It cost an arm and a leg, but it kept my daughter warm even when we had a river in our tent.

The rest of the kids fared marginally better in their bags and ours was I guess ok considering how soaking wet it was when we finally got up in the AM.

Between the bag and the food for camp, we might not make paying the CC off just yet. Rather annoyed about that, but at least one out of the 5 kids was warm.

Our next big purchase, before March of next year, will be a tent that doesn't leak!

So I get up early, lots of plans of getting things done, since time is what I am always short on I figure all I have to do is get up a bit early.

Well since I was holding my phone with the alarm I figured I would take a quick peek at my email, it is right there only one click. TimeSuck! 10 minutes later I actually roll out of bed.

Then I threw a load of laundry in the washer, tossed the few cups randomly around the house in the dishwasher ran that and made a healthyish smoothies.

So far so good. Then WHAM TimeSuck, I sat down to drink the smoothies, and thought I could peek at FaceBook while I drank, I have to sit still to drink don't I. Way later than I want to admit I dashed out the door for a quick walk before the kids woke up.

Now here I am much later in the day, and trust me, between Wikipeadea, Reddit, and Pinterest I am hopelessly behind!

Long ago I stopped buying clothes. While I enjoy the fun of buying things, and feel the lure of adorable kids clothes. I also know that my kids have plenty of clothes that fit, and plenty to grow into.

I don't even save most of the stuff they outgrow for the next kid. I know my friends and family will buy or pass down plenty of clothes.

I have a few sentimental items in each size, but other than that too small stuff goes out the door.

Someone can enjoy the clothes for years before I would need it again.

Once I made it known we loved hand me downs, we were flooded with clothes, and continue you to be each season.

We still buy underware and socks, plus the occasional coat, but other than that the kids are clothed for free.

Not that I am one of those 'forever alone' types that only reads. But that as a homeschooler I visit my library constantly and use it for all sorts of curriculum.

Right now we are working on biology, so I looked up books on cells, ecology, food webs, and a few random 'biology' topic books. At the end of two weeks the kids have learned a ton all for free. The kids pulled out a few experiments from one of the books, pulled out the microscope and watched a few Khan videos.

All in all I am quite happy with what they have learned, and all for not one penny spent.

I also borrow videos for my 3 year old, long since given up on nap, she hasn't yet learned how to be quiet for the 2 hours of nap (that I need even if my baby doesn't) so a bribe of an educational movie helps each day. The movie doesn't last the whole time, but it covers the most important settling in time for the baby, for the rest of the time she practices the oh so important 'shush' skills.

History is another great place to utilize the library. Right now we are working on colonial history. A story book about Abigail Adams, or a story of Ben Franklin, and George Washington is far more helpful than a text book, or workbook.

I also use the library to find books related to scout projects, 4H, and FLL. I could never manage without my local library.

Funny thing, the library I use isn't even local! We travel 20 minutes cross town to get to it, still in county though.

I have seen this type of thing before, and I often wonder if it will ever make an impact in anyone's life.

Do young teens and college students ever see this sort of thing and really consider what they want, or is the shortsightedness of youth - well part of being young.

Link to

jpg: http://i.imgur.com/wxKB5.jpg

Sadly I no longer remember how to put URLs in my posts, I need to go look that up again.

We just got paid again, I had totally forgotten what it is like to have money.

I sent a bit of it off to various bills. And tomorrow I will find the paperwork to pay off another. Then we are off to the grocery store to spend the rest of it. So it isn't like the money is sticking around long, but still, it was more of a surprise that it is there again.

And another piece of fun, my husband won an ipad! He went to a conference at work spent the day getting fed for free, and then came home with a new toy!

I cannot see why anyone would pay full price for it. I mean it is cute, checks email and the internet better than my phone, but not as cool as a computer, and too big to just tuck in my pocket.

We thought about selling it, but for all it does it is kinda nice with 5 kids and two adults all fighting for computer time. I can check my email and deal with some documents while the kids use the laptop. Though for the price this thing is supposed to be worth we could have bought a new laptop and dinner out.

I have a wonderful husband he came home from the conference early just to be with his kids, and rescue me from my migraine. He really is wonderful.

Husband got a job.....

No one wants to talk about it, no one wants to visit the problem.

and yet the bills need paid, and someone seems to think it will all be fine.

which it will, eventually. Just think some changes need to be made

Just saw a FB update from someone saying it was going to be hot today because the air is out.

We haven't had ours on. Not only do we have no intentions of turning it on (money for electric bills doesn't grow on trees folks) we really do not miss it for most of the day.

My husband might, but he sleeps in past the best parts of the day .

I would prefer the pool to be open so we had someplace nice to cool off in the late afternoons, would make for a nice sleep after. But beggars can't be choosers.

However, for the birthday party tomorrow I might have pity on my guests, and when I go into labor if I want the air on, I will get it. But after the party and after delivery, we will be turning it back off.

Of course we are slacking on laundry so not all clothes were available to look at, but enough were taken out, that I am fairly certain the kids can again put laundry away without resorting to magic to close the drawers.

I have a box of things to save for other kids growing into them, some things are too sentimental to toss. And I have a bigger bag full of clothes to pass on. The only trouble is I dumped all the clothes in pile and don't have any friends with kids just the right sizes to need all of them...oh well I will count and sort later, then drop off all the stuff Sunday.

Rabbit eating dandelions



I have no idea how to rotate, now that it is uploaded..

Zinnia, and Marigold


not all great, but not to shabby

I don't have a good picture of the sunflowers, but here is the 'hill'


there are also blackberries but half are being taken over by honeysuckle.

In general our trips to PA are not too expensive, we stay with family we don't eat out much (least not on our dollar) and we don't go anywhere fancier than the science center.

BUT...we generally have a picnic planned with other family, and we always bring food, fruit and veggies and cheese, things I know my kids will eat wherever we may go.

I am always surprised at how much fruit, cheese, crackers and a few veggies can cost! Especially since we are buying to please the average, with minimal work, not in season, nor anything that requires prep. (or even containers, or silverware)

This weekend is worse than average with two picnics and a holiday weekend at that.

I have too much stuff, so I need to organize, and I found the perfect items to organize my stuff in!

bag of holding Oh I need one of these for my collection of stuff! Scout stuff, (boys and girls) church stuff, kid stuff, baby stuff, a bag of holding would be perfect!


For the massive collection of papers to go in the bag, one needs some organization stapleless stapler


And everyone could use more shelves for that stuff

awesome video

Some kids had a great time with corn startch water and a speaker (oh plus video camera and some editing software)


I really want to do this, but not sure if we have any speakers to spare.

I knew fans wouldn’t let me down, there is more

lego


Plus a Serenity made out of paper

(link to design not working)

Along with plenty of terrific cartoon versions of the BDH


For showing your love we haveButtons

(actually I do want some patches)

For reference while making your own Lego Serenity Wallpaper



Or to spread the signal, an entire website devoted to guerilla art



While you are out shopping show your love of firefly verse and ours with a cloth grocery bag


There is even crossover art from firefly and starwars


Where would you put the lightsaber?

For your next local convention here you can find your very own Jayne hat


Speaking of crossovers, ever consider firefly and the Beatles?

Me either but apparently someone has

For more of a spoof:
(sorry no photo, have to visit this one)

Finally the eternal question all browncoats ask…how much?

I can't recall which blog posted a granola recipe last week or the one before. But I tried it Saturday and loved it!

More sweet than healthy it was delicious, Messy but good.

I took the crunchy crumbs and put them in a bowl with milk. So good! Tasted like what the granola cereals are trying to do, only no cardboard taste.

My kids ate a third of it at one sitting, I didn't mean to let them eat it all, but they did it so fast and I didn't start them with a limit, fortunately there were three of them, so I guess it wasn't that much.

I also forgot the fruit, and used molasses instead of maple sugar.

Well the day after the horrific meeting I have one volunteer for cookies, one for decorating special events, and one for talking to parents.

All from the new girls, but all wonderful people.

There is no way I could do this scout stuff without all the other volunteers doing work behind the scenes mostly without titles.

So go hug your nearest volunteer, they make a difference not only to a kid, but also to the rest of the volunteers!

Braxton Hicks contractions are the so called 'painless preparation' for real labor. Well let me tell you painless is a misnomer.

Sure with my first kid they were painless, and rather pleasant. Kinda a neat feeling.

With the second and third kid occassional the contractions were uncomfortable but compared to real labor nothing to worry about. Maybe take a moment to not walk, but thats it.

Now this time around...they are VERY painful. Ok fine not enough pain to go into labor, but painful nonetheless.

It just goes to show, you really can't assume you know anything about anything until you have truly gone thru it. and being pregnant once doesn't count as knowing all there is to know about pregnancy! (nor is 4 times enough)

Every night at 3am-ish I wake up wheezing..most irritating.

Generally I can make it go away by drinking a glass of lemon water (strong on the lemon) I have no idea why it works, maybe just the sitting up and drinking, I dunno.

Anyway yesterday I decided to try and get more sleep I would turn on the air, it isn't that hot, I just thought filtering the air would be good for me. No such luck, still woke up at 3 am, though my nose is less congested. Not sure if that is related or not.

I will give it a couple days, and if it doesn't get better we will go back to open windows.

So one more thing we are wasting money on during this pregnancy .

First you have to understand I do not vote in primaries, I am not a democrat nor a republican. However I do see ads, and I have formed some useless opinions from them.

I have not researched either Obama nor Hilary. So these opinions are purely based on the TV ads with a small amount of Digg headlines thrown in. This is not meant as an endorsement for either of them..only for their ad team .

Obama is apparently going to change things, all his ads (on my local stations) are ... "Change, we can change things"..which is a lovely thought since of course things suck. (grass is greener somewhere else)

Hilary on the other hand is telling jokes..not that I ever hear one, just that her ads are all her face and a bunch of laughing folk behind her.....

More recently they have branched out, Obama telling us a gas tax cut is a band-aid fix (I agree) and Hilary telling us how terrible it is Obama wont cut the tax.

Hilary of course ends with a joke (don't know what it was, but them folk are laughing again) Obama ends with 'change' (for Washington)

So based purely on the ads, I would vote Obama, if I were planning on voting in the primaries (but remember I am a libertarian, so wouldn't vote for either) Just thought I would let the Ad agencies know what there hard work was achieving here....

But then according to Boston Legal..primary votes don't matter..the delegates can vote any old way they choose....) I have got to get rid of this cold and find a better way to kill time while not sleeping....(wanna hear my thoughts on midnight chat line ads?)

You have got to be kidding me!

I really wanted to see I am Legend. So my husband decided to treat me and went to blockbuster..he wouldn't pay the 24 (which is fine, it is rather slow, good concept, slow movie) so he rented it. $5 for a treat once in a blue moon (first time in at least a year) I don't mind.

I was shocked to discover the current price of movies, we have generally relied on my brother in laws collection for any movie we want to see (in fact he prolly will own I am Legend eventually) and considering the number of movies he owns multiplied by 20 each is a mind boggling amount of money sunk in movies!

I just got two emails asking me to review products I received as free samples.

I can't for the life of me figure out what on earth the products went.

One is something we use frequently (and preferable from free samples) so I imagine I used it...but when, and how am I supposed to accurately review something I used up eons ago?

Why on earth wouldn't they send the email around the same time as the sample? or make it a note in with the sample? I would be happy to review the product, if I knew anything about it..which with my normal memory is unlikely this far past receiving it, and with my pregnant brain, nothing stays in this leaky sieve of a head.

I know much of what you take in a multi vitamin or other pills is found in your pee. But, some of it has to be working, because millions of pregnant women swear life is easier if they take the multi (hair better, more energy, etc). And tons of folk who are anemic benefit from iron supplementation.

So why do all kinds of reports say not to bother? I can see that basing your diet on actually absorbing the full amount listed on the bottle would be silly.

And I certainly don't think anemic folk should skip the steak (ok fine spinach) But I don't understand avoiding all vitamins pills entirely....

That was the best compliment we received last night. One little boy thought the party was so cool he wants invited next time!

We also had a very surprised father say "I had a lot of fun" he seemed to think fun wasn't supposed to happen for the adults or something!

Fortunatly my husband and I (and this fellow) are just plain big kids, so we always have fun!

Though it wouldn't have been nearly as wonderful if it were not for our wonderful friends. One made the icing and managed a wonderful free form dragon on the cake -plus managed to figure out how to make the dragon, One prepped all the fruit and veggies and Snacky stuff -plus kept the kitchen running the whole party and helped everyone figure out the way to difficult craft), while I lazed on the floor making a lego dragon (with help from another friend) and the third took over the grill so my husband could aid in the story telling for the Dragon lair hunt. The lego helper then switched to being the 'minotaur' who wouldn't let anyone into the 'mountains' (JCs room) until it was time - and all the magic words had been found. (They were hidden in GMCs room)

There were a few incidents, boys getting rather rambunctious with balloons and our poor minotaur finally had enough and popped all the balloons. (Can't say as I blame him. he did ask the boys to stop and they were not listening..not sure how to avoid that next year)

My husband not only ate some cake, he had a second slice..he likes my cake, but not my icing so since we had a pro make wonderful icing this year he ate it!

One thing we did different this year, we didn't buy anything we can't eat, so no white buns, just whole wheat (only one kid wouldn't eat em, and he wouldn't eat anything). No yellow mustard (only one kid asked for mustard and he ate spice brown)

So the total cost can be reduced, since we get to eat all the leftovers

No I have to figure out how to make 'Flowers and Fireworks' as much fun (UE and JCs current pick for their party..close together they share - I have time, party in late October/early Novemebr)

We have been trying the old underwear method for potty training my youngest at night. (he is fine in the day, fairly good at nap, just can't seem to get nighttime)

So after two weeks of washing the sheets every single night, I gave up, I hunted up an old diaper and put it on him, and added diapers to the list for the store today. At 8 months pregnant, I can barely get the regular laundry done much less one extra load each day. (also he tends to sleep thru peeing, not waking till morning, so he is getting a rash and being wet doesn't seem to be helping)

And wouldn't you know it, he was dry this morning!

Now I don't know, if I should buy diapers or not?

Birthdays are sorta a big deal here, and sorta not.

On the one hand you always get dinner of your choice, and a cake on the day of your birthday, plus a present from mom and dad. (and the family sings)

Generally the next event (Sunday school, music class, scouts, whatever) there are homemade cupcakes, though this year with me feeling so bad we made brownies instead..

Then their usually is a party, with a birthday kid picked theme (we guess for the younger years) cake is decorated to fit, and there are always balloons. The balloons are because my son is certain there aught to be balloons at a birthday. We had them for his and his sisters and so next year..it was a tradition, be careful traditions can start over anything done once!

So for GMC this year, he picked dragons. we have an "Inn of the flaming dragon" sign for the kitchen, we will be making dragons out of tubes and construction paper and fasteners at the party. Hopefully dragon eggs will be 'hatched' from an 'incubator' and then a 'dragon lair' will be found with a mysterious map..one that we made yesterday.

The map is really cool, I am quite proud of it. We used the back of an old roll of wallpaper, happened to be a nice old looking off white. The kids drew different landmarks and I labeled it. Then we took it to a candle and burned it all up. Not enough to ruin the words, but enough to make it look old. I also dumped some of the ash back on it and dripped a bit of candle wax over it. looks very dirty now and dusty, like it has been around for ages rather than freshly made yesterday.

And yesterday making the map I was again reminded of why I like homeschooling..so much more efficient. After a morning covering adding and subtracting mixed numbers, pluralizing Spanish nouns, reviewing capitalization and comma rules, among other things, we still had all the time in the world to make a map.

Every birthday that we actually do crafts we tend to buy double the supplies..just in case, because I have no response negative or affirmative from so many folk!

Now extra food we can use but extra crafts are usually kinda specialized (aprons for the chef, crowns for the princess, dragon eggs for the umm dragon friend?)

I really think a RSVP email is a simple thing that takes just a few minutes and can really make a difference in ones planning (not to mention the budget of the party.

Oh and the extra aprons wen to the scouts to try and keep the paint off the uniforms. (what is so hard about removing a class A shirt..there should be a t-shirt under it!)

But I really don't know what the extra dragon eggs would be for...unless we add them to next years Egg hunt...

So here I am with only 4 days till the party and I have to find, locally, treasure for a dragon lair, fabric to make said lair (brown or gray aught to make a nifty cave draped over some stuff right?)

And we would like to make dragon eggs, so I need dragons that fit into eggs (and eggs for them to be in) I found a recipie that recommends some 'goo' to put in the egg with the dragon so it is more fun than just opening an egg.

Plus some sort of dragon making supplies...I am hoping construction paper and tubes will work. guess I need to pick up some glue.

I have a biking delema. My son decided to grow dramatically from last fall to now. His bike that was just the right size then is way to small, his knees are bent when he is sitting on the seat and his feet are flat on the ground.

I read a couple different places that the proper fit is toes on the ground when sitting, which is almost what we bought him. Maybe half a foot not just toes.

So now less than a year later we are looking at him thinking he is too tall. BUT we tried him on an 18 inch bike...(we think, it was a friends, no measuring tape) and he can't control it, tough his toes do touch.

So is it just that my kid can't handle the transition quickly and he will get it eventually or that he is too young to handle a big bike?

To complicate matters he will be part of a 'Bike Rodeo' with the cub scouts in July..do I let him get the big bike and practice for a month, or do I leave him on the small one so we know he can ride? I would hate to ruin his confidence by being around other boys and barely being able to control his own bike..especially since he worked so hard to learn to ride 'like a big boy' with no training wheels.