~Baby Update~

Well, I had a six hour bout with contractions on Monday. Nothing unusual for me to start getting ready two weeks early. Tuesday morning I felt like I had dropped...my mom had stopped by and said I looked like I had dropped. I went to my appointment this morning and sure enough...the baby dropped! One step closer!

Officially, I have two weeks from tomorrow! But don't worry if you don't hear from me...I am normally a little late...that is why my baby counter says three weeks:-)

Anyway, I have started putting away maternity clothes and getting out my real clothes!!!! I got out our pack n play's. I even bought some diapers!!! I do need to pack my/babies bag.

After struggling with keeping up yesterday, I decided this is my last week gardening, cooking, and canning. I may even take off school tomorrow to start cleaning one last time. My body is ready to rest and I am going to listen! Nathan has been a little more clingy and Eric seems to want a little more mom time as well. I will be trying to enjoy the next few weeks with my young men as we play the waiting game!

Tomorrow, we park ourselves by the sandbox!

~More Chickens~

Isn't this just the cutest chicken....


Oh, wait! These are the chickens...(with some boys mixed in!)



We picked up ten Brown Sex Link chickens last Tuesday night...The boys really like these birds! They are very friendly.

Gregg went to get a cage for them on Saturday morning. He came home with not only a cage but a house and three more Brown Sex Links! What a surprise! We bought the cage used and didn't realize they had chickens in it that they needed to get rid of! God surley provides!

The ten chickens will start laying in the next few weeks...the three are already laying!

Check out these eggs!


Left is Bantam (our first three chickens)
Middle is Large store bought egg
Right is from our new Brown Sex link! Wow! Big eggs!


I think 16 chickens are just too many for us to watch over! We will probably be getting rid of our origional three. Back to the Farmers Market they go!

~Just Peachy~

Yesterday, I went over to our local fruit farm and got two baskets of peaches...
Today I...

ate three

served 10

canned 8 quarts

and made 6 pints of jam

Tomorrow, more of the same:-) YUM!

~Meteor Shower Tomorrow~

It has been some time since we have gazed into the skies at night. I can't wait for the meteor shower tomorrow! It is still nice and warm out but is getting dark earlier so this one I can comforitably enjoy!

Here is a link to the Homeschool Freebie of the Day...they have links to different places with viewing guides...I'm off to check them out!

~More Icy Treats~

It is supposed to be a hot week around here...I'm keeping these ideas in mind:-)

Keeping it Simple shared this yummy Frosty recipe...I put a whole tray of ice cubes in it (I like it with a little less sugar as well). My boys love it more than the "real" frosty! This is a dangerous recipe...all the ingredients are always in my kitchen...no scooping ice cream...it uses dried milk and ice.

Joyous Notions shared this yummy Vanilla Bean Frappuccino recipe. Instead of vanilla ice cream I used mocha.

Me and my sweet tooth are keeping cool and happy!

~Back to School - Day 5~

Ahhhh, we just finished up our first week of school. It wasn't too bad...


We also fit in a trip to the dentist, a checkup for me, some swimming and a few naps! We did not complete everything on the schedule, but that's ok...we like to start a little slow!


The last thing I wanted to share with you is my brain...hehe.

Last year, I got rid of it...I found I really do need it! Mom's notebook is divided into sections for each boy...one calendar section and one reading list section. I got really behind in this last year. I kept having to fudge Jared's calendar...I knew we accomplished things, just not on what day!

The calender is more of a checkoff sheet. If we do things five days a week, there are five boxes. If we only do them three times, there are only three boxes. There is a box on the bottom for misc info.

I divide the reading lists into...Reading (fun stuff), History, and Science so at the end of the year, I can just put them in the right section of the boys portfolio!

Right now, my binder is just white...I'm hoping to scrapbook a nice cover:-) I also have my own pencil in there...It is pink and has hearts...no one is going to steal it!

I've have some fun updates for you next week...I'm still keeping busy!

Happy weekend to you all!

~Back to School - Day 4~

Here is something new for this year...kind of!

We tried doing a notebook timeline last year...tried is the key word. Jordan cut out the figures each week and glued them to pages in a book. It just didn't work for us. One thing that made it hard was we were in "BC" he just kept getting confused with the whole counting backwards thing. We also tried to put too many on a page. They were so smooshed that you really couldn't see what was going on. The third thing was that it was in a notebook. It was accordian style so we could stretch it out and see the progression, but we didn't do that...we just put the new people in and put it away! About half way through the year, we ditched the idea! The freedom to make choices...priceless:-)

I decided to try again this year. I have labeled poster board...and I am going to get it laminated...one little spill the the whole thing is trash if I don't!

It is neat to see one big empty space...and wonder what we are going to be learning about! Starting with 25 AD and ending with 1450 BC.

We are using timeline figures from History through the Ages...I really like this set and have used it for SOOOO many things. You can print notebook size, wall size or your own size...You can print with or without text as well! I also like their Time Travelers and Activity Packs!

We are going through the second Mystery of History book. The boys enjoyed the first book last year. Less info than we were going through before (Usborne books) but they retained more of it.