Homeschool Starts (Enter Grade 1)

Well technically we started on August 13th but we're still fine tuning everything and making adjustments here and there for what we really want to do!

LANGUAGE ARTS
- Spectrum Reading (Grade 2)
- Spectrum Spelling (Grade 3)
- Creative Writing assignments from various topics at hand
- Penmanship various letters and thank-yous to family

MATH
- Reader Rabbit Math (Grade 1) - completed Sept 26
- Spectrum Math (Grade 2) - started September 27
- Various online computer games

HISTORY
- Story of the World I - Ancient History (Egypt, Greece, Rome)

SCIENCE/HEALTH
- various topics (including Brownie Try-Its and other subjects of interest)

LANGUAGES
- Sign Language at home
- Spanish at home

ARTS/CRAFTS
- various projects

EXTRACURRICULAR
- Brownies
- will add more - maybe swimming

I will update as we progress through this first year! :)

Ya Baby!

My fingers went surfing on the net and I found out there were still some in another store on the other side of town..... Between car-failure (the alternator supposedly went bad) and bad planning she got her bag... and is happy. It was a gift from the Housefairy for straightening her room. Smart Lady that House Fairy - she knew M wanted it and she couldn't find it so she asked me to look and well you know the rest of the story. At the point we found it I would have been quite happy to get one without a frog.... but her has one so she is even more thrilled! I think we got the last one in the store.

Of course there is no show without punch right.... so while we're there searching little S is yelling Packback, packback... she was out with me last night while I was searching for the beastly thing... Well how could I refuse? But I wasn't prepared to pay $15 for a little fun bag for her... so when spotted this thing I couldn't resist. It is Thermos lunch kit. Too cool.... it has a zippered shoulder strap making it the perfect size backpack for a toddler who must be like her sister and it was $6.34 I'm glad I found it because she was just thrilled withit the whole way home and has been running around with M's backpacks for more than a week now. :) Though of course you have to realize that her sister's is infinitely far more interesting than hers right.... So I'm thinking I might jsut get some patches for hers and doll it up to look like a little girly tote even if I have to sew the patches on.... yes we're all about patches these days! LOL!

Dang nabbit :(

DD saw a backpack at Target she liked a couple days ago. What with the back to school sales and all - of course... I should know better than to "window" shop during these 3 weeks! LOL!
It was pink and turquoise... with a froggy hanging off of it.
$14.99 Went to get it tonight... its gone. :(

*sigh*

More layouts from the last 2 days.

Credits: Papers by me - fonts are ?? and Bradley's hand.
In honour of turning 6 and the school year starting soon, I figured the colour challenge at Gottapixel would be a good time remember the things that dd is currently fond of put ink to paper in a Who am I now layout.

Back in January we visited our middle dd. It was the first time the youngest got to meet her sister. She loved the toys! :)
Credits: Beauty add on by Cinzia Loosemore at Digital Freebies. Font is James Fajardo.
Here are the girls playing with Oscar the grouch and a wooded stacking rings toy.... they looked like they were having a good time! :)

2nd Birthdays (in 2003).... but that's not all!

So GottaPixel's challenge today (1st of the month) is a blue print challenge, they give you a template to work with and you do what you do best and play with it. Well as is common in the scrapbooking world most of the layouts done are square.... or large, so I have to adapt them to make them work for me... Its just more economical for me to print 5x7 instead of 8x10 or 12x12. SO the first is my alteration of Monica's blueprint challenge, and the 2nd is just how I added a 2nd page! LOL! Because I like uniformity for 2 pagers! :)
Ribbon - recoloured and paper recoloured but all original to Monica's August BluePrint Challenge.
Fonts are Script MT Bold and Bradley's hand and I think Ma Sexy.

So I'm getting my feet wet again with scrapbooking! :)

But that is not all.
On the hook I have a pair of soakers either for S or for charity, not sure which... depends on if I feel like adding a skirt to them! :)
On the needles, I have a charity pumpkin hat, and a Curly Purly soaker in peace fleece, which I need to frog.
I've got some patterns ready to sew for the girls.... just need to cut and sew.
Need to sew a skirt for me before our trip!
I'm working on my quilt again. I hadn't thought of it in months until I brought home Circle of Quilts... by Jennifer Chiavarini (book on tape!) from the library and got inspired! :)

and sadly my garden sucks.... no tomatoes... no peppers.... *sigh*

Sewing - Ottobre Magazine (04/2007)

The new magazine from Ottobre is up.
I ordered it. I love the patterns in there and want to actually make some of the girls fall clothes this year.

It is insanely crazy to think that I could make their entire wardrobe for fall - nor I think do I really want to but some of the outfits in the Ottobre magazine are cool and hip... and would give me practice and some fun sewing.

I think it might be time to send in my sewing machine and get it cleaned up.

I have a few things on my make list this year including:

• Cape for Sass (need to find some nice velvet or velour and some matching fleece)
• Brownie Pants / Skirt / Skort / Dress for M
• pretend Brownie vest for S.
• Halloween costumes.
  
• Thanksgiving / Christmas dresses
  

So I think that is a start for the season!

I've also found some awesome art lessons for M, that could turn into practical things like Christmas cards or Thanksgiving cards for the family! I can't wait to get started....

All Clear

The first dental visit went well. She can't wait to go back in 6 months. Darling dh booked the appointment already - good thing because I never get around to doing.

I'll have to scrap a page about it and explain the excitment she voiced when she got home about the adventure. Mr Thirsty, and orange flavored something or other! LOL!

Teeth are clean , no cavities... 3 loose ones... :)

First Dentist Visit

I have a fear of dentists.

M (age 6) is at the dentist for the first time as I type. I had to have my dh take her because I don't want my fear to rub off on her, I just don't think I could handle watching her at the dentist and I think maybe she would play on that concept - not deliberately... but because she could.

The scrap-booker in me wants to run over and take pictures.
The me in me wants to throw up.
The mum in me says OMG my baby is growing up! Another step in her belt loop of freedom.

So maybe I'll scrap a page about her visit when they come back and fill in the details for me.

.....meanwhile back at the ranch my fingernails will be ragged with the bite marks and my stomach will churn until they come back with a clean bill of teeth.

A Picture Speaks Volumes

Here is a layout of my girls at the beach in April.
This layout was done for the GottaBeQuick Scrap at GottaPixel.
Papers by Sarah Meyer's Gotta Be Quick - Sweet Sundress kit.

Not much to say today - miffed I was supposed to be in Toronto but got turned away for passport issues. *sigh*

Two Recent Layouts

This first layout was done for an "Artfully Yours" Challenge at Gotta Pixel. I just couldn't resist the sweetness of a pencil type drawing of two girls sleeping. The Poem comes from M's favourite book of bedtime stories and is one her and her daddy have shared since she was 2 yrs old.

Playing with the original photo I took a photo copy of it and then used the ink spray or charcol features in PSE 4.0. to make it look like a pencil drawing. I used the papers offered in the challenge.

Papers by Christina Wall at Gottapixel.

This second was inspired by the same Challenge, but not to my liking as much for it, so I did a little different I was trying to get the same effect using different techniques but don't think they turned out quite so well.

The blue in "Sarah's" eyes was completely by accident and isn't really blue its gray For some reason when I moved the layer over to the working copy it didn't clear the eyes background. I liked the effect so I kept it! Both images are classically my girls and they are roughly the same age frame.
M is 1 yr on the left and 10 months on the right
S is 8 months on the left and 9 months on the right.

Try It #7 Complete - Foody Pics!

Since joining Brownies we've learned a few neat things that keep us busy.
Today M planned lunch. At 6 you'd figure that she would pick everything sugary..... but no... the food pyramid as our guide (with Breads and and Fruits'nVeggies reversed) we had a good healthy lunch....

After lunch when the little one went to nap (yes a nap today too!) M and I played with part 4 of her try it..... and here is what we got. I've just ordered them through one of the photo services and we'll put them in her scrap book! :)

All images borrowed from various internet sites.... The object was to cut items out of a magazine but since I have few magazines pertaining to food, we surfed and borrowed.... since these are for personal use.... (if anyone has a problem, please email me and the photos will be removed!) :)

Telephone Slamming ....

A new one on me! With the de-regulation of telephone carriers a few years ago a new problem arose. Its called Slamming.

Direct Quote:
"Definition: Slamming occurs when your telephone service is switched from your current company to another one without your permission. Long-distance service is the most common target of slamming, but it can also happen with local or local-toll service."
http://www.fraud.org/tips/telemarketing/slamming.htm

Its apparently pretty common in the US but not quite as bad in Canada.

I'm furious. After almost 30 yrs of dialing the same number that I call almost weekly - there is a very large likelihood I will never be able to call that number again! The person who had that number doesn't feel any better than I do.

If you find yourself a victim of this - some of your actions should include....

1. Phone your chosen carrier (the one you were with) advise them that you have been slammed. (on this - 99% of the time their front line people will not have a clue what the devil you are talking about - explain and move on up the chain - keep on moving up the chain until you get an answer from someone who does - my suggestion keep moving on up through the supervisor ranks till you are satisfied.)
   
2. Phone the CRTC (in Canada) or the FCC (in the US) and launch a complaint

I will likely add to this list as remedy is sought in the above action, and as I find more answers. I also hope to add links to this entry shortly as I find some good ones.

Fuzzy Foes.... this is War!

Garden 0 ; Fuzzy Critter 2

This is WAR! WAR I declare.

Our measly attempt at vegetable gardening has been thwarted this year first by frost, then by drought and now by critter.... well I'm not letting the critters win. If I'm part of the ME first generation as my dad so aptly points out then why shouldn't I get first dibs on MY plants? (read it squirrely! MMMMYYYYY plants)

I had 5 teeny tiny green Romas budding on my 3rd tomato plant, and I was looking to enjoy them as soon as they turned red. Little Deadmeat (the squirrel - not affectionately named - in case you had any questions!) plucked not 1 but 2 of the little tasty gems ate a bite left them on my deck railing. If that is not enough he dropped my 1 measly little pepper on the ground to be ingested by the bugs..... now how rude is that??

I will not engage in chemical warfare, as this is food we're talking about.

If my herbal remedy works I'll be sure to post... but the drawback is that I will have to re-apply if it rains.

Face Lift

Just updating my blog.... figured it was time to play a little.
Opinions, suggestions welcome.
Still working on getting my old links and buttons on here too!

Artfully Yours Challenge at GottaPixel

A new challenge that has peaked my interest at Gottapixel called Artfully Yours
Background paper by Christina Wall in her freebie for the challenge - Artfully Yours (06-12-07)
Using features in PSE4 I coloured these photos to make them have a painted effect like Claude Monet's Parasol painting.... a singular image of a beautiful woman in a white flowing gown, with a parasol in a field with a turbulent type sky.
I just loved the texture of the painted effect! :)

Gardening?

A new day has dawned. I will yet become gardener. A stroll in our garden over the weekend set a new fire in me. I hate our garden. I hate our yard. What can you do with a 45 degree slope (okay not quite but close enough.) We will be buying a new drive way quite soon, I can feel it in my bones. It has cracked and sunk again, as it has apparently in the past. So that said I know we can't afford to pay someone to keep the yard and make it look nice.

We have weeds that was once our grass. We have a center island that is choked with choke cherry shoots,weeds and bushes that have out grown their place. There is nothing fancy, nothing exciting and but much infested with weeds Lots and lots of weeds. For the last 3 days in the late afternoon when the heat is dying out of the day, we've been in the garden.

I sprayed the grass a week ago for bugs - with the drought so bad at this time watering restrictions make it impossible to do much else... but the girls want to walk in the grass, so the bugs had to go. There is no point in doing anything with grass at the moment, it is so scorched with the drought and lack of watering that there is no telling what is really there, so I think I'll wait and remain hopeful for some rain in the fall and then call somebody in to sort out the mess we call a lawn.

So on to the bushes.... at first I was mad that walkway was being covered by the azaleas out front.... Then I discovered that the azaleas are almost 4.5 feet tall. They need drastic trim... Ideally I want them about 2-3 feet tall as they are in front of our bay windows. But again the drought makes it an unwise idea to hack away at the azaleas or we could shock them into a bad state and they may not flower come spring which is something dh looks forward to! :) But these bushes are a security hazard - not that I'm paranoid but someone could hid in the bushes and break in through any of the front windows. So the goal will be to make them shorter.... neater. So that has been one my accomplishments of the last few days. Trimming them so they don't get too unwieldy come mid winter. Again if it rains a bit, I will launch my attack. I've so far managed 1 and 1/3 of about 8 bushes in 2 days... not bad, but my arms are kind a tired.

We also have these bushes that are shaped in a mound. They too have reached over 4 feet in height, and I want them trimmed or removed. I'll settle for trimmed for now. I've cleaned 3 of the 6 of them up as they were shaggy, but again if it ever rains they will be trimmed down to about 2 ft in height. The next 3 of these will be more difficult but it will be done.

The holly bushes will be gone. I will pay someone to extricate them, if I have to. I've been bitten by the nasty thing too many times. You get bitten by one and jump back in fright and the 2nd one bites ya too! I may be a tad anti-social but who in their right cotton picken mind would put Holly Bushes - broad leaf, prickly Holly bushes right by the front door? Flanking both sides of the door? They've apparently been there for 25 yrs through 2 previous owners and now 5 yrs with us. I pledge, that for my sanity and that of those who come after me they will be gone before the fall, if I have to take them down and dig out the stump myself. (so if you read and garden, give me a suggestion for a simple bush that I can put near my front door. Something fragrant would be nice, but if it really attracts bees or other biting bugs.... maybe I'll stick with a simple low Euonymus - maybe a Fireball Burning Bush type - now that would be pretty! Plus I'd like short but if it needs trimmed.... well I'm your gal! :) I'll keep this here as my idea list! :)

On to the weed pit that we call the center island. I will attack that. I just want the weeds gone and for it to look like someone loved it a little. I think, for the next couple years we'll irradicate the weeds, poison ivy (apparently it is there dh has gotten it a few times) and periwinkle, leave it for a summer while I research and hatch a plan for some long term low maintenance but pretty plants.

In the mean time I'mgoing to get a rose. In honor of my dd's sister (but not my child) and plant it in the garden. Our memorial rose bush.

Ya its crazy. I may not succeed in anything i try here, but hey at least I can say I tried and gave up with a fight! LOL!

So wish me luck as I attack my garden and turn it into a much nicer paradise. So that in addition to the other things you've read here, will be in my repertoire. If you're not into gardening and don't care, I won't be offended if you skip over these posts! LOL!

A Sadness for a Loved One Lost.

On Saturday June 2, a family near and dear to my heart lost a young child.

I don't know how much I can share with you... including her name and situation .... so the best I can do is say that this little girl had a very difficult start in life but was adopted by an awesome family who loved her with all their heart. She touched the lives of many including my family (especially my middle daughter.) She taught me so much and I only met her 3 times but had heard so much about her that she feels like a sister to me.

With sadness I say goodbye, to a little girl so young who was wise beyond her years.

Her memory will be carried on in our hearts, and to her family I send peace in a difficult time.
To her birth-mom I say thank-you ... to her adoptive mom I say thank you for allowing her into my heart and that of my family.

In Peace Little one.

New Foray

Every hobbyist needs food so I have ventured into cake decorating! LOL!

Eldest is having a birthday on Friday and a party sometime soon afterwards - yes bad mummy hasn't set the date yet - but I've been working on the cakes! :)



She has an obsession with Frogs and thanks to a webfriend we managed to find something fun to make for the goodies. I'm no expert at these kinda things and really not patient enough to try but this was fun! :) The fruit roll up tongues were cute, I didn't realize when i bought them that they had splotches on them, which worked well as this frog caught a bug or two. LOL!

Where is the Handbook? I need to edit it.

I swear there is something in the childhood handbook that says when Mum takes you out to the store, you have to be the worst little hellions there are, the thought being that Mum can't take us anywhere so we can spend all our time at the park or playing somewhere.... not a bad rule unless you're the mum.

Child A - the encourager.
Child B - the do-er

Child B does something to irk Child A... then Child A laughs until Child B does something to make mummy so mad.

(I love my children dearly but they are driving me to the brink...)