Inspiration

Joann's just opened. You know I had to take a peek.

The fabric! The beads! The trim! The classes!

Inspiration hit.

Seize the Day! Bracelet- $18.99

Blue Jean Weekend Bracelet- $18.99

Endless Summer Bracelet- $18.99

***Free Shipping until Friday.:)***

Good, Clean, FUN

Summer is over. Except for the heat. YUCK.

Time to get back to work.

No Nintendo.

No TV.

Bummer.
Time to break out the shaving cream.:)

Maybe there is still a bit of summer fun to be had?

$1.57

So glad other blogging Moms thought of this!

Good, clean, FUN

No batteries required!

Happy Birthday, Robin!

Today is my beautiful, talented, fabulous, thoughtful,

creative, big sister's birthday! Please stop by

and wish Robin a Happy Birthday!!!

And the Winners Are...

It's one of my favorite times of the year. You see, I

have a "thing" for books. And, yes, it even includes

curriculum. After much research I have chosen this year's

winners....

Writing with Ease came highly recommended. It helps

ease your child into writing. You read sections of literature

and your child repeats them (in their words) back to you.

This helps them to process how to write. There are also

questions that you go over and the reviews are amazing!

Apologia is amazing in many ways. Fabulously written

(with a focus on how and why we believe the Bible), colorful

pictures, fun activities, etc. I just need to order the

Notebooking journal and we will be on our way!

My first year using Horizons. I have high hopes.

I wanted to try Saxon sooooo badly, but I heard it was

extremely repetitious and expensive. Any thoughts on it?

Loved this series this year so we are sticking with it.

This year we are diving into cursive writing. I'm not sure

how often it will be used in the future what with the

popularity of computers, but I am going to teach it anyway.

Susan Wise Bauer is fabulous. She also wrote

Writing with Ease (top). The Story of the World is

exceptionally written. If I had been taught history

with this series I may have majored in it. Even if you

don't homeschool it is fascinating and entertaining!

Katie is not very happy with the book below. She

thinks everyone will think she is a baby. sigh.. The

lessons are wonderful, though! The book

covers almost everything and in short, simple lessons,

too. Sorry, Toots, this one is a keeper. (Mandy told her

to be glad that it was not called Language Lessons for

the Elderly.)

A Reason for Spelling. LOVE. There is a story at the

beginning of each week that has to do with God. It's

almost like Sunday School.:) The activities are fun and

educational and Katie really enjoys them. Winner!

I am using Accelerated Christian Education

(School of Tomorrow) with Mandy this year. I am really excited

about it! I had never heard of it before but was really

impressed with what I saw. Fingers crossed!:)

Happy Day

Everything in my shop is 30% off today (Wed.). Love you.

*Purchase as usual and I will refund through Paypal.*

Taggie Blankets and Huby Hats

This, my friends, is a Huby (rhymes with Ruby) hat.

Really, it's a taggie blanket with the letter "H" on it. Ruby

is "wearing" it (much to her dismay) and so we called it her

"Huby".:) See how nicely the ribbons stayed on the right?

Then take a little peekie on the left. Not so pretty...

Not to be discouraged, I tried again! The other side is

yellow fleece. I think it turned out nicely and then I added

a little toy for the baby with a baby link (Wal Mart). The

Sonic gift card is so his siblings can go to Sonic for ice

cream. Everyone is happy!

This is for a little baby girl.... The other side is flannel.

I adore flannel and Fall is just around the corner.... right?

What have you been creating? Is anyone making

Christmas presents yet?

Snuggle Night with the Flumpalumpas

Friday night is Snuggle Night. I look forward to it as

much as Katie does. "Tell me a story about when you

were little," she asks. I have run out of memories! So,

I had to get creative.

Meet Thumper...

and Tinkalinka.

They are Flumpalumpas, which look

a lot like bunnies.

They share adventures with Toolaroola, the

turtle.

Last Friday night, Thumper and Toolaroola threw

Tinkalinka a Surprise Party in a tree. I wonder

what adventure will happen tonight...

Guard Cats, Silly Bandz and Etiquette Class

Just me and Ruby here. It's amazing how that little nugget can

soothe me. I got into a little "debate"this week with some members of our homeschool group over shooting dogs. But that's another story...

Loving my new iPhone. Absolutely. She has a lovely new

Seaglass Blue Candyshell case and my, my, does she feel

pretty. I am finally get the knack of all the goodness

iPhones have! Below is a picture I took while we were

PF Chang's yesterday:

While I write this, Snookie is guarding our front door.

Attacking birds, perhaps? So good to have a Guard Cat.

We went to went to Borders yesterday for a Silly

Bandz Swap. Have I told you how much I LOVE Borders?

They offer a wonderful teacher's discount, are extremely

friendly and helpful, will let you host FREE birthday parties

there (complete with a hostess that will read stories and do

games with the children + a nice party room), and have

fabulously fun activities for kids.

I think I could live there. Nice cafe, clean bathrooms, cushy

chairs and all the books I could ever read.

They even served refreshments at the swap!

The etiquette class was wonderful. Once upon a time

the teacher was Miss Arkansas! She is an absolute sweetheart

and truly cared about the girls. Not only that, she loves the

Lord- and it showed. The girls left with the ability to set the

table for casual and formal occasions, polite phone,

conversation and texting skills. They also learned personal

care, how to act during a job interview, how to sit and walk

properly and more.

Watched The Big Lebowski last night. Weird.

My newest adventure is teaching an American Girl

class in my home! I am so excited! I have a full class

already- and even a waiting list. Now I have to start

planning the magic!:)

I Like Being a Girl...

My girls started an etiquette class today.

Table settings, polite conversation, and how to be a good

hostess were all covered.

Then, we came home and practiced with friends!

The girls also pampered their toes and faces.

Tomorrow the older girls will learn how to apply

make-up. sigh...

They are to come dressed in something that shows "who

they are". Mandy's friend is going to wear a red formal dress

and Mandy wants to wear her Gengar Pokemon shirt. Double

sigh.... Am I wrong to discourage her?

These two are still whispering. So sweet.

Girls are so fun.

Anne Book Review

Anne of Green Gables Book Review

In this book you will see an imaginative,

red-headed orphan girl named Anne Shirley

who could never find an eternally loving family.

You will also meet two older siblings named

Matthew and Marilla. They are trying to adopt an

orphan boy that is not French, that is young

enough to be taught but old enough to work with

Matthew. Then a mistake happens that ends them

up with a whole new problem.

This book is for people who are kindred spirits.

It is very cheerful but it does have a little bit of

sorrow close to the end, though. I would not

recommend this book to people that love action and

nothing more nor little kids that are super hyper.

They will not be able to sit through the reading. It has

adventure in it but mostly it shows a girl and the

emotions of growing up.

This book was written by L.M Montgomery.

**Mandy wrote this book review and I thought

she did a wonderful job.:)**

19 Hours....

Heather and her sweet family arrived yesterday!

18 hours in the car. WOW.

Before they got here, Mandy and I put together

goodie bags while Katie and Jeff ran errands. We

wanted everything to be perfect, but we all know

"perfect is boring", right?;)

Heather and I were partners in my Polka Dot Swap. This

wreath was part of her package. I wish I could take credit for

designing this, but I got the idea here. Genius.

Look at these smiling faces! Cousins by way of blogger.

Katie and Lindsey are so cute together. Fast friends.

The manly men posing by the Big Green Egg. ;)

Lindsey just had a birthday! Katie had the best time

creating this sign for her. Thanks for the idea, Nancy!

Brownie Trifle and birthday wishes.

Lots of games were played. Scooby Doo, Mario Cart

Wii, etc. Heather and I played Smarty Pants at 2 AM.

Who knew she knew about Sports?? I won two rounds,

but in the end Heather stole the title of Smarty Pants.

Until we meet again- mwa hahaha!

They actually fell asleep!

Michael was a good sport and camped on the floor.

Yes, the really did go to sleep!

Jeff made pancakes "with bugs" for breakfast. The kids

enjoyed the mini chocolate chips! (Love Michael's morning

hair- so cute!)

Crazy straws make everything fun! Oh, and see the table

runner? One of my polka dot goodies from Heather! LOVE it!

It was sticky and HOT. The kids braved the heat and

broke out their polka dot (of course) chalk. There was no

breeze. YUCK.

Mandy and Tyler have the same sense of humor and

had the best time together! Something about Cheerios and

the Lord of the Rings had them cracking up!.:)

Michael, Natalie (and Charles!) fell in love with Ruby.

Heather, you need to get them a Pug.:)

Our Girls' Night Out consisted of a trip to Walgreens and

Hobby Lobby. It was awesome. Heather makes me laugh (so

hard!) and she really "gets" me. We are so much alike and I

love that.

Come back soon, Sister. Or even better- be my neighbor.:)

Miss you.