Noah and his new Dancing Elmo...

Noah just LOVES his new Dance With Me Elmo. He's palying with it so much, they're starting to look and act like ;-) 

Elijah & Noah in the car!!

There weren't a lot of rides at the Fall Festival that Noah was big enough to ride, but the cars were perfect. Elijah felt like such a big man driving his little brother around in the car ;-)


 

Fall Festival 2006

This is a picture of us pre-Fall Festival. The Fall Festival is the second largest street festival (next to Mardi Gras), and is held right here in Indiana (Evansville - just a short 15 mile trip from us.) We had a blast, and I will post more pictures.


 

We finally found the babies!

Our cat had babies nearly two months ago, and we weren't sure where they were - or if they were still alive. We kept her in the house, but one day she got out and two days later when we found her she was no longer expecting! She had the babies under our house, and we found them when Maddison (the lil' brunette in the picture below) heard one meow. Aren't they adorable? There are 3, but one ran off before I could snap the picture.
 

Today was a good day ;-)

Today was a great work day and homeschooling day. The kids are loving their virtual schooling. I am so relieved to not have to use a packaged curriculum, and they are too. They don't miss it one bit - and virtual schooling is definately here to stay.

Thank God for technology!

It's working out just fine

Sometimes I get a little freaked out about being a homeschooler. I worry that they aren't getting the kind of education they could be getting "elsewhere". Usually this fear only creeps in when outsiders ask me a ton of questions like "What do you do for socials kills?" or "Aren't there state laws aboout homeschooling?"....

My fears are quickly put aside when one of my brilliant children proves their intellect (without my asking to do so). I hate it when people drill them on their Math or Reading skills, or ask them an off-the-wall kind of question like "Who was the first President of the United States?".... These are COMPLETE strangers drilling my children (once they've learned that we are a homeschooling family). Of course the kids know they don't have to answer the question or prove themselves to ANYONE - but they are proud to do it - and prove that they ARE very intelligent.

In the meantime, I hope people will worry more about their own children's education and social interaction - and leave the worrying about my children to ME.

Okay, I'm done with my little vent ;-)

Feeling a little crafty? Try this....

I must admit, when I saw this website - I was SHOCKED. A fellower WAHM'er shared this site with us.

Check it out & (prepare to laugh)

Contemplating buying the kids their own laptops....

Ok, we're thinking about buying the kids a laptop of their very own (each). David doesn't think Elijah should have one - and I may agree with that. Maybe we should start with the VTech Learning Pad for him - but I think Maddison and Aerial would do well with their own Laptop. They are both getting really good at researching topics of intererest, which is AWESOME for keeping that 'love of learning'.

VSmile Rocks

It wasn't until recently that the kids really got into playing the V-Smile. I bought it for them LAST Christmas - but they didn't seem all enthralled with it....until Aerial was grounded from her GameCube.

She prefers the V-Smile now, so that's a good thing. Elijah even loves it!! He's only 4 and can play the games like a pro. Little does he know, he just mastered all the pre-k curriculum while playing a fun and interactive game! Technology rocks!

WARNING ABOUT BACON GREASE!!!

This is what happens when you keep cooking with bacon grease. This is a warning, send this to everyone you care about.

It could happen to you...

Bacon Grease

it will make your feet small!!!!!

David & the kiddos

 

Here's an adorable picture of David and the kids. They were all playing outside when I asked to take their picture ;-) 

Simplicity.

Simplicity. That is our focus lately. We are truly blessed to be work at home parents. Working from home works out so well for our desire to homeschool our children too. David and I are able to both work 8 hours a day, and still spend plenty of quality time with our children. I work two hours, and then he works two hours. While the other is working, we have two quality hours to spend with the kiddos.

We are de-junking our home. It's amazing how you acquire so much crap over the years. I think it's a woman thing to impulse buy - just because something is on sale.... We are getting rid of most everything we don't use. First step is to bag up everything except necessities for 1 month. The conecept is 'out of sight, out of mind'. If we can make it for 1 month without it, chances are - we just don't need it. We'd rather give it to someone who needs it (via www.freecycle.org) or donate it to the Salvation Army or Goodwill.

We've gone high-tech this year form the majority of homeschooling this year. www.Time4Learning.com is awesome, and so is www.ClicknKids.com for the phonics portion. It has replaced our usual Hooked On Phonics. Of course we're still using Hooked On Math though - it's a great program.

We've also started the Body For Life challenge / Eating For Life. Since we've done so, our children's behavior has improved dramatically. We eat six small meals a day, balanced carbohydrates, protein and essential fats. I wake up before everyone else and get my workout done first thing in the morning. It just makes me feel better, and I'm losing weight - so that's a big plus.

Anyway, this is an update on what our family is up to. I hope this inspires others to do less. Less REALLY is more.

It's A BOY!

 


No mine - my friend Amy's :-) 

Glitter image test

Steve Irwin, 'The Crocodile Hunter,' was killed

Steve Irwin, 'The Crocodile Hunter' died today. He was swimming over the top of a Sting Ray and was stabbed in his chest. They said he may have died instantly, but aren't sure.... So sad...we really enjoyed watching him and his wife on tv.

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Google AdWords Made Easy (FREE Ebook)

Lynn Terry's Self-Starts Weekly

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Bad Apples

I have recently had an encounter with a very bad apple. She seemed to be quite successful and even claimed to be a business mentor and "success coach". Upon further investigation, I learned that she had cheated her way to a prestigious status within her Network Marketing company. Actually, she not only cheated - but literally broke the law in the unethical way she built her business. Sadly, I think the company she is with will not do much about it becuase they will lose out on the money her business has brought them....

I have faith in the law of attraction though. What goes around, comes around - without fail. This same person tried some pretty nasty stunts to sabatage my own business building efforts, and thankfully was exposed without my saying a word. Pretty neat how that law of attraction works.

It won't be long until her business world comes crashing done. I only hope that those involved will get out while they still have time. And for those who are unaware of her unethical behavior, that the truth be brought to light before they are brought down with her.

What Do You Do?

What Do You Do?

You are on a horse, galloping at a constant speed.

On your right side is sharp drop off, and on your left side is an
elephant traveling at the same speed as you.

Directly in front of you is a galloping kangaroo and your horse is
unable to overtake it.

Behind you is a lion running at the same speed as you and the Kangaroo.

What must you do to safely get out of this highly dangerous situation?

If you do not know, scroll down to see answer below.

Get your drunk ass off the merry-go-round!

Harold The Computer Guy

Harold, the Computer Guy

I was having trouble with my computer.
So I called Harold, the computer guy, to come over.
Harold clicked a couple of buttons and solved the problem.
He gave me a bill for a minimum service call.

As he was walking away, I called after him,
"So, what was wrong?"
He replied, "It was an ID ten T error."
I didn't want to appear stupid, but
nonetheless inquired, "An ID ten T error?
What's that . in case I need to fix it again?"

Harold grinned...."Haven't you ever heard of an ID ten T error before?"

"No," I replied.

"Write it down," he said, "and I think you'll figure it out."
So I wrote down. I D 1 0 T

I used to like Harold

JESUS vs SATAN Joke

Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better on
the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly God was tired
of hearing all the bickering.

Finally fed up, God said, "THAT'S IT! I have had enough. I am going to set
up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results, I will judge who does the better job."
So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.

They moused.

They faxed.

They e-mailed.

They e-mailed with attachments.

They downloaded.

They did spreadsheets!

They wrote reports.

They created labels and cards.

They created charts and graphs.

They did some genealogy reports

They did every job known to man.

Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than hell.

Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly
flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the
power went off.
Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curseword known in the underworld.
Jesus just sighed.

Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted
their computers. Satan started searching frantically, screaming:

"It's gone! It's all GONE! "I lost everything when the power went out!"

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from
the past two hours of work.

Satan observed this and became irate.

"Wait!" he screamed. "That's not fair! He cheated! How come he has all
his
work and I don't have any?"

God just shrugged and said, ...

**

**

**

**

**

**

...JESUS SAVES