Do we have to? 1. I am feeling smug because I have a dehydrator filled with pitted, halved cherries and I also have two freeze bags filled with cherries in my freezer. 2. My kids have been eating hot dogs, Kraft dinner and chicken fingers for the last three nights - can you tell dh is out of town? 3. Last night I spent two hours watching a biographical special on Will Smith. Did I mention dh is out of town? 4. While watching said biographical special I drank exactly 2.5 glasses of red wine. If I do have wine, I usually have one glass. 5. That "how to build a fence" post must have gotten to me because on Tuesday I snapped this picture while the yard boys were doing their thing in my yard:

Dh is very, shall we say, particular? He will find the one thing that is out of place in the house. He grew up in a home where, if there were a crumb left on the counter, it would be found - I can't really blame him if he's retained a little of that, um, value of cleanliness.

Ok, I found some good links to support groups and other info. Now I'm wondering if anyone has any stories or info on what the homeschool climate is like in SA? Are people generally supportive of homeschooling? Is it easy to find other homeschoolers? Again, many thanks to anyone who can help.

I am trying to help a friend and could use any info or links you have, please. I'll be very thankful for any assistance.

I thought you were going to say it was convention time. I was singing that song in my head (and nearly out loud a few times I was so happy) all during our homeschool convention this year. And the funny part was that it SNOWED in April!! So, it was very Christmassy :) A big box of books and curriculum is right up there with convention weekend! Enjoy!

How exciting! That sounds like an amazing opportunity for you all. I hope you do hang around here and post about your experiences.

I want to make small cards for a home-made board game and I want to be able to print them out on the computer - probably 10 cards per sheet of paper. Ideally, I'd also like to be able to print something on the back of each card but I don't really have to do that. Is there some sort of program or template that makes this easy? Thanks.

That sounds like so much fun! I'm going to sit here and drink a glass of wine all by myself. :nopity:

I really enjoyed listening to A Thousand Splendid Suns. I'll also confess to listening to Stephen King's Duma Key. I have War and Peace on from last month, but that's obviously going to take me awhile to get through :D My July credit is burning a hole in my computer - I really need to spend it. Anyone else have an Audible account? What have you downloaded lately?

Just that TOG is written from an American viewpoint. So there is an abundance of American history included and very, very little Canadian history. I love TOG for the incredible literature, the living history, and the discussions - but I don't need to get as deep into American history in year 3 as they go. So I'm pulling together my own thing this year as we cover early modern times with a Canadian focus. It's mostly the history aspect that I'm missing as a Canadian. There just isn't anything amazing out there for Canadians. I also wish Lightning Literature had a year of Canadian literature.

I love the hanging stars and the colour. Great room! I think yours gets the prize for most bizarre room that people would actually want to spend time in.

I'm jealous of people who grow their own vegetables, or grind their own wheat. People who can peaches or pickles. People who make jam and people who make syrup. I'm jealous of anyone who has matching spice containers - especially if said containers are also labelled and alphabetized (not pointing any fingers or anything :)). I'm jealous of people who cook from Nourishing Traditions (my copy has sat on my shelf since Christmas; unused). I'm jealous of people who make their own baby food - not because they ran out of baby food and had to frantically find something they could mash up and feed to their baby - I mean people who purposely make baby food and then freeze it in nice little ice cube trays. I'm jealous of anyone who runs their home purposefully rather than randomly and a little erratically. And I'm thankful for my in-laws. They're all lovely and loveable and they don't cause any trouble at all. And I'm very thankful that I have children over 5. I love the 2 year old and everything, but boy kids become useful when they can scrub toilets and scoop dog poo.

Well, I have no experience with the format of query letters but it sure leaves me wanting to read more!

I really like designing my own things, but I've also been more than happy with a lot of curriculum that is out there. If Tapestry of Grace was Canadian I'd gladly pass over my history/geography/literature/etc. reins and buy Year 3. Instead, I'm back to the drawing board and my table is still covered in stacks of books (see one of my recent blog postings for a pic). On one hand I am really having fun designing my own thing right now. It's something I did a lot of in the past and it's neat to get back to it. On the other hand, there are so many other things to do... I tweak things and make them work for us, so nothing really gets boring over here. I do wish there were more Canadian homeschooling materials though.

My hair is actually really, really easy. It's very long so putting it up takes me less than five minutes. I put it in a ponytail and then do a french twist - you know where you take two strands and twist them separately as you twist them together? Easier than a braid. Then I wrap an elastic at the end of the twist, wrap the twist around the original elastic at the top and tuck in the end elastic under the first elastic to keep it secure. Add bobbypins. That's it. Sometimes I do the twist really loose and floofy at first to make the up-do bigger. I spent another 5 minutes using the straightener on my bangs. I hope you have a great time! I love getting dressed up and look for any excuse possible. The other wives always look at me like I'm nuts at dh's work dinners because I'm just thrilled to be out of the house with other adults :D

Goodness that picture is huge! And will someone please come over and help my poor roses?

If it really is semi-formal then I think you'll be perfectly dressed. The dress is gorgeous and you look fantastic in it. I recently attended a semi-formal event where I thought I would be under-dressed in this: Turns out I was one of about 5 people who actually dressed up for the event. The rest ranged from cocktail wear to very casual (as in flip flops and tank tops).

You truly are a jewel in the rough :D And did you notice that I have a spectacular aura about me?

Colleen!!! Your house is lovely! If that were my home I would have no hesitations about inviting guests in. Everything is inviting and well cared for. I would love to sit in any of those rooms and have a cup of tea.

It is a shooting gallery and it was specially constructed by the old owner. The walls are thick concrete with special soundproof fuzzy stuff on the inside. It's really weird because if you walk into the room and then talk to someone at the door you sound muffled. The door is steel. You're supposed to be able to shoot in there and not hear it in the rest of the house, but I don't think that's quite right because we had an enthusiastic friend come to visit with his gun and I heard a muffled "boom" from outside. Dh and I don't shoot - though he keeps threatening to take it up now. We're really not sure what to do with the room. It's creepy. It would make a great panic room - no one is getting in there. We've thought about maybe making the end part a secret panic room and then turning the front part into a wine cellar. Or maybe just one big wine cellar :D We've also thought about turning it into a bowling alley; that would be cool. I never considered putting bookshelves in there - probably because the room really creeps me out.

Here's mine:

It's beautiful!

When we moved in our dining room had one blue silk wall and a crazy light fixture with big white flowers. I wanted to go a bit edgy with the decor, but it turned out a bit boring, I think.

I'm such a big chicken. I haven't sent it and I think I'm leaning towards just talking with the pastor. He sent dh and I a card a few weeks back welcoming us to the church and asking us if there was a good time to have a cup of tea with him. Unfortunately, dh is in and out of town so much right now that nothing has worked out. But, our church does BBQs at a local park every Thursday night over the summer so there may be a chance for an informal conversation then. Or I wait until dh gets back and have him over for tea. Or I just send the email already. Or I could invite the pastor's wife who was responsible for the whole family-focus thing over and chat with her. I don't know...

If you're looking for something quick you can throw a can of mushroom soup over them and then serve with rice.