Cheap Finds

Although I have snapped some pictures of my "cheap finds", I haven't shared them on here lately. So, just a quick post to update on some of my exciting discoveries.

I found these items a few weeks ago at a thrift store during a 50% off sale.

This is a Jim Weiss cassette recording of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It was only .30 cents! We listened to it on our way to a field trip and it was very entertaining.

I picked up this Norman Rockwell calendar for .40 cents. I'll use it for our next artist/picture study.


I found this Abeka reader for Conman, who enjoys reading the short stories. It was .30 cents.

At the Friends of the Library bookstore I had two great finds. The first is a biography of Hans Christian Anderson by Opal Wheeler. The second is The Trellis and the Seed. I had been looking for this book as it is a suggested resource in our 106 Days of Creation science study. Our library did not have it to check out and I didn't want to order it from Amazon. So, imagine my delight when I walked into the bookstore and there it was! It's a very touching book. Both of these were only .15 cents each!

That's it for today. Now I have to go rest up for my Natalie Grant concert!

Wednesday Nature Study

We took a nice walk after lunch today and had some interesting finds. Unfortunately, I'm not really adept at identifying wildflowers, and even though I searched some reliable sites, I could not find the names of these plants.

I managed to snap a photo of this little guy, who the kids informed me was called a true bug, before he scuttled away.

I believe this is a Mule's Ear, part of the sunflower family.

We spotted a very large frog sitting on a rock in the canal; however, it jumped into the water before I could take a picture. Blakester and I went back later to see if he was out again, but the only thing we spotted was this tadpole. It has to be the biggest tadpole I've ever seen.

Til tomorrow~

The Simple Womans Daybook

FOR TODAY... May 11, 2010

Outside my window...Windy. Not feeling at all like spring. Sigh....

I am thinking...that I need to start getting out of bed earlier.

I am thankful....for my budget.

I am wearing...jeans, long sleeve top, slippers and warm socks.

I am remembering....hmm...???

I am going....to keep planning for next year. To get a laptop before we move. To stop buying books. (for now)

Some plans for the rest of the week...not much for Wednesday or Thursday. If it warms up we may take that field trip yet. Maybe to Sacramento, Sutter's Fort. Saturday night, girl's night out at a Natalie Grant concert. Yippee!!

I am currently reading... Laying Down the Rails by Sonya Shafer, The Bible, The Original Homeschooling Series, Twilight-and I'm hooked. I can't wait to read the other books and watch the movies. I feel like a teenager!

I am hoping...I can get motivated to start exercising again. This is something I am so wishy-washy on.

On my mind...a relative's son was shot last night in town. Praying for a full recovery from surgery and the shooting.

From the learning room....will be finished with Pony Express this week. Conman is working on borrowing while subtracting and has already got the hang of it. Blakester's pollywogs started turning into itty-bitty frogs. Blakester and Lulu each received awards today at a ceremony for our county writing festival. Blakester 3 1sts and 1 2nd. Lulu a 1st and a 3rd.

Noticing that...I need to get back on my daily Bible reading plan.

Pondering these words...say what you mean and mean what you say.

I am creating...still nothing. I'm rather dull right now:)

I am hearing...the dishwasher running. Deadliest Catch on TV.

From the kitchen...ordered pizza tonight.

Around the house...cleaning out Lulu's closet. Cleaned out the office/school supply cupboard. Really need to clean the boys room.

One of my favorite things...vacations with my family.

From my picture journal...here is Blakester's little frog:


Til tomorrow~

The 12 Days of Homeschool

I came across this youtube video linked from a discussion on homeschoolreviews.com and wanted to share it. The question that started the post was "What is the weirdest/dumbest reason you've heard against homeschooling?" One poster referenced this video saying that this sums it up. I agree. I'm only in my 3rd year of homeschooling and I've heard every reason or question this group sings about, plus some! Hang in there till the end of the video, it's worth it.
I have some people tell me they do not have the patience I do. Um, those that know me, know I am not a very patient person.
Others have told me that being home with their kids all day would drive them crazy. Yes, there are days I agree with that. But actually, the thought of ever having to send them back to public school really tears me up. I'm used to having them here each and every day, and could not imagine watching them get on that big yellow bus and not having them home with me.
I chose to have children because I wanted them, and God was kind enough to loan them to me for a little while. It is hard to be surrounded by little people that need all you have to give, all day, every day. There are days I just want five minutes of quiet, uninterrupted time. But you know what, I'll get that when they're grown and on their own. And at that point, I'll probably really miss them.Enjoy!

Happy Mothers Day!

I have such sweet children! My Lego minded sons surprised me with these creations this morning. I've not been allowed to go into their room for a week because they've been hiding them from me. The top one is from Blakester and the rest are from Conman.

This is myself, Conman holding flowers and Blakester holding a BB gun.

This one is the whole creation, a large heart with all of us standing around it.

Lulu had me choose a pair of earrings from her stash of ones she's made. I chose these feather ones that I've been coveting since she made them.

I hope all you wonderful ladies out there had a wonderful Mothers Day!

Weekly Wrap Up #7

Here's our week in review. You can head over to Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers to see what others have been up to.

The weather was pleasant, but windy, this week. Conman took advantage of it and practiced his kite flying techniques.

He also spent some time outside exploring with the cats.

And he pointed out the white and lavender alysum that has bloomed. He's been very busy this week.

Our picture study this week was "Two Children at the Seashore".

Instead of having the kids color the picture we studied, I had them color a different picture, using their own shading and colors. I don't have photos of them, but they did turn out quite nicely.

I'm pleased to report that we did follow through with our hymn study this week.

I have spent most of my time this week cleaning out the schoolroom. I did some serious purging and rearranging to make that particular room look larger and more inviting to prospective buyers. I boxed up four boxes of books that I will not need to get to over the next couple of months, so that I could move out some small bookcases.

I've been planning out next years lessons using the Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education resources from Simply Charlotte Mason, and am currently working through Lulu's year. My goal is to get the next year planned before summer and moving overtake us.

I also received a box from Rainbow Resource today. I had ordered this beautiful
Book of the Centuries from them. We've tried keeping timelines several different ways: in individual 3-ring notebooks, in small notebooks, on the wall, on index cards....but nothing seems to fit right. So next year we'll start out with a family Book of the Centuries. I figured if I spent the money to obtain a nice one, we'll actually use it and take care of it. That was my big splurge for the year.

Bob the lizard now has a boxmate. Blakester rescued blue-belly that Dallas caught and brought into our garage. He is yet unnamed. Now I buy 4 dozen crickets at a time.

I hope everyone has a joyful Mother's Day weekend.

All-Day Charlotte Mason Seminar Review

I finally had a chance to sit down and watch (absorb) the

All-Day Charlotte Mason seminar on DVD which I had ordered from Simply Charlotte Mason. Let me preface my post by saying that I am in no way affiliated with their company and have not been asked to write a review on this or any other product they sell. The product was simply just something I ordered to help me understand more about the CM method of teaching.

The DVDs are a recording of a live CM seminar taught by Sonya Shafer. There are 3 DVDs and a companion workbook that enables one to follow along and take notes. I did not order the Laying Down the Rails DVD as I had already listened to the audio and am in the process of reading the book.

I've read just about everything out there I can get my hands on concerning Charlotte Mason, but this has to be, by far, the most comprehensive, all-in-one resource I've seen. Sonya does a wonderful job laying it all out for you, in easy to understand steps and language.

She starts out with an introduction to Charlotte Mason, who she was and what her thoughts on education were, followed by a summary of her methods and a list of useful books and websites for using Charlotte Mason.

Sonya explains the basic, main principles to follow in executing this type of education, and gives definitions and examples for things such as narration and living books.

She then walks you through each and every subject you could even think about teaching and the way in which you would teach it, Charlotte Mason style, utilizing living books, map drills, nature walks, copywork, narration, etc.

Included in the workbook are sample lists of poets, artists, composers, handicrafts, and narration ideas. She also includes the directions for a very simple scripture memory system. I am going to try this system in our upcoming year.

At the very end of the workbook are the note pages for the Laying Down the Rails seminar. You can order this DVD with the package or order it separately.

When I finished watching the seminar, I had a complete workbook full of notes and ideas that I can refer back to as I am currently tackling planning our next years lessons. I'm planning using the Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education DVD and workbook. That will be part 2 of my review!

I would definitely recommend this product both to someone wanting to start using Charlotte Mason methods and to someone who is already using them. Sonya has wonderful ideas and insights and is a joy to listen to. It's also very handy to have all my notes and ideas in one book!

I read yesterday on the SCM forums that a new DVD set had been released entitled The Books and Things Seminar. This one demonstrates how to educate using good living books and the things around us. I placed an order today, and am highly anticipating it's arrival~

The Simple Womans Daybook

FOR TODAY... May 4, 2010

Outside my window...Breezy again today. Sun is shining.

I am thinking...that my kids are growing up so fast.

I am thankful....that I was able to sleep in this morning.

I am wearing...jeans, t-shirt and flip-flops.

I am remembering...some things from my childhood.

I am going...to keep clearing things out for our move in August. We want to pack and travel light. Keep planning next years school schedule. To start reading the Twilight series. I want to see what the all the fuss is about.

Some plans for the rest of the week...Lulu has quilting class tonight. Maybe another close field trip on Friday. Clean out, clean out!

I am currently reading... Laying Down the Rails by Sonya Shafer, The Bible, The Original Homeschooling Series, Setting Limits With Your Stong-Willed Child, Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult

I am hoping...that I can keep the house in order once it's up for sale!

On my mind...can't wait to move. It will be here before I know it!!! I think I'll have to post some background on this much anticipated move I keep talking about.

From the learning room....some subjects being wrapped up soon. Echo is our poem of the week. We did our reading outside yesterday since it was so nice. Clearing out some more school items we've outgrown or haven't used.

Noticing that...I seem to be off my game lately.

Pondering these words...Even a child is known by his actions; by whether his conduct is pure or right. Prov. 20:11

I am creating...nothing exciting right now.

I am hearing...cartoons on tv.

From the kitchen...leftovers tonight. We have some steak, pork loin and potatoes to finish up.

Around the house...things always seem so dusty. Why is that?

One of my favorite things...those cute little blog buttons. I just love those!

From my picture journal...a random picture. This is Blakester a couple of years ago hanging off a giant sloth at the La Brea tar pits. That was a really neat place to visit!


Have a wonderful day~

Weekly Wrap Up #6

Here's our week in review. You can head over to Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers to see what others have been up to.

Our Mary Cassatt picture for last week's study was "Sarah in a Green Bonnet." This was such a sweet picture I couldn't resist posting it.

Our poem of the week was "A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky." Here is the link to the site where I found a listing of Lewis Carroll poems.

We were able to add some new critters to our personal field guides. Blakester found some June bugs in the flowers.

Conman captured a ladybug one day. After he let it go, the little bug flew back into the house. He swore it was following him.

Blakester is pretty adamant he spotted a Bald Eagle soaring overhead one day. Very cool.

I spent some time watching my Charlotte Mason All-Day Seminar on DVD. I'll post a full review on this later this week. I also started using the Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education resources to plan for next year. I made purchases this week online of all the necessary books, with the exception of math, that I'll need next year. I'll get my Math-U-See books at the convention in July to avoid shipping charges.

We also spent some time shopping for some much needed spring clothing and restocking the cupboards since we're at the first of the month.

Til tomorrow~

The Sunshine Award

Tina over at Being Made New commented on one of my posts last week to let me know that she had gifted me with the Sunshine Award. The Sunshine Award is gifted from one blogger to another that she feels "inspires others and shows positivity and creativity."

It's so exciting and uplifting to open up my blog and see that someone has left me a surprise like this! I am honored to be included with the other wonderful ladies that inspire others through their blogs.

One of the guidelines for the award states I must pass the award on to 10 fellow bloggers. So (drum roll, please) here are the nominees:

1. Heather at A Glimpse into Our Home-Centered Life-A lovely blog-her devotion to the family shines.


2. Candace at His Mercy is New-Very inspirational lady.


3. Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler -She fits the creativity category to a "T". I love the name of her blog and I confess I wish I had a preschooler to use all her wonderful ideas on!


4. Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations-Another wonderfully creative mom!


5. Honey at Sunflower Schoolhouse-She spends a lot of time pulling together free homeschool curriculum and ideas for her readers.


6. Cori at Wonder in the Woods-Love her outdoor posts and CM style teaching.


7. Carol at the Sizzle Bop blog-She blogs about her "sizzler" child. I find her posts funny and inspiring, because I, myself, have a "sizzler"


8. The Front Porch team at Homestead Blogger-They blog about the simple life, have some very creative & inspiring ideas.


9. Quinn at On Just a Couple of Acres-I enjoy reading about her daily goals. She is a hard working lady, who inspires me to do better!


10. Leslie at Joyful Mother of 6 Children-Another creative and inspiring mom.

Congratulations, ladies!

Here are the rules to the award:

1. Put the Sunshine Award logo on your blog and/or in a new post;
2. Pass the award onto 10 fellow bloggers;
3. Link the nominees within your post;
4. Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blogs;
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

And thank you, Tina, for the award!

Random Ramblings

I realized I haven't posted in a few days, but I've just felt somewhat off-kilter this week. My days have been full, and by the time evening rolls around I just want to kick back with a good book. Which, by the way, right now, is fiction work by Jodi Picoult that I checked out at the library, Plain Truth. It's a very hard book to put down. And I've found myself reading it way too late. So I've been neglecting my blog.

So here I sit this evening waiting for an E-book to download and I decided to pop on and post a quick update.

I recently posted that I was moving away from workboxes. They were just taking up too much of my time and energy. It was a lot to correct work and then sit and refill boxes, even if I had preplanned them. Most of the time the kids didn't want to do the fun stuff I put in. They would rather go off and do their own thing. So in the spirit of simplifying, I cleared the shelves of shoeboxes. The boys have now found all kinds of ways to sort Legos, Playmobiles, army men, etc. in all these boxes.

We're practicing the Charlotte Mason method more and more. The kids are getting pretty good at narrating, and I think Lulu will start written narration pretty soon. Her narrations are detailed, while the boys tend to pick out one thing in particular to tell about.

We're enjoying the artist and poet study, and still trying to get into the swing of hymn and composer study. Last week we listened to our chosen hymn and the history of it at the Center for Church Music website. They have a neat little five minute history segment for each hymn with the hymn incorporated in it. We also read a short biography of Bach, but have yet to listen to his music. I don't have a CD of his recordings, so I need to pull something up on the computer. We'll probably tackle that tomorrow.

Conman is studying plants and soil, so we've planted some basil and parsley to watch grow. He also has a bean seed experiment going. He's almost finished with his nature reader, and we'll just keep working slowly along with everything else. I also started a gentle form of spelling with him that is loosely based on prepared dictation. He tends to spell better orally than on paper, so after looking at a short sentence, I then ask him to spell a couple of the words in the sentence. This week he had trouble with January, so we spent the week mastering it. He had it down pat this morning!

Blakester is moving right along and will most likely complete his current science next week. He is also almost finished with his nature reader and I plan on having him start on a book called Science in Your Own Back Yard that I had on our bookshelf. It was a thrift store find, but very much a living book. He'll read Christian Liberty Press' Nature Reader 5 next year.

Lulu started on her study of government and the Constitution this week, so she'll be somewhat ahead for next year. She's using The Land of Fair Play from Christian Liberty Press. She's basically just reading the text and answering questions. I'll probably have her narrate some to me also.

So that's our status update. We'll continue to school through the end of July, with some subjects running their course before that, and some will take that entire length of time. August will be our off month, as we are planning for our move to Texas to come to fruition then! In September, we will start back up using the Simply Charlotte Mason plan, Year 1, full force. I am really looking forward to getting everyone together and on the same page for several subjects. So, as I am slowly introducing the different areas of CM study, the kiddos should be well adjusted to them by that time.

I will be back with my normal schedule soon. I promise.

California History Field Trip

Tonya at Live the Adventure hosts this fun meme on her blog, and since we took a field trip today, I went ahead and linked up.

The weather was absolutely beautiful today and everyone was feeling fine, so off we went on an impromptu trip to the California State Mining and and Mineral Museum and the Mariposa History Museum. This was a nice follow-up to our California gold rush study. And in Conman's science this week we also talked about rocks and minerals, so it was a double-duty trip!

First stop was the Mineral Museum, where we were able to tag-along behind another school group that was receiving a guided tour through a 175 ft. replica of a mine tunnel. Visitors can through the mine tunnel on their own; however, our timing enabled us to get the narrated version.

One section of the museum houses gems and minerals that were found and donated to the museum from all over the world. Here is Conman by a large piece of Quartz crystal, which was actually found in California.



The kids were able to use a computer-type device to click on different regions and counties of California to view a list of the minerals and gems found in those areas. Then they could click on the mineral and view a picture and read about it. Conman, my electronic dude, took right to this one.


Blakester and Lulu tried their hands at identifying a variety of minerals at this large display. A chunk of the mineral was attached to a board with some information and the answer was displayed once the flap was lifted.


We were also able to view a Smilidon, other wise known as a saber-tooth, skull fossil that was found in the La Brea tar pits. Did you know this is the California state fossil? No? Neither did I.


This large piece of slate was shaped into the State of California.

In the vault we were able to view all sorts of rare and valuable gemstones, including the largest surviving original vein of gold from the gold rush-1850. It weighs in at 13 pounds. Sorry, somehow I missed a picture of this.

The other half of the museum houses information strictly on gold rush activities. On display are the miner's tools, assayer's tools, ore carts, gold samples and maps of the gold mine areas. There was also a photo of John C. Fremont, along with some information on him and a large map showing the area he claimed as his.

I'd say that's a pretty straight-forward warning.

This working replica of a stamp mill is 100 years old. It allows the kids to see how the ore was taken to the top, dumped and went through the process of breaking the gold from the rocks.

We perused the gift shop for a while and came away with a bag of candy that looked like rocks but tasted like jelly beans. Blakester picked up a pencil and some shark teeth, and Lulu chose a ring made of Dalmatian jasper.

After a quick lunch, we headed over the the Mariposa History Museum. Photos weren't allowed inside, so we checked out the mining equipment outside first. Blakester and Conman hammed it up with the cradle. It was really great that they could see these items first-hand while the story was still fresh in their mind and able to make connections.

A peek inside a Miwok hut. On the other side were large rocks with the holes in them for grinding corn.

Also outside was an actual stamp mill, ore carts, logging wagons and other various tools.

Inside the museum was filled with all sorts of interesting items.

A true-to-life general store greets you as you enter. The store fixtures and supplies came from an actual general store which closed after the owner, Miss Jenny, passed away at the age of 91.

There are examples of Miwok handiwork, barbed-wire and cattle brands, a one-room schoolhouse, a doctor's office, a miner's cabin, an old-time kitchen, Chinese mining supplies, a sheriff's office and a saloon. Old photos, quilts and letters are displayed. There is a section on John C. Fremont and one on Joaquin Murrietta. My kids were really interested in this one, since he was a bandit.

What a wonderful way to cement this time in history firmly in the kiddo's brains, while showing them some of the extremely beautiful creations from our God.

This was a very informative, relaxing and enjoyable way to spend the day. Especially since we ended it with some ice cream and visit with an old friend of mine, whom I haven't seen in quite a while!

Enjoy~