Homeschool Stuff

I had the opportunity to review The Schoolhouse Planner and it goes above and beyond my expectations of a homeschool planner. Actually, it's more of a comprehensive, organize everything type of planner. You can read my review, plus enter the giveaway for a FREE COPY at the Homeschool Blog Awards. But don't wait too long. The giveaway is only open through tomorrow, Tuesday, August 12th.











You can also find my article, Snippets of Time, in the latest issue of the Heart of the Matter here. It's a quick read that will help you tackle some of those never-get-to-it tasks. As ever, there are some other great homeschool articles in this issue.

As for homeschool here in bunnyville, this is my planning week. I had my ideas of what curriculum we'd be using, but the money never came together for some of it. Plus I realized that I'd pretty much been mapping it out on my own . . . without prayer. Big mistake. God already knows what He has planned for our homeschool this year, and I need to get on board with His direction.

I participated in Heart of the Matter's online conference, pulled out a variety of information that I already have to peruse, and have been praying about this year. We'll be starting next week, in conjunction with most of the area schools. Not that we're required to follow their schedule, but the boys have friends who attend various schools, so it's nice for them to be available when their friends are.

I'm looking forward to this year and getting back to some structure in our home. Plus I kind of miss not really learning things. Isn't that funny? I'm ready to go back to school! Ha! Ha!

Bubble

Just a sample. I don't have time to play with all of them and choose which to post at the moment. But these bubbles are SO cool that I had to go ahead and post one. I'll have more like this at my photoblog soon.

PhotoStory Friday: Raining Bad Apples

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

My parents were on vacation, so I'd been going over to water plants, pick zucchini, and check on things. The day they were coming home, the boys & I went out back to pick up the bad apples that accumulate on the ground under the tree. ClayGuy was bent down, scooping up apples, and yelled "ouch!" a couple of times, saying that something had hit him. We realized that there had been some apples dropping out of the tree. Then we discovered the source of dropping apples - a squirrel! A rather persnickety squirrel who would nibble a few bites off the apple and then throw drop the apple on the ground. Problem was, we were pretty much underneath the picky squirrel, so ClayGuy was getting hit!

This one still had the stem and leaves attached


This one even had a worm tunneling in and out. Ewww.

Grandma & Grandpa got home before we left, so the boys got their souvenir hats from the trip before we headed home. It was probably good they weren't wearing them under the tree - they might've had apple guts on them!

Trip to CRAZY TASTY® Town

It was a very normal afternoon, doing stuff around the house, having friends over, editing articles, and the like. What would really give this day a kick in the pants? How about a quick run to the grocery store?

Let me back up a moment, Lucy and the kids came over and I decided to whip up a batch of ooey gooey Rice Krispie goodness. I opened the refrigerator to discover that {gasp!} I HAD NO BUTTER! ACK! No butter = no treats.

Never fear! Lucy & I would make the one-mile jaunt to the market and buy the much needed butter . . . along with a few other things of necessity, you know, like frosted flakes and sandwich bags.

Well, the hilarity began in the parking lot. Granted, I could certainly have remembered a list of 5 items, but I didn't want to appear inconsiderate to Lucy as we walked through the store, with me repeating some strange mnemonic shopping list and not interacting with her. No, I save mnemonic shopping lists for private shopping, thank you very much. We got out of the van, uh truck, er, JEEP. Yeah, that's it, we were in the Jeep. Anywho, in a moment of sheer brilliance, it occurred to me that my teeny, tiny little post-it grocery list might decide to detach itself from my purse, particularly if said purse were hanging over my shoulder. I glanced down at my purse and sure enough, the rascal had already departed. Problem was, I didn't really know where it went. Then I spied it - under the tire of the Jeep! Being the sweet friend she is, Lucy was quite compliant when I asked told her that I was going to pull forward and she could pick up my runaway list. In all fairness, I did offer to let her pull the Jeep up and I would get the list. She declined and graciously picked up my teeny little list.

Hi ho, Hi ho,
In to the store we go.

Got butter? Check.

Got Spam® Single Classic? WHAT?!? Excuse me? What is this? A handy dandy foil package of . . . yes . . . it's SPAM®! And it's NOT in a can!

OH. MY. GOSH!! Who knew?!?

Now THIS is definitely blog material. Being the lunatic enthusiastic photographer that I am, I always have my camera neaby, like on a shelf in aisle 5 in my purse. Lucy, ever the friendly and helpful assistant, kindly held up the SPAM® Single Classic package for me as I began my grocery store photo shoot. Out of the periphery, I noticed some people passing by. I got this funny feeling that we were being looked at. Not really sure what that was all about. I mean, doesn't everyone shoot SPAM® at the market? Just in case they were unfamiliar with my obsession hobby, I calmly said, "Don't mind me, the crazy grocery store photographer." I think it worked. They went right on out of aisle 5 and into some other region of the store. Either that, or they went to notify security.

I must apologize for the blurry shots. These crazy old foil packs are just not very cooperative when it comes to posing. They're so reflective, so uptight. Not the most cooperative model, but they know full well, that in their uniqueness, particularly when they contain SPAM® Single Classics, they can get away with being stand-offish.

After my initial cover shot, the folks at SPAM® really got my attention. Did you catch this one?

IT'S SO QUICK AND EASY! Just rip and tear your way to CRAZY TASTY® town!

GET OUT! I was wondering how in the world could I get to CRAZY TASTY® town? In fact, I was pondering that very question . . . oh, I don't know . . . like once, when I was almost three, or maybe that was Funky Town. Nevertheless, I was still intrigued, to say the least. Incredibly amused, to say more than the least. Well, time to flip the package and see what other CRAZY TASTY® goodness the SPAM® folks might have for me.

I must say, they did not disappoint. On the back? Well, there's so much going on here, let's begin at the top.

A SOLID LINE WOULD SAY "NO! DO NOT CROSS!" BUT THIS LINE IS DOTTED, FEEL FREE TO ENTER

Wow! Not only is it quick and easy AND the way to CRAZY TASTY® town, but it's quite welcoming in a dotted-line sort of way. (Side note: I was thinking a dotted line might be more congenial at the front door, instead of a solid threshold. Clearly, I'm on the right track.) Not only are they welcoming, they assist you with lovely, step by step illustrations demonstrating just how you may enter freely.

Step One: Grasp top corner
Step Two: Tear open pouch

Step Three: Squeeze pouch
Step Four: Enjoy tasty SPAM®

Next we have the SPAM™ IDEA O'WHEEL. This is where they share ingenious and often yummy ideas for SPAM® usage. Swell things like SPAM® Single and Cheese, SPAM® Single Spamburger® Hamburger, and the ubiquitous SPAM® Single Necklace (it appears you would run a piece of yarn, ribbon, or string through the special "necklace" hole at the top center, tie it off, and place it over your head and onto your neck). The special treat you can both eat AND wear!

Truly, there is nothing that says lovin' like the helpful, wearable, and welcoming SPAM® Single Classic foil pack.

And if all this isn't enough SPAM® madness goodness for you, please, oh please, go to SPAM® dot com. They have a THEME SONG, people. You can also JAM WITH SPAM®, check out their spankin' new SPAMTASTIC™ television and print ads, as well as, and here's the best part, play Monty Python's SPAMALOT™ game. It just doesn't get any better than this.



fyi - If you make it over to view the Spammobile™, hubby has worked on it before. Being the RV SUUUPER GENIUS that he is. What can I say, it's his claim to fame.

WW Redirect

I need to figure out something here . . . when I post Wordless Wednesday at my photoblog (which is where it usually is . . . unless I post twice), and people link off my comments, they end up here. With no WW entry. Could be confusing.

So then. My WW entry can be found here.

I'll work on this. I'm all about decreased confusion for all the couple of people that venture over here.