Excavating

Ummm....watcha lookin' at Victorina?

Umm...OK....

Watcha doin' Sophie?

" Excavating....want to see all the cool stuff I've found at the bottom of this old compost pile?"


Old compost pile is right. This is the corner that 40 years ago, we used to burn the trash each evening....back when trash burning was allowed. For those of you old enough, remember the smell? It was kind of a pleasant, comforting smell, dont' you think? This corner hasn't seen a fire for many, many years. We did use it for compost once upon a time, but I dont' think it's been touched for the last 5 years or so.


Nothing like getting right down in there and "experiencing" the dirt.


"It's all in the name of Science, Mother Dearest!"

It's hard to see, but she has unearthed old coke bottles, glass fingernail bottles, and other mysterious items that should have never been in the burn pile to begin with. No, Carol, there were no marbles or other childhood treasures. At least not that I know of.....or not the last time I asked. They've been digging back there a lot lately. Looking for more buried treasure I suppose.


BTW...the compost was EXCELLENT! It has been sitting there for years and years. The dirt is rich, black, and beautiful. I should know. I used a lot of it as I planted six flats of flowers today. I would show you the pictures, but that would requiring movement, and I'm too sore to move from this spot. I think I shall stay here forever.......

Another by the way....we've been doing more than just digging in the dirt and planting flowers. We went to see the new Narnia movie yesterday, Prince Caspian. EXCELLENT movie! The kids and I loved it. Well worth the money and missing a bright sunny day outdoors.

We've also moved on to a new book series that we are addicted to: The Dragons in Our Midst series. The first one is Raising Dragons. This is a series of four books by Bryan Davis, that are too good to put down. We actually read the second one straight through by accident. It took about 9 hours and my voice was hoarse, but we couldn't find a non-suspenseful place to stop! Seriously! We're in book 3 right now, and the kids are glaring at me.

It's time to read.

They're waiting.... Not very patiently......

Night-night everyone!

Black Hole of Convention Time

There is just something inherent in girls. They love to shop no matter how old they are. Here are 3 young beauties sharpening their Internet browsing skills....

I love to shop...sometimes. But this week I feel overwhelmed. I have some MAJOR shopping to do, and I feel as if I'm in a black hole of despair.


Why? Because it's Homeschool Convention Week.

Once upon a time it was so much fun and so easy. That was when I was a young, innocent, enthusiastic homeschool mom. I would walk in, flit from booth to booth, speaker to speaker, take it all in and buy way toooo much. No way we could realistically use everything I bought.


Don't get me wrong, I still am enthusiastic. I am just wiser, shall we say, to the pitfalls of convention. Now I go armed. Armed with lists and blinders. Blinders so I do not succumb to the latest, greatest, newest, most fabulous curriculum that is sure to make your child want to get up at the crack of dawn, eagerly dive into their school work, and only kicking and screaming be drawn away from their books.

Excuse me while I dwell in that fantasy for a few more minutes....

Ok. Back to reality...

I'm much smarter now when I go to convention. Before convention I spend hours on the Internet figuring out what I need to purchase, what not to purchase. I spend hours talking to friends about what they use and recommend (or not). Then I spend hours going through what I already have. I always find surprises - previous purchases that were forgotten or worse yet, duplicates. I always find duplicates. I hate duplicates.

So, why am I in the black hole? On top of convention prep, for some reason I decided this week was the week to paint the boys' room. And somehow I have to find time to go to work to pay for all of that curriculum. And for some reason, this is the week that Grandma's car broke down. And for some reason, this is the week it has decided to get REALLY cold again. And for some reason, this is the week Victoria has decided the greatest delicacy known to dogdom is cat pooh-pooh. Oh yes. Not only that, but she feels the need to drag it around the house (lovely vision, isn't it?)

OK. I'm digressing.

Now, back to sorting books........

But really. How much curriculum does one need?

I think I need a Muncie hug, if you'll excuse me.

Random ramblings

Why hello there, stranger!

It's been forever and a day or two since I posted, but when the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and there is actually green substance growing in the garden, I find it hard to sit still long enough to post anything. (Maybe a case of Spring ADHD?)

I've been productive though..

The first planting of the year....

The daffodils are in full bloom. Aren't they beautiful? I think Carol would call this one "Egg Yolks On Snow" (or something like that). She's very creative with her daffodil names.

Notice anything wrong with this picture?

Notice how there isn't anything green peeking through the dirt?

Well, that's just sick and wrong because 3 weeks ago (or there abouts..before we travelled to paradise) we planted cold crops in this bed. Lettuce, turnips, radishes, and a tiny bit of spinach.

NONE of it has taken. So....

Is it because

A. I have a brown thumb (mainly because my sister Carol stole all the green thumb genes before I was born)

B. There was too much rain right after we planted so everything rotted.

C. The seeds were bad.

or

D. It's too soon. (But I really don't think that is the case here. They really should be showing SOME signs of life).

Tomorrow we replant if the rain holds off or unless I hear screams echoing through cyberspace telling me not to replant yet (I trust you garden bloggers immensely. I'm depending on you to help me be a successful gardener in spite of my brown thumb).

On a brighter note, Prince Charming bought some new "stuff" for the gazebo.

I don't think Sam has left this spot since.

As you can see, he is now taking his meals outside as well. He only comes in to get a new book upon occasion. Well, and to sleep of course. It does get nippy at night.
He just finished The Door Within series, and is now reading Penrod by Booth Tarkington.

Seth lost his other front tooth finally.

For those of you who have read my blog for awhile, you might remember that Seth feels the need to name his teeth after he loses them.

Meet Bob.

He had another tooth he named Bob as well. But he has an uncle named Bob whom he really likes, so maybe that's why he is focused on that name. Bob watched Victoria while we were travelling, that may be a reason he won the honor of having another tooth named after him. I wonder if Bob thinks it was worth it?

Speaking of puppies......

Here are four tired puppies.

Shhh........We don't want to wake them. They look so comfy.

In our house it's against the law to take a nap without a dog to cuddle.

Well, hugs to you all.

I've missed you this week, but when the wild spring calls, it's against the laws of nature to disobey, don't you think?

What Book Should We Read?

My kids and I have this nightly ritual of reading. We've done it for years. And years. And even though they are in their tweens (well, the older two), they still cherish this time and will choose it over "other opportunities".

But, we've hit a snag. We have read so many books, and reread so many books, that we're running out of books! Well, not really, but you know what I mean.





We've read Eragon and Eldest (4 times each) and are eagerly awaiting the 3rd book due out in August.

We've read all of the available Ranger's Apprentice series,(twice) and are eagerly awaiting the next book due out later in March.

We've read all of the Septimus Heap books (3 times)

All the Harry Potter Books

Peter Pan series

Narnia

The Secret Garden

Freckles

and more and more and more......

So......what's your suggestion? What should we read next?

Books..LOTS of books

I

LOVE



BOOKS



I do



NOT



Have too many books




Is it possible to have too many books?



Well.....




Maybe.....




Rule of thumb: If you have books sitting on the floor lining your hallway, you MAY have too many books.

Yesterday, a friend of mine invited my children and me over so the kids could play while she and I worked on her books. One of my favorite things to do...

"I need a little bit of help organizing them."

"OK."

I can do this. I love to organize books.

"Um....do you have a plan in mind? There are alot of books on the floor."



When I organize books, I start by sorting them into categories.
History in one, Religion in another, Health and Nutrition in a third and on and on. You get the idea. Just like a library has their books organized by subject.

My friend had other ideas.

Does anyone vacuum their books but my friend?

Come on - let's organize these babies! Then we'll clean each pile as we look at what we have here!

"Wait...you said there are more in the garage?"

"What? Another book on History? Did you know this was out here?"



After you have your piles of books organized by category, you can see what you have.

"Did you know you have two of these? Um, can I have the extra?"

Hint: You also don't need 5 Middle Ages Encyclopedias. One or two will do. You also don't need 25 books on character training. Pick the best, one or two that you know are good, that you would like to use. Put them on your bookshelf.

Sell the rest, give them away, or if you really can't part with them, box them up, label the outside of the box with names of the books in the box, and place them on a shelf in the garage, attic, wherever, with the label facing outward so you can see it at a glance. Too much is not always a good thing (unless you are talking Zenia seeds!). Too much leads to paralysis. Too many choices results in an inability to make any choice at all.

Well, after about 6 hours my friend and I had made a good dent in her stacks and stacks of books. The good news is that she discovered she has all the resources a homeschool mom could possibly need for history, geography, character training, biblical devotions. It was just like Christmas. She found books she "had always wanted" but had forgotten she had.

And, she has 3 or 4 HUGE boxes of books for the next book sale or to sell on eBay.

My last piece of advice? When you buy a book, immediately upon bringing it home, put it on the bookcase under the proper subject heading. If you no longer have room on your bookcase, then you'll need to pull another book off the shelf and pass it along to a good friend........

OR, you can do what I do....

Buy more bookcases.