Go check out this new blog!

I want to share a new Blog with ya'll! 

This family is very near and dear to me.

 Go show my girl some love as she shares the daily struggles with an Aspergers child!

http://ourdailylifewithpatience.blogspot.com/

♥♪♫•.•°*°•.¸¸♥. PEACE and LOVE .•°*° ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ 

 Wendy

Chemical FREE Homemade Deodorant

I made homemade deodorant this mornin' for the first time! 

I purchased all of my organic supplies and essential oils from Mountain Rose Herbs months ago with all intentions to make it right away, but life gets hectic and out of control at times around here.
It was so simple and best of all...totally organic and chemical FREE! 
I tripled the recipe and used Arrow root powder in place of corn starch.
I had all intentions of taking pictures during each of the steps, but some lil' boys snagged my camera batteries for their Wii controller. 

Homemade Deodorant 

1/4 c Arrow root powder or corn starch
1/4 c Baking Soda
3 Tbsp Coconut oil
1 Tbsp Beeswax (optional)
5 drops Tee tree oil
5 drops Lavender 

~ Melt coconut oil and beeswax over DBL boiler
Stir constantly until beeswax is melted
~ Add remaining ingredients - Stir

at this point you'll have a "slurry" runny paste - this will change quickly

Make sure to have empty deodorant stick, empty TP tubes, jar, or whatever container you may be using handy and ready to pour.
Pour. Let set up and your ready to go.
It was simple and non messy! Enjoy! Hope it works! I've applied and I'm trying it out today!

**I used a small mason jar for the majority and made two small "deodorant disk" in a muffin pan with liner. Both seem to work well.

♥♪♫•.•°*°•.¸¸♥. PEACE and LOVE .•°*° ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥

 Wendy

I think we're ready!

After days of nonsense brought about by myself by deactivating my personal Facebook account, making a whole new profile for the blog, and reactivating my personal account...I think I finally have the Facebook mess straitened out.
Trying new things with the blog this time around. Going to schedule blogging into my days. I have been sporadic with my post. Not sure I'll make an everyday post, but I will try my best. I just signed up for  Google Ads. I guess if I'm going to spend all this time working on it, I should try to make a few bucks with it. I plan on doing some more research on other ways to make some kind of profit from it. I've also been tossing around the idea of a whole new look. I done webdesign for many years so I have tons of ideas in mind and shouldn't find it that complicated., but assumptions always have a way of coming back and biting me in the butt. I definitely need to update the pictures of the kids. Wow! They sure have grown a lot in a year.
I'm really looking forward to sharing our journey getting back into homeschooling with the boys, things going on with the farm as we get a little closer to self sufficiency and renewable energy each year, gardening, crafting, and a healthier lifestyle by eating real foods and non toxic homemade cleaning products. It's going to be a great New start!!!


♥♪♫•.•°*°•.¸¸♥. PEACE and LOVE .•°*° ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥
 Wendy

Facebook strikes AGAIN!

Spent the WHOLE day adding homeschool groups and liking pages again for my new  Facebook Id for the blog. I had to make another because I wanted to deactivate my personal Facebook account that is attached to my blog page. So I thought it would be simple enough to take the Facebook page over with said new ID NOT!!!! Huge mistake! Oh Boy! Who knew disabling my personal Facebook account would cause such a hassle!!! EVERYTHING is linked to it! My Pinterest, THIS blog, Swagbucks, you name it, I used Facebook to join or log in! So apparently to keep everything else going I'm going to have to reactivate it! SMH Why oh why can't things just be simple for a change!!!! Surely not in Wendy's World LOL

♥♪♫•.•°*°•.¸¸♥. PEACE and LOVE .•°*° ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥
 Wendy

I'm back!!!!

It's been forever since a blog post. A lot has happened and a lot has changed in our lives. I'm taking a Facebook break for a while, but I need a writing outlet! So back to blogging I go. I hope you stick around and follow us on our adventures.
♥♪♫•.•°*°•.¸¸♥. PEACE and LOVE .•°*° ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ Wendy

Meal Plan Monday

Monday

Breakfast: Oatmeal with fruit

Lunch: Chef Salad

Dinner: Cheesy Stuffed Shells with stuffed mushrooms and salad

Snack: Carrot sticks and cherry tomatoes with ranch

Tuesday

Breakfast: Fruit Cream Cheese rolls/boiled eggs

Lunch: Grilled Cheese and tomato soup

Dinner: Herb Crusted Chicken, green beans, twice baked potatos

Snack: Peanut butter crackers

Wednesday 

Breakfast: Pancakes with fruit topping and sausage

Lunch: BLT's

Dinner: Pork Tenderloin with roasted garlic potatoes and asperagus

Snack: string cheese/yogurt 

Thursday

Breakfast: Veggie Omlets

Lunch: Tuna Salad

Dinner: Fettuccine with tomato cream sauce with pea salad and texas garlic toast

Snack: fruit bowl 

Friday

Breakfast: Cinnamon raisin bread french toast

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Enchiladas

Snack: yogurt

Saturday

Breakfast: Kale Frittata 

Lunch: Ham and Cheese Sammies

Dinner: Chicken Taquitas 

Snack: cheese sticks

Sunday

Breakfast: Sausage, egg, cheese, muffins with hash brown and fruit

Lunch: Tuna Salad 

Dinner: Lasagna with salad

Snack: cottage cheese with peaches

♥♪♫•.•°*°•.¸¸♥. PEACE and LOVE .•°*° ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ 

 Wendy

A quick catch up from the last few weeks

The last few weeks have been crazy busy around the farm!

We had an ice/snow storm. I had three kids down with the tummy bug and myself.

I fell asleep and forgot about my bread dough so the boys played with it for hours.

We watched to snow come down, had a small snow ball fight in the bedroom, colored and made pictures, built cities on the bunk beds.

The following day we got on our snow gear and headed out to play!

We all had a lot of fun playing in the snow!

The seeds I ordered arrived! Thank you Baker Seed Co! 

This year we will be planting all heirloom, GMO Free, open pollinated herbs and veggies.

I can't wait to get these going!

I've already started my spring cleaning. I've been busy cleaning out closets and dressers.
Next week I will tackle the toys!!

We got pot belly pig named "MJ"

Nate had the icky tummy bug

Justin had his 6th grade dance

The boys made a Cat in the Hat - Hat Pizza  to help celebrate Dr, Seuss's Birthday

I've been downloading, organizing, and printing home school work, ideas, and lapbooks getting ready for summer school. Plans are in the works for turning an extra room into a full time school room!

Princess Jelly Bean turned a month old!

♥♪♫•.•°*°•.¸¸♥. PEACE and LOVE .•°*° ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ 

 Wendy

Meal Plan Monday

Ahhh the hubby done this weeks shopping Saturday. Gotta love him for helping out and all, but as I was looking to plan out this weeks meals, I seen a lot of processed frozen crap in my freezer =0(
He did buy some good stuff too ;0)
Last week we had a lot of wasted food from the boys that went to the dogs. As long as there is nasty processed crap in the house they WILL want THAT! I'm trying to incorporate things I think might be tasty for everyone, but there is always someone who complains they don't like it. It's new, yes. Even to me. It isn't easy trying to change everyone's eating habits when they have been bad for so long, but I keep on trying a new dish out at least once a week. This week there are several. Wish me luck!
So I made my own shopping list and hittin' the grocery store myself tomorrow. My head is spinning now and THIS is what I have come up with for this week.

Monday
Breakfast ~ Smoothie and Oatmeal with fruit
Lunch ~ BLT's
Supper ~ Meatloaf, augratin potatos, green beans, butter bread
Snack ~ Yogurt
Tuesday
Breakfast ~ Smoothie and Blueberry Cheese Cressant Rolls
Lunch ~ Leftover Chil with PB sandwhich
Supper ~ Tacos
Snack ~ Carrot sticks with  ranch
Wednesday 
Breakfast ~ Smoothie and Bacon, eggs, toast, banana
Lunch ~ Grilled Cheese with tomato soup
Supper ~ Cheesy Spinach Stuffed Shells with stuffed mushrooms and bacon ranch pea salad
Snack ~ Boiled egg/grapes
Thursday
Breakfast ~ Smoothie and Sausage, egg, cheese, McMom Muffin (so much better than McCrap's)
Lunch ~ Homemade Pizza Pocket Sandwiches
Supper ~ Herb crusted chicken in basil sauce with cheese bites, and asparagus
Snack ~ Peanut butter crackers
Friday
Breakfast ~ Smoothie and Banana/Strawberry muffins with boiled eggs
Lunch ~ Leftovers from the week
Supper ~ Riblets, mashed potatoes, corn, butter biscuits
Snack ~ Orange slices
Saturday
Breakfast ~ Smoothie and Pancakes with fruit topping and sausage links
Lunch ~ Buffalo Chicken Taquitos
Supper ~ Kids Choice ~ Cookin' with kids
Snack ~ String Cheese
Sunday
Breakfast ~ Smoothies and Kale Fritatta
Lunch ~ Chef Salad
Supper ~ Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, corn on cob, biscuit
Snack ~ Cinnamon raisin bread

What are you cooking this week?

♥♪♫•.•°*°•.¸¸♥. PEACE and LOVE .•°*° ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥

 Wendy

Seven Lies about Homeschoolers

♥♪♫•.•°*°•.¸¸♥. PEACE and LOVE .•°*° ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ Wendy

Oops, I forgot to socialize the kids!

This is the thing I hear MOST about homeschooling, "They need to socialize with other kids their own age".  Most folks have this preconceived notion that homeschoolers spend all of their time locked up from the outside world or at home with just their parents, some do, but most do not. 

I'm only homeschooling my littlest guy right now, but come fall they all will be once again, due to changes in our school district.

Homeschoolers do get socialized and it's a "good" socialization.

 None of that peer pressure, bullying, nasty talk that they learn in the public schools. They socialize with ALL ages and most times the kids are socializing more. They have more manners and etiquette. 

Homeschoolers are involved with co-ops, playgroups, sports, arts, theater, scouts, 4H clubs, church groups, music, dance, clubs, library, and many more activities. They are actually socializing with the best peer groups they could possibly be. 

I got so tired of hearing of this whole "they need to socialize" bit  over and over I finally caved and gave up my battle with family members to homeschool and sent my littles to public school. I regret that decision every day since. NEVER AGAIN! I will forever stand up for their health, safety,education, and well being. 

Don't ever let anyone stop you from homeschooling over socializing! 

♥♪♫•.•°*°•.¸¸♥. PEACE and LOVE .•°*° ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥

 Wendy

Daily Freebies and Deals

Joybilee Farm's Free Kindle books to bring you peace of mind. Download the free app, if you haven't already and take your first steps to greater self-reliance. Thanks for sharing with your friends and passing around the freebies while they are still free. Lets change the world and build a community of folks that "laugh at the time to come." http://fiberarts.ca/blog/stop-worrying-about-economic-collapse-and-build-your-self-reliant-skills-with-these-free-resources/

Free Home school deals. com Daily list
How about 60+ new free Kindle books for 2/20/13?!! Click here for Muffin Tin Menus, Most Popular Bible Apps, Honoring A Child Born To Heaven, How To Clean Your House In Half The Time, + More!http://bit.ly/XpahSF

Sites with  free kindle books http://www.fkbooksandtips.com/
http://www.theereadercafe.com/2013/02/wednesday-evening-5-kindle-freebies-1_20.html
http://free-stuff-unlimited.com/131-free-kindle-ebooks-from-amazon-com-2/

Remember you don't need an actual Kindle to take advantage of these free books. Download the free Kindle app for all of your devices here: http://amzn.to/UeGDm2 

More Freebies for you to snag ;0)

Tom Swift Series for Kindle
http://contentedathome.com/2013/02/free-kindle-books-tom-swift-series/

Free music book download
http://makingmusicfun.net/htm/f_printit_free_printable_sheet_music/mmf-piano-book.htm

Free A-Z Tracing Printables http://thelifeinbloom.com/2013/02/11/a-z-tracing-printables/

Groupon Daily Round Up http://www.littlerockmommy.com/2013/02/groupon-goods-round-up_20.html

♥♪♫•.•°*°•.¸¸♥. PEACE and LOVE .•°*° ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ 

 Wendy

Welcome Home!

WELCOME HOME GI JOE!

♥♪♫•.•°*°•.¸¸♥. PEACE and LOVE .•°*° ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ 

 Wendy

Couponing just doesn't work for our Family

Recently my nephew was talking about the awesome couponing shopping trip he had with his mother. She got three carts full of stuff for practically nothing! So it got me to thinking back a while when I to thought I could master this couponing thing. So I looked into it again. I know a few coupon queens, my ex sister in law is amazing at what she does and I know a few other gals who totally rock the couponing world! So I was totally intrigued by what they all were doing. They would spend a few dollars or even get everything for free, and come home with bagfuls of food and toiletries. This totally appealed to my frugal side. I was hooked! With a family of our size couponing surly was the way to go to save us a buck as I was leaving the work force to stay home and raise our boys. When I started the transition from a working girl to a stay at home mom, I spent some time online checking out various homemaking blogs. A common theme I found  was that many of the moms were coupon queens. So I began to look into the fine art of couponing more. I joined a few coupon download sites and had full intentions of learning how to work the system. So, why haven’t you seen me share my couponing secrets here at Living a Free Range Life? Well, it’s because I never even started. And let me tell you why...

Nutrition and Health: As I started reading couponing blogs, I was also reading natural food, farm, and homesteading blogs. For the first time ever I was pondering the ideas of raw milk, grass fed meat, and organic produce. It didn't take me long to realize that these two concepts didn't quite match up. I realized that even though it was pretty cool to come home from the store with bagfuls of free chips, hamburger helper, and soda. I didn't really want to be feeding those things to my family simply because they aren't actually food. Free or not, I was trying to shift our diets away from processed foods and fast foods. I've never seen coupons for natural fresh fruits and veggies which I find to be an abomination to humanity.  Even coupons for natural foods are often for organic convenience foods in my opinion, many of those items are "organic"  in name only. They are a far cry from being real food. Plus, they are expensive to start with. Many of the coupons only reduce the price slightly anyway. Many of these items are still healthier and cheaper to make at home. When it comes to non-food items, I use other alternatives. A few examples: I make homemade deodorant,  laundry detergent, and cleaning products. I even make my own wipes, paper towels, dryer sheets and use essential oils to add fragrance to  things. It saves us money and they are healthier for all and the environment.  They usually only cost me a few dollars to make anyways and I use non-toxic ingredients. I reduce the use of disposable products as much as possible: paper plates, paper towels, throw-away baking dishes, plastic cups. I'm in the process now of ridding our home of all those pesky plastic dishes, containers, and cooking utincils. 

Time and Distance: We don’t subscribe to any newspapers. In order to really be an effective couponer, you must have multiple coupons from multiple sources. There are many printable coupon sources online, but you must research, download, match, and print them.  Many stores in my area will not take printed coupons. All that clipping, printing, and organizing takes time and INK!  You also have to be willing to drive to various stores to redeem the various coupons. I only shop once or twice per month . I simply don’t have the time and extra gas to drive to extra stores for only a few items. My husband works shift work so our routine varies from week to week as well. And shopping with four kids is just totally out of the equation!  We live 33 miles from the nearest "big brand" grocery stores and I only shop once or twice per month. I find that once or twice monthly shopping saves a considerable amount on gas, and helps to reduce all the little extras that we end up grabbing. It would be difficult and costly for me to run to the store every time a coupon is about to expire. That’s not to say that when I occasionally find a coupon for something we actually use I won’t use it. However, those times are few and far between and I've never gotten any item for free.

For now, I keep our grocery costs low by growing and canning as much of our own food as possible and making nearly all of our food from scratch. I also shop and meal plan around the weekly circulars we get in the mail from the local stores.  I would rather spend my time with the family in the garden, rather than clipping coupons anyday.

I  recently was glued to the TV all day watching a season of TLC's Extreme Couponing on Netflix while sick with a tummy bug and OMGosh all of the time, work, planning, and craziness that goes into it has me SMH and saying No Thanks. I'm glad they use their extreme couponing talents to help those in need. Who really needs THAT much toothpaste and deodorant in the first place LOL
Couponing just doesn't work for our family. If you successfully coupon, that’s awesome! I admire your skills! I know it’s a great for some families, but it just doesn't fit with our homesteading lifestyle.

♥♪♫•.•°*°•.¸¸♥. PEACE and LOVE .•°*° ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ 

 Wendy

Today's post of FREE Kindle books

Here is today's post of free kindle books from Joybilee Farm and Freehomeschooldeals.com

 Joybilee Farm's list of Free Homestead Kindle books picked just for you to help you reach your goals today -- Get them while they are still free and pass them on to your besties, cause the more that get them free the more homestead abundance to spread around. http://fiberarts.ca/blog/build-your-self-reliance-skills-today-and-live-your-homestead-dreams-with-these-free-resources/
Be sure to "LIKE" Joybilee Farm on facebook!

Here is today's HUGE list of Kindle freebies. Don't miss How to Meal Plan: A Step by Step Guide for Busy Moms, History for Kids The Battle of Bunker Hill, An Introduction to Basic Astronomy Concepts + More! Click here for the full list: http://bit.ly/YwxTpr
Be sure to "LIKE" Freehomeschooldeals.com on Facebook!

Remember you don't need an actual Kindle to take advantage of these free books. Download the free Kindle app for all of your devices here: http://amzn.to/UeGDm2 

♥♪♫•.•°*°•.¸¸♥. PEACE and LOVE .•°*° ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ 

 Wendy

Making better choices this growing season...

Seed  catalogs of all types are starting to arrive at our home daily – what one gardener I know calls “gardening porn”. There they are, in all their splendid glory…glossy colorful pictures of our horticultural dreams. Oh the potential, the possibilities of what those seeds could become  in our own gardens and food storage. The health benefits, the yummy delicious juicy fruits and veggies we will have come harvest time.  I'm so excited and have my gardens planned out and orders ready to go. As the seed catalogs come in the mail  I toss out for recycling and send a request to be removed from their mailing list if they are not Heirloom or GMO free seeds, plants, and trees this year. It is getting harder and harder to find TRUE GMO heirloom seed these days. You REALLY have to do your research. A lot of planning and research has went into our gardening decisions to buy seeds and plants this year.
We are concerned with buying non-GMO - non  hybrid seeds, but personally, I’m also concerned with avoiding seeds that come from Monsanto or any of their subsidiaries. This is becoming more and more difficult as the charts below illustrate. The easiest solution is to buy organic, heirloom, open pollinated seeds whenever possible. Of course, the safest practice is saving your own seed…but that’s another blog post! As with most things these days, being a careful consumer is the key in determining that what we put in our gardens is the purest possible and will help ensure the continuation of our open pollinated seed source. This is a personal choice of course but, the more you know, the better off your garden and the world will be and the healthier your family will be!
Look at these facts! Monsanto and Dupont are getting almost impossible to stop! But WE can do it!!! Speak out and Educate!!

World Domination: The World’s Top 10 Seed Companies

Company – 2007 seed sales (US$ millions) – % of global proprietary seed market

1.Monsanto (US) – $4,964m – 23%
2.DuPont (US) – $3,300m – 15%

3.Syngenta (Switzerland) – $2,018m – 9%
4.Groupe Limagrain (France) – $1,226m – 6%
5.Land O’ Lakes (US) – $917m – 4%
6.KWS AG (Germany) – $702m – 3%
7.Bayer Crop Science (Germany) – $524m – 2%
8.Sakata (Japan) – $396m – <2%

9.DLF-Trifolium (Denmark) – $391m – <2%

10.Takii (Japan) – $347m – <2%
Top 10 Total – $14,785m – 67% [of global proprietary seed market]
Source: ETC Group

This year we are exclusively ordering from Baker's Creek Heirloom Seeds and Sow True Seed.


The companies listed on this link have signed the Safe Seed Pledge for 2012. I encourage you to support them in their efforts to preserve the integrity of our seed supply.
http://www.councilforresponsiblegenetics.org/ViewPage.aspx?pageId=261

Here is a list of GMO free seed companies.
http://www.occupymonsanto360.org/2012/03/06/monsanto-free-seed-companies/

This is a great article to read about GMO contamination.
http://wakeup-world.com/2011/11/01/seeds-are-the-key-to-a-gmo-free-food-future/

Here is a list of companies that are either owned by Monsanto or are supplied by them or Seminis:
* Territorial Seeds 
* Totally Tomato 
* Vermont Bean Seed Co. 
* Burpee 
* Cook's Garden 
* Johnny's Seeds 
* Earl May Seed 
* Gardens Alive 
* Lindenberg Seeds 
* Mountain Valley Seed 
* Park Seed 
* T&T Seeds 
* Tomato Growers Supply 
* Willhite Seed Co. 
* Nichol's 
* Rupp 
* Osborne 
* Snow 
* Stokes 
* Jungs 
* R.H. Shumway 
* The Vermont Bean Seed Company 
* Seeds for the World 
* Seymour's Selected Seeds 
* HPS 
* Roots and Rhizomes 
* McClure and Zimmerman Quality Bulb Brokers 
* Spring Hill Nurseries 
* Breck's Bulbs 
* Audubon Workshop 
* Flower of the Month Club 
* Wayside Gardens 
* Park Bulbs 
* Park's Countryside Garden

Monsanto and Dupont seem to be monopolizing our world in just about every market. The only way to stop these companies is to put forth a little effort and choose wisely before you make purchases.  
Buy made in the USA, buy local, utilize the local farmers markets. YOU and I can make an impact!
Grow and raise your own food!!!
Please buy and plant non GMO - non hybrid,open pollinated seeds for your 2013 growing season!


♥♪♫•.•°*°•.¸¸♥. PEACE and LOVE .•°*° ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ Wendy

Meal Plan Monday

Planning out our meals for the week saves me so much time and prevents repeating myself a dozen times when asked "What's for dinner".

Monday
Breakfast : Oatmeal with fruit

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Tacos

Snack: Carrot sticks with ranch

Tuesday

Breakfast: Fruit smoothies with blueberry muffins

Lunch: Taco salad

Dinner: Crock pot chicken , mash potatoes, veggie

Snack: Peanut butter and jelly/Smoothie for Mom

Wednesday 

Breakfast: Smoothie/boiled eggs

Lunch: Grilled Cheese and tomato soup

Dinner: Pasta dish with veggie and salad

Snack: Fruit bowl

Thursday

Breakfast: Pancakes and sausage with a side of fruit

Lunch: Tuna salad

Dinner: Baked ham, potatoes, green beans, deviled eggs, salad

Snack: Apples with peanut butter

Friday

Breakfast: Bacon, eggs, toast with a side of fruit

Lunch: Ham sandwich

Dinner: Cooking with the kids (pick a new recipe to try)

Snack: grapes and string cheese

Saturday

Breakfast: Biscuits and sausage gravy/Smoothie for Mom

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Home made pizza, bread sticks, salad

Snack: Yogurt

Sunday

Breakfast: Sausage, egg, and cheese muffin with a side of fruit

Lunch: Corn dog muffins

Dinner: Chili
Snack: Peanut butter

♥♪♫•.•°*°•.¸¸♥. PEACE and LOVE .•°*° ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ 

 Wendy

The Ups and Down of Homeschooling

The ups...

 * YOU are teaching and YOU are raising YOUR children, NOT the state

* YOU have a say in what subjects and lessons are taught

* NO peer pressure and bad outside influence

* Kids are able to learn at their own pace 

* Flexibility no need to plan vacations around school schedules ~  you can take it with you if it's necessary

* You can cater to your child's learning styles ( in a corporate teaching setting it's nearly impossible)

* YOU know if your kids are retaining the information you are teaching them 

* One on one attention

* Freedom: you pick the curriculum- and can put more time into what you feel is more important (and leave out what you feel isn't so much)

* More project based learning and more time to dig deep into those projects

* You can teach  fine arts, literature,, and music

* Kids are able to excel in subjects

* Less wasted time 

* Strong family bonds

* Escape from the social hierarchy and bullies 

* More time in the home with their most important influences

* Children receive a much better education than in public or private schools

* Save Money ~ with today's technology and endless resources available online you can home school virtually for free 

* Control what your children learn and when 

* Make learning more exciting

* Take more library and field trips

* Hands on learning

* Great home school communities, co ops, and groups

* You can school from your kitchen table in your pajamas ;0)

* Save the environment (with digital learning,sharing and  borrowing resources, laminating sheets, chalk boards, dry erase boards, utilizing the library you helping to save the trees) 

This is just a small list of the many "Ups" there are to home education.

The downs...

* Having to justify home schooling to your family and friends who oppose your decision to home school

* Having to prove your kids will get socialized

* Some states require testing and monthy reports

* Depending on area there may not be a big community of homeschooling children which might mean less community for the kids, and maybe more struggle for you

* YOU do the teaching, YOU  are responsible for thier education (this can be good or bad depending on your motivation and expertise)

* Involving the kids in extra curricular activities and arranging play dates multiple times a week or getting involved in a co-op

* The cost of curriculum (if you choose to purchase)

* Staying focused and on schedule can sometimes be challenging

* Kids are in the home all the time some folks find this difficult. (I for one love it)

* Research and time planning curriculum and activities sometimes can pose a challenge

 I have found there are more ups than down as I was researching this blog post. I can go on and on about the benefits of home educating.
 Many of the downs are just others peoples opinions.
 Do what works for you. Do what works for your family. Don't worry about what other think, do, or say, I have learned this the hard way. For years I took it to heart and felt I had to justify to others my decision to home school, but no more.
Home schooling isn't for everyone. Sometimes it is impossible as both parents must work, but teaching children is a 24 hour 7 days a week job. They are always learning. There is always something to learn.
And don't for one minute think you can't educate your own children. If there is a subject you find hard to teach there are many resources out there. With today's technology there are many resources you can find, online classes, you can get tutors, or recruit family or friends who are knowledgeable in those subjects to lend a helping hand. There are co-ops and many home school groups you can join. The possibilities are endless!
 Happy teaching! ;0)

♥♪♫•.•°*°•.¸¸♥. PEACE and LOVE .•°*° ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ Wendy

Well we are officially grandparents!!!

 My GI Joe and  his wife Courtney have been blessed with a tiny little girl born January 30th weighing in at 5 lbs 15 oz and 19 inches long

Welcome to the world Alexis Nicole!

It was a crazy morning! Courtney called us about 7:20 am saying her water broke and she was on her way to the hospital. I was in a panic! I had to wait for my husband to get home from work to figure out what we were going do. I hopped online and tried to get a message to Joe. We started looking for flights and contacting grandparents to arrange care for our boys and animals. After 6 hours we finally had all of our ducks in a row and headed to the airport only to find out our flight was delayed due to bad weather in Atlanta. I hopped on Facebook to see my son had posted she was here already.

 I burst into tears. She was so beautiful! He was able to be there via Skype from the sandbox. Technology is so wonderful!!! She was so tiny and beautiful! 

Finally able to board (it was my 1st time flying) I cried the whole way from St. Louis to Atlanta LOL Once we arrived there we found out we was delayed again. A few hours later we hopped a plane only to get stranded again. As we were ascending one of the engines blew. I was so done with planes at that point and begged my husband to just rent a car and finish the trip by car, but he just came off of midnights with no sleep and he was worried we would not make it. So we tuffed it out in the airport. They said we would leave around 2 am, NEVER happened. We ended up spending the night in the Atlanta airport. There was no rooms in any hotels due to a convention in town. So we made the best of it and stuck it out. 6 am came and we were able to board and take off. We arrived at the Fayetteville, NC airport around 8 am. I was so happy to finally be on the ground and on our way to see the girls! We grabbed a cab and headed to the hospital to see ours girls.

Momma looked great! She was gleaming with joy. Poor baby girl had been alone for the last 8 months while my son has been deployed to Afghanistan and then was by herself during delivery. She done such a great job!
They brought the baby in and I instantly cried in awe and was in total love with this sweet girl. We were both exhausted! Paw Paw fell out LOL

We went back to Joe and Courts to freshen up and get a nap in before we headed back up to see the girls. It was a nightmare getting there, but so worth it! We got a few hour nap and a bite to eat then headed back up to the girls.

She is such an alert and curious little girl like her Daddy was.
We spent the rest of the evening at the hospital with the girls and Joe via Skype.

We got to Skype with Joe for a few hours which was so awesome for this Momma!!! <3

Daddy was playing his sweet girl a song.
That night the boys called and said our bottle baby goat wasn't doing good and was dying...I put a shout out on Facebook for someone to please go to the house and see if they could help. A friend from town who raises gots gathered up some stuff and headed out there to see what she could. She was already to far gone and she didn't make it.
RIP Strawberry

It just seemed like the nightmare continued. I sat there holding my sweet jelly bean and cried.

We headed back to the kids place to get some rest before the girls came home the following day.

I was helping Momma get things ready and Paw Paw was keeping an eye on "Jelly Bean" 

All ready to go home.

We got the girls home and all settled. Then we just relaxed and enjoyed what short time we had left there them before we had to catch our flight back home.

Home sweet home.

Nana got in as much snuggle time as I could.

All ready and strapped in to take us to the airport.

The hardest part of the whole trip even after our flight nightmare was kissing this sweet girl goodbye...
We were a little late getting to the airport and wasn't able to board our flight and had an hour wait for a later flight out, but we finally made it back St. Louis airport and we were off to get our babies. I missed them sooo much!

♥♪♫•.•°*°•.¸¸♥. PEACE and LOVE .•°*° ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ Wendy