Fall Colors

The Story of Simon

It was Halloween 2002.. I got the most unusual, "trick or treat".. I am still not sure which one he is LOL.. I had been doing animal rescue but had made it clear to everyone with a house full of strays and baby #3 on the way, I was not taking in new pets.. So you can figure what happened next..

So its Halloween night and a lady from the shelter stands on my porch with this little half dead black poodle that looked more like a Halloween decoration himself.. Not sure he was going to even survive the night I put him in my back building with some food, water and a bed.. kind of a "quarantine". He looked awful.. Bed sores to the bone, what hair he had was matted and the rest of his skin looked as if it was falling off..

He was alive the next morning, and the next.. on day 3 I learned there had been a parvo breakout in the shelter.. they lost 1/2 the dogs in there.. But this little black poodle.. who had gone straight to the euthanasia room, was spared the exposure that was in the main kennel area.. This little dog has used up 3 lives in less than a week.. he was rescued from whatever situation he was in, he was spared euthnasia, now parvo.. I still wasnt sure he was going to live tho.. But my friend said when she looked at him his eyes said, "I can make it".. so she called me..

A month later I found myself at the vets office with him.. He was still working hard to live but was barely hanging on.. It was the day before Thanksgiving, and the day before Abigails due date.. Here I was tending to a half dead poodle.. The vet said he had mange pretty bad and wished me the best.. the dog was in rough shape.. So I took him home and continued to nurse him.. I could see that look my friend saw in his eyes.. I knew I had a fighter..

It took several months for, the little black poodle, now named Simon, to recover.. He was well and spent every moment with me.. we commuted 45 each way to work every day.. he hung out and made friends with everyone he met.. He had made a full recovery.. I was proud.. so now came the last bit of work.. Find him a home.. But the perfect home just never came around.. SureI had several people offering , but it just wasn't right.. Truth was.. He had already found his forever home....

We estimate Simon's age at about 12 years old.. As of Friday he has been with us 7 years.. He is still my shadow.. there is no doubt I belong to him.

Kroger 10/18-24

I havent finished the flyer.. but there are a few really good deals this week

Post Honey Bunches of O's & Raisin Bran
there are coupons out for granola nut clusters, I do not know yet if these are in the sale
there is also a $2 Printable coupon here You should also get a $3 OYNO coupon with your receipt

Nature Valley Granola Bars and Fiber one Bars are also 4/$10 get $4 off instantly at register =$6
There are .70/2 coupons and .40/1 coupons available.. they were in the
These make for great deals

since I do not know how many you can do per transaction I play it safe and do one at a time. Here is an example transaction.

4 Nature Valley Granola Bars $10-$4= $6
use 4 .40/1 coupons my store doubles them) = - $3.20 = $2.80 OOP get $3 RR makes for .20 profit.

or

4 Nature Valley Granola Bars $10-$4= $6
use 4 .70/2 coupons (my store does not double these) = - $1.40 = $3.60 OOP get $3 RR = 4 boxes for .60¢

Kroger 10/18-24

I havent finished the flyer.. but there are a few really good deals this week

Post Honey Bunches of O's & Raisin Bran
there are coupons out for granola nut clusters, I do not know yet if these are in the sale
there is also a $2 Printable coupon here You should also get a $3 OYNO coupon with your receipt

Nature Valley Granola Bars and Fiber one Bars are also 4/$10 get $4 off instantly at register =$6
There are .70/2 coupons and .40/1 coupons available.. they were in the
These make for great deals

since I do not know how many you can do per transaction I play it safe and do one at a time. Here is an example transaction.

4 Nature Valley Granola Bars $10-$4= $6
use 4 .40/1 coupons my store doubles them) = - $3.20 = $2.80 OOP get $3 RR makes for .20 profit.

or

4 Nature Valley Granola Bars $10-$4= $6
use 4 .70/2 coupons (my store does not double these) = - $1.40 = $3.60 OOP get $3 RR = 4 boxes for .60¢

Our Homeschool Plan

Our schedules have been a bit off.. but we are settling back in..

I know many of my friends will be reading this to get tips on homeschooling so this will be a long blog post!

To find out your laws go here.. HSLDA

The Kids ages/grades:
I dont like to catagorize as grades but it seems its the only way most people relate to a childs skills.
The problem with that is you may have a 8 year old child who can do 5th grade math and 2nd grade grammar. and thats not very uncommon.. that creates a world of issues in traditional schools. For reference I will post the kids basic grades.. :)

Urijah 1 1/2 is an observer.. he picks up what he is interested in, he is on his own time LOL..
Olivia 2 1/2 is preschool.. she is working on colors, numbers, etc
Zachary is 3, almost 4. He is balancing between Kindergarten and First grade.. I suspect at his level he will be 2nd grade by next fall.. He is a beginner reader ( sounds out words) and is learning basic math.. he is very interested in letter sounds and words and focus more on that.
Isaac is 5, and nearing 2nd grade ( in 2 more weeks) he has been reading since he was 4 and can spend all day reading about dinosaurs.. he also enjoys math. He is a unique source for unusual trivia.
Abigail is 6 and also 2nd grade.. she is also an avid reader and has found a recent interest in beginner chapter books like Junie B Jones.. She will read anything involving horses.. She isnt a big math person but has recently developed a knack for it.. She has incredible art skills..
Quinten is 9 and nearing 4th grade. He is a hands on learner. He has trouble with spelling but reads well.. He prefers science, esp earth science.. He loves to cook and bake. He loves fixing things. Most of his lessons are not your traditional school work.
Jacob is 10 and nearing 6th grade.. This means he is beginning a whole new school plan.. He is a great student and also makes a good teacher.. He thoroughly enjoys school time.. He picks things up easily and seems to like history the most..

Lesson Plans:
We dont follow a certain curriculum.. we consider ourselves "eclectic unschoolers" ( see #1 & #2)
For our basic skills we use these workbooks. We buy them at Sams Club.. about $8 a piece.
For our other topics and extensive study we pull from a vast array of resources available on the internet.. Some I have posted on my Frugal blog ...

For Jacob's history this year we are studying the foundation of our country.. in depth.. Starting with 1700-1800. this part of our history is most often overlooked and misunderstood.. in brief, the Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776.. President George Washington wasnt elected untill 1789 when the US Constituion was adopted as the framework for the US Government. What happened in those 13 years inbetween has seemed to be a blip on the history screen but contains so much important information. As well as the events leading up to the Declaration of Independence. One important question to ask yourself is.. What happend that casued these men to risk everything they had? Thier lives, their familes.. Why was their freedom so important.. This information, or its lack of being taught, I feel, has played a big part in the direction our country has taken..

We will begin with several books, The Five Thousand Year Leap, The Real Thomas Jefferson, The Real George Washington, and the Essential Federalist & Anti Federalist Papers. The school work involved with mostly be discussion and a few essays.

For the rest of them we will do a History Notebook.. I got this idea from a fellow homeschool blogger and chose to adopt it.

For Science we will all be studying evolution vs. creationism.. Focusing on dinosaurs for Isaac..
some sources for this will be Scripture, Dr. Dino, and Abeka workbooks.

As far as a schedule we do basic skills in the am from 9:30-12 we break for lunch and do our other topics in the afternoon when the younger ones are napping..

I will post more later as questions arise.. :)

Urijah's First Haircut

Joe has been saying for sometime Urijah needed a haircut.. so I finally agreed..Boy it was long! but the curl in it was adorable!

And Quinten found an unusual spot for a nap...

Changing Seasons

last weekend I did our bi-annual clothing sort.. Its a big job.. this year it took two days.. How it works is all year I collect clothes that I like that might fit someone.. then twice a year ( according to the seasons) we sort, purge, donate, store, or hang the clothing

First we pull all the clothes out of the boxes and the closet and we make piles.. (r. to l.) Boys pants/shorts, boys shirts, girls shirts, girls pants, and pajamas




then we sort the pants and shorts.. and fold and box up the shorts- we have a box for donations as we purge at this point

then we do the same with the shirts
when its all done we match our fall/winter outfits and hang them. the pajamas, sock. undies etc go in their proper bin


For us stockpiling clothes is awesome. I do not know my exact budget but my guess is we spend less than $200 a year on clothes.. (excluding socks and undies which we buy new). The kids are always excited to do this.. They enjoy seeing the outfits they wore go to the next kid and they also like to see what is new in the pile.. For Abigail, she is glad to finally start fitting into the dresses and sweaters I bought a few years ago..

Changing Seasons

last weekend I did our bi-annual clothing sort.. Its a big job.. this year it took two days.. How it works is all year I collect clothes that I like that might fit someone.. then twice a year ( according to the seasons) we sort, purge, donate, store, or hang the clothing

First we pull all the clothes out of the boxes and the closet and we make piles.. (r. to l.) Boys pants/shorts, boys shirts, girls shirts, girls pants, and pajamas




then we sort the pants and shorts.. and fold and box up the shorts- we have a box for donations as we purge at this point

then we do the same with the shirts
when its all done we match our fall/winter outfits and hang them. the pajamas, sock. undies etc go in their proper bin


For us stockpiling clothes is awesome. I do not know my exact budget but my guess is we spend less than $200 a year on clothes.. (excluding socks and undies which we buy new). The kids are always excited to do this.. They enjoy seeing the outfits they wore go to the next kid and they also like to see what is new in the pile.. For Abigail, she is glad to finally start fitting into the dresses and sweaters I bought a few years ago..

A week ( or two ) in pictures...

We went on a walk around Freeman Lake.. we didn't hit the whole 5 mile trail with the little ones that day.. maybe another day.

crab apple throwing contest..

Jacob doing his sloth impression

a crane

in air

Lost tooth

We went to a birthday party for a friend.. Had a blast..
Quinten is helping Urijah, who didnt seem to like the foam pit

Isaac

Jacob

Olivia

Abigail

Zachary

Urijah
he decided it was easier to go under ;)