 10:00 gym (maybe mom can walk in other gym?) 11:00 library, errands, lunch.... 11:45 be at co-op, set up 12:00 classes 3:30 finish errands 4:30 quiet time 5:00 quick pickup of house, help E pickup room 5:30 dinner 6:00 clean up kitchen and dinning area, mop floor, make juice 7:30 E's bathtime 8:00 E's bedtime We also have Bible studies 3 nights each week, so bed time varies.... Now this is jsut a plan, it is very flexible, so if something comes up I'm not afraid to change things. I just need something to get me back on track for awhile. What about you??? |
Posted in General
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I've been putting off posting, not because I don't want to post anymore, but because I have just been out of pratice. Appearently it has been several months. I don't know why, I just kind of stopped. I think part of it was because my husband is still out of work, so he spends alot of time on the computer looking for work. And with him home, I just don't have so much free time, I have to entertain him. So I guess I need to do some updating, school planning, and just getting my life back in order. I don't have any kind of schedule anymore, which means nothing really gets done around here. Monday we are starting school back up, I have a few things to finish before we can start MFW Adventures. Stay tuned...... |
Posted in Goals
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It's been a few months since I wrote down any goals, thought I would try picking it up again.
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Realized its been awhile since I posted anything. Hi everyone. Guess I should do a little update on my life, what I've been doing, any changes.
Well, I think this is all. At least for now. I'll try be more consistant........maybe....lol. By the way, IT'S SNOWING!!! |
Posted in Family
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I came home from Bible class last to dd-19 and her boyfriend, who told me they were getting married. Actually dd hemmed and hawed for about 15 minutes till she got it out. Then we went to talk to husband, who just kept talking and making conversation so that fiance couldn't get a word in. (he could actually go on for hours). Finally fiance was ablet to ask. Of course we've known this was going to happen for quite a while. So....how do you do a cheap wedding?? |