My daughter attends BJU. She was walking to Starbucks yesterday and told me about this sign. I guess I didn't realize he was ON campus when she saw it. I would be very interested to hear what they said if you were able to call and talk to anyone.

We burn about 10 cords of wood per year. Unfortunately, the best way to get seasoned wood is to cut it yourself. Seasoned wood is wood with a moisture content of 20% or lower. Twenty percent is still pretty wet. We found a great supplier who sells only green wood. It's cheaper, and he doesn't have to worry about people not being happy with the level of "seasoned" they think it should be. We buy it by the log truck load (5 cords). My husband cuts it all up, we all split it (we borrow or rent a splitter for a weekend) and the kids stack it. We bought this years wood in May, had it split and stacked by the end of June. Our long summer days here in Alaska will season the wood pretty quickly. So far, our wood has burned GREAT this winter! It has been a warm winter, and our stove is not quite big enough to heat our entire house, but I have no complaints.

Todays excitement? Walgreens opened!!! Can you believe it? A real, live, Walgreens! :-) In all honesty, I do LOVE it here. Very much so. However, I do like to visit the "big" city a couple of times a year. ;-)

It could be worse...you could live in Fairbanks. :p ETA: I live outside of Fairbanks, not in GA anymore. Felt like I should clear that up. HA!

It's almost fair time. The kids want to make educational displays this year. They are raising market goats and market turkeys. Any ideas what they could do for educational posters? Have you seen anything cool at your fair? Thanks!

We have several Holland Lops. They're really very easy pets to take care of! We use guinea pig sized cages for ours. We do have one larger cage that we use when we have a new litter. My daughter is currently trying to get a new show bunny for the fair. Last years ended up too large. Who knew there was a weight limit for Holland Lop show bunnies? :p Anyway, one thing to think about...rather than shavings for bedding, we use wood pellets. The same wood pellets you would use in a pellet stove. Just make sure they don't have any chemicals on them. We buy them from Sam's Club. $3ish a bag. They last quite a while. We just put a few inches in the litter box and change it out weekly. They are super absorbant, and heavy enough that they don't stick to the bun when you lift him/her out of the cage. We made a play pen out of wire cubes and zip ties. It can be used inside or out. We do let our buns run around in the living room, but we have a dog that thinks the buns would make a good lunch.

I wouldn't get any of them. We've had a hamster. Not a lot of fun. :p We have Holland Lops. We keep ours in a guinea pig cage. They don't really require a ton of room. We have a leash that the kids like to use to "walk" their bunnies when the weather is nice. We also have a "play pen" that we made out of those wire cubes that you can assemble with zip ties. We put that outside so the rabbits can eat grass, dandelions, etc. Anyway, I know you said you didn't want a Holland Lop because you don't have the room for the cage. But, a hedgehog would require the same size cage as a Holland I would imagine. At least the cage my brother had for his hedgehog was the same size as the cage we use for our Hollands. :-)

I knitted a Gap-tastic Cowl for my hidden honey at church. Too bad I didn't take a picture of it before I gave it to her. Hmph. I've also knitted a Ruffle Scarf for a friend, and have another on the needles for my sister-in-law. I've knitted a pair of Bella mittens for one dd. Need to make a pair for other dd, but not sure if I'll have time. I want to make Boot Candy for both of the girls as well. I'll be making cookie plates for dh's soldiers. Homemade hot fudge sauce sounds like a great idea. Maybe have to contemplate that one. Oh, I almost forgot...I'm canning some homemade chili, soup, etc. all made with moose meat for my brother. He's an avid hunter, so I'm hoping he will love it.

Currently, it's probably -32 or so outside. It will dip down to -40 tonight and tomorrow night. Not fun. We have our heat on 58 degrees. We do have a woodstove in the garage. I am able to open the door to my living room and some of the heat does come upstairs. Right now, it's 65 degrees in the living room and 61 in the bedrooms. I'm chilly...often. We're trying to move the woodstove downstairs so it will heat the whole house. I'll save that story for a different day. :p If money were no object, I would keep my heat on 72 degrees. Unfortunately, with fuel prices the way they are, that just can't happen. We put $1700 worth of heating fuel in our tank last week. I'm not even sure if that will last until February. Living in Alaska is expensive.

Most definitely get the Cricut. I've had mine for a longggg time. I pre-ordered it when it first came out. I'm still on my original machine. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! I'm thinking $125 would be a fair price. :-)

Most definitely get the Cricut. I've had mine for a longggg time. I pre-ordered it when it first came out. I'm still on my original machine. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! I'm thinking $125 would be a fair price. :-)

We raised turkeys this year. I think our biggest dressed out was 32.5lbs. I thought that was HUGE! The turkey we're cooking is 26.5 pounds. Still plenty big. I can't wait to try it. I have no idea what we're going to cook it in. I haven't thought about it yet. I'm pretty sure it won't fit in my biggest pan. :p We do a big get together with friends, since not a lot of people here in AK have family close. So, I'm really hoping one of my friends has a big enough roasting pan.

Anyone?? :-)

Very good information. Thanks so much!!! I will look at the other brand of horses as well. Does the Melissa and Doug stable fit the Traditional Horses? I guess I should look at the dimensions. I'll look on Ebay and Craigslist too. Sadly, our shopping options here in little ol' North Pole/Fairbanks AK are very slim. :p Thanks again!

Thanks for the size chart! That's helpful! :-)

My 8 year old dd has asked for Breyer Horses for Christmas. Apparently one of her friends has some and introduced her to them. I looked on Amazon, but I don't know where to start. Ideally, I would like to get a few horses, some accessories and then some sort of stable. I saw a Melissa and Doug stable made out of wood. Would that work? I appreciate your help! :-)

I think I'll make homemade pizza tonight. I am out of flour and yeast, but I'll grab some at the store during piano lessons. We are butchering pigs this week. Makes for a really long week, so I need a quick dinner.

Today is the last day!!! She has received a lot of "likes" in the last couple of days. I am thankful for everyone who has "liked" her photo! BUT, there is someone else who is equally determined to win. So, Katie needs more "likes!" PLEASE, like her photo for me? We are off on a family hike today. The contest ends at 5pm AK time. It would be a fantastic surprise for us to come home and Katie find out she won. If you've shared her photo on your page to get more "likes"...THANKS!!!!!!

Thanks so much! She's up to 165 likes. Needs to pass 213. Keep 'em coming! ;-)

Anyone else? The contest ends tomorrow. Thanks for your help. :-)

Thanks so much for posting the direct link! Thanks to everyone who has voted!!!

Eek! I'm sorry you're having trouble finding it!!! :-( Hmmmm...post a link...I could, but I'll have to go to another computer. I don't know how to copy and paste on my Mac. HA! Thanks to those that have liked it! She has a ways to go yet, but progress is good!!! :-)

My daughter has a chance to win an iPad through her orthodontist group. She posted a photo on their facebook page, Fairbanks Orthodontic Group. They are having a summer photo contest. She posted a picture of herself sea kayaking in Seward, AK. Our family has been through a lot the last 4 or 5 months. My husband returned from a year long deployment to Afghanistan in April. My 18 year old son moved out a month later, having no contact with us or even telling us where he was for a couple of months. He wouldn't talk to any of us, even his siblings and Grandparents. Through all of this, my dd was a rock. She was so helpful to me, even doing her best to encourage me when she herself was devastated. Son is back home now, which in turn has it's own set of troubles as we all try and heal. Anyway, it would be so cool for her to win an iPad. Her name is Katie Skellie. Just look for her photo and click "like." The contest ends on the 17th. Just a couple of minutes to click like is all I'm asking. Thank you SOOOOOO much! Off to hide in the corner and plan some schooling so we can start next week....I feel like an idiot for asking you guys to do this. *hides under the table now...*

Have you used this? I was planning to use the Red Wagon Tutorials, but VHSG is FREE!!!! We would be using the at your own pace class. I've browsed the site a few times. If you've used it, please share your thoughts with me! I'm also considering using it for General Science. Thanks!

I am struggling with my decision. I like how I can add pictures to creat a Yearbook with Olly. I know, I know...that's a silly little thing. HA! I have used the WPD paper planner for a few years now. LOVE it. Honestly, there are aspects of it I will still use. But, I feel like I need something more to help us keep track of where we should be. I also like the ability to print out weekly assignment lists for the kids, especially my high schooler. If you use OLLY, convince me why I should use it. If you use the new WPD software, convince me why I should use that. Thanks for your help!!