Show & Tell Saturday

It's "Show & Tell Saturday" over at Homesteader's Heart, and Kim asked us to share a book that has inspired us to be better than we are. And as I thought about the many, many books I've read in my adult life, I kept coming back to one that has been there in recent years as a help, a guide, an idea bank, and an overall inspiration.

Except, it's not exactly a book.....

It's The Old Schoolhouse Magazine!

This little gem is only published four times a year (many of us wish it would go to bi-monthly!!) but oh do I look forward to each issue. From the letter from the editor at the beginning to the unit study ideas at the end, I usually read each issue cover-to-cover before it's all said and done. It's about homeschooling, yes, but it's so much more....it's about families, and what God wants for His families. We are not currently home schooling, but I hope to again in the future and "TOS" will be there with me! When I have been hs'ing, the info I've found between its covers has often helped me to keep on keepin' on when it got tough. It has showed me, through letters from other readers, that I'm not alone in whatever obstacle I've been up against at the time. And most recenlty, it has kept the fire alive in me to want to pursue hs'ing again when the time comes (for those who don't know my story, we're on the verge of a BIG move!!....for those who do, stay tuned for an update entry sometime this weekend!).

So that's my "book" for Show & Tell Saturday! Thanks for stopping by!

Boston

Just a few pictures from our trip to Boston last weekend.....

The first picture is just an upward shot from the street; the next is the old Boston state house; the third is some jelly fish at the New England Aquarium, and the last guy right here is one of the many penguins there! They are very entertaining to watch.

Friday Funnies

Is it Friday already??!.....well I'm going to keep mine short and sweet again this week....enjoy!

The Name Game

This is from my friend Kim at http://homesteadersheart.blogspot.com/ (I have GOT to learn how to embed a link with its own text!!) I haven't done this in years and it's really quite fun. Hope you have fun reading, and feel free to copy it over to your own blog and fill in your own answers!

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I). YOUR ROCK STAR NAME (first pets name and current car)---Bootsie Club Wagon

2). YOUR GANSTA NAME (favorite ice cream flavor and fave cookie)--- Phish Food Oreo

3). YOUR FLY GUY/GAL NAME (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)---M-McK

4). YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)---Green Horse

5). YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)---Lee Boston

6). YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)---McK Ma

7). SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink)--- The Blue Coffee

8). NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)---Stefan Joseph

9). DANCER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy)--- Lilac Symphony

10). WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) --- None William

11). TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)---Scire Seattle

12). SPY NAME/BOND GIRL: (your favorite season/holiday, flower)--- Summer Hyacinth

13). CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)---Apple Fleecy

14). HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)--- Coffee Maple

15). YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”)---The Scrapbook Heat Tour (lol!!!!!!!!....oh my goodness that one cracks me up!!)

Hellloooo??!

Wow, I have been super busy the last several days! I've been hopping on the computer to read some message boards (the DIS, of course!) but haven't really had time to sit down and blog.

Sorry, little blog! :(

The bird count went well. I didn't see anything exotic or unusual this year, but it was fun nonetheless. Species and total counts are as follows:

• Blue Jay - 17
• Junco - 6
• Chickadee - 6
• Goldfinch - 3
• Pine Siskin - 2
• Titmouse - 2
• Cardinal - 2
• Dove - 1

I have really enjoyed watching the birds from this little house. I've gotten to know what kinds of birds hang out here all year, which ones come and go, and have come to the conclusion that God made Blue Jays such a pretty blue because if they weren't so nice to look at, they would be just plain irritating!!!! LOL! The flock that lives here is probably a family to some extent. It's gotten larger over the years and when I toss old bread out into the back yard, watch out!...it's like Alfred Hitchcock with them coming in from every direction and descending upon the ground! I'm going to keep up my birding habits when we move, wherever that happens to be. If it does indeed end up being Florida, I'll have a great time because there are so many neat birds down there.

Oh, and on a very happy note, yesterday morning the Chickadees and Titmice were singing their spring songs for the first time this year! Who needs a silly ol' groundhog when you've got birds.

Great Backyard Bird Count!

Today begins the annual Great Backyard Bird Count. I'll be peeking my head out now and then to see who's around, and at the end of each day I just go to the web site and record my results. Lots of fun! You don't have to do all four days, nor do you need to be a bird expert. If all you recognize are Blue Jays and Chickadees, then you can just keep track of them. If you want to know more about this project, click the little button just down on the right here!

I'll be posting my results here on my blog, too, so come back and check it out!

Friday Funnies

It's Friday!!....Yay!

Y'all know what that means....

Have a wonderful day my friends!

Not so addicted am I....

45%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Although, now that I've posted my results, I'm sitting here trying to think of what else to put in this entry! Because, well, that little graphic looks so alone up there!

How about coffee?!....I just read a blog entry about coffee, and I'm sitting here drinking coffee, so hey!....an entry about coffee!

Now, I may not be so addicted to blogging, but coffee?...well, you don't want to try to take it away from me, or have an intelligible conversation with me in the morning before I've imbibed that first cup! The stuff I'm having right now is something new we decided to try - Folger's Black Silk. It's a dark coffee but smooth. I like it. I'd rather my coffee were on the strong side than the weak side, though. Nothing quite as bad as watery coffee....blech! Except possibly putting 1% milk in it. That turns it gray and, if gray had a flavor, that would be it!

When we go out for coffee (once in a while) we usually enjoy Green Mountain Coffee (a regional favorite; it's from Vermont). That is usually sold in our small-town country stores. For chain coffee, Dunkin Donuts is quite good. Starbucks is just starting to come around here, but the nearest one is still almost an hour away so we don't go there very often. I do like their coffee, though. Most of the time I opt for "plain" coffee, but once in a while I'll go for flavored. Hazelnut would have to be my favorite there.

So, I've written an entire blog entry just rambling about coffee! And if you've read the whole thing to this point, then YOU must love coffee, too.

An "educational" trip?!

So we're taking a trip to New York City for a couple of days over the kids' winter break from school. Can you say "culture shock?"!! They've been to Boston, but never anything like the Big Apple. I've only been there once, and that was years ago.

But, we're all excited and looking forward to it. It's only a 4-hr. drive from here and one of those things that we always wonder, why haven't we done this?! The kids are excited about going to the American Museum of Natural History, where "Night at the Museum" was based (one of our favorite movies!).

We're going to ride the subway to get around, which should be an adventure in itself. I'm trying to do my homework and "learn" the system so I have a clue once we arrive. The more you look and act like you know what you're doing, the better. Tomorrow I'm heading to the bookstore to see if I can find a nice concise guide and a laminated map. There's a ton of free info on the web, of course, but I hate having to go dig it up. I'm a book gal!

Show & Tell Saturday

Alright I am going to toss a little humor into the mix today with my favorite gift from hubby! After nearly 17 years of marriage it's really hard to say there's one particular favorite, but this is the most recent gift and it means a lot to me, so without further ado, may I present to you......

Ta - da!

An official Travelocity Roaming Gnome!!

Now, I'm sure this seems very, very strange indeed, so let me offer a wee bit o' explanation if I may! Hubby and I are huge fans of The Amazing Race. This show is sponsored by Travelocity, and their mascot is this guy. He is in all of their tv ads, and I have just always had an affinity for him. Despite the fact that it never even occured to me to actually own one, DH picked up on this and did all his own investigating and ordering and stealth concealment until my birthday came. I was so touched by this (and, of course, just tickled to have my own gnome!) that this immediately became a favorite gift.

Really, what more is there to say?!

Book challenge!

I'm overdue for a post in this little blog, but really grasping at thin air for something to write about! Sad. I thought writers were supposed to be full of inspiration?!...lol! I guess that's what they call Writer's Block.

Anyway, something I've been thinking of lately is trying to get in more time to read. Mostly that means keeping the tv off at night. I'm in the middle of a few really good books, and I'd like to finish them and do a little review here on my blog.

If you're a regular reader of my blog, or even if you're not and you just popped in or followed someone else over, I'd like to open up a book challenge. See how much you can read in a week, or a month, or whatever time frame will motivate you to read a bit more. Especially if you're in a northern climate, it's a great time of year to curl up with a good book! So...

*What have you read lately?
*Briefly summarize the book.
*Tell us a little of what you liked or didn't like.

Sounds like a book report from grade school, huh?!! lol!!

I'm going to post once a week on my own progress, and I'll probably do it on Thursdays. If you want to join in once, or every week, or once in a while, that's fine! Just leave me a comment with a link to your blog entry.

Happy Reading!

Happy February!

Wow, where did January go?! That is usually the month that goes by the slowest for me (well, that and March, when I'm dying for spring and it just doesn't seem to want to arrive!). So I'm glad to have January done and over with. The closer we get to calendar spring, the closer I am to moving!

I'm home from church this morning with the two younger boys. They have got that awful cough that has been making its way through our family since DH started it in November. SICK of it! They've already missed some days of school over it and I know it won't suddenly disappear before tomorrow so I've got to make the decision on whether to keep them home again and go to the doctor, or send them anyway (they feel fine, they're just coughing a lot) and let things be. It was so much less complicated when we home schooled...

So I'm not too sure what I'll do today. Maybe scrap book some more pictures from the Disney trip. I'm very close to finishing that album. Of course there's always laundry!

Oh, a little "funny" this morning.... DS9 woke up and emerged from the spare room, and with a look of total and utter confusion asked me "Mom, what was I doing in there??" I assumed he'd come up to sleep in there because his brother was coughing too much and keeping him awake, but he had no memory of doing so!......I assured him that I certainly hadn't carried him up there (!) and he must have done so on his own. Hmm....sleepwalking?!