The Artist/Dreamer

Okay I took this test and did this tag because this cool blogger had posted she had done it and I just can not step away from a test that might tell me who I am...like I don't already know=) Well I guess I am hoping it will tell me something about myself that I don't already know, and in a way this time it sort of did.

First 6 random things about me, well I have already done this, but I will do a simple version with 6 different things.

1. I am known around here as the square. I like things square...square cars, square plates, square tables, square glasses, etc. If it's square I usually like it


2. I'm a June Cleaver, Martha Stewart wanabe. Keep in mind I don't like Martha's Halloween worship though. I love that June is always put together and...clever (corny pun intended) With Martha she makes everything seem "a good thing" I swear I think that women could sell me poop!

3. I LOVE TO DEBATE! I hate that everyone does not...they think I am fighting, or arguing...It seriously irratates me how much people avoid debating.

4. My favorite bible verse is:

Matthew 22

37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38This is the first and great commandment.

39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

5. When I met my husband I thought he was a dork cuz he walked with his chin held real high. Who knew I was right, lol he's so cute though!

6. I am a dreamer more than a doer, I so hate that!

Your turn!


The test says I am an Artist/Creator!

Okay the first part says I march to the beat of a different drum, or better yet I hear that beat. Okay I will give you that. It says I tend to go with cool trends...with clothes yes with decor...NO WAY!!! I hate 'modern decor'! Yeah maybe a few pieces are cool and can go with my warm, and comfy decor but not that stiff clean lines crap! And I don't go with cool trends because they are cool, I usually don't realize it's cool, I just walk into a store and say holly molly that is cute! It's that simple. I can't help it if every new year the trendz hit my WOW spot. I am the kind of person though who will wear that trend years after it's over cuz I still like it. That and I never EVER spend more than a few bucks for name brand trends...usually at department stores, shirts $3-4, pants $7, shoes $5 for dressy $15 for name brand athletic. I buy them out of season on clearance and then wear them the next year. Most of the time department stores get rid of stuff before the season is over so I can wear it a few more times that season before I store it away.

The other part says I am private...um I don't agree, more like I like the closeness of everything. I don't let it all hang out but I don't hid much from those close to me.

I would have NEVER called myself artistic, and yet when I read it, it sounds like me...so I guess I am. I love building or working on my blog, I LOVE taking pictures, I love scrapbooking, I love decorating, so to say I am artistic, I should have known! I am just such a planner/organizer that it seems hard to say you are both...ya know?

About the ISFP

Expert Quotes & Links

"...first to hear the different drummer. Many eagerly plunge into new fashions, avant garde experiences, 'hip' trends--some even setting the trends. More in touch with the reality of their senses than their INFP counterparts, ISFPs live in the here and now. Their impulses yearn to be free, and are often loosed when others least expect it. The ISFP who continually represses these impulses feels 'dead inside'..." - ISFP Profile (TypeLogic) "...easily disturbed, fears drawing attention to self, prone to confusion, private..." - Jung Type Descriptions (ISFP) (similarminds.com) "...excel in the "fine arts," having not only a natural grace of movement, but also an innate sense what fits and what doesn't fit in artistic compositions..." - The Portrait of the Composer Artisan (Keirsey)

"ISFPs live in the world of sensation possibilities. They are keenly in tune with the way things look, taste, sound, feel and smell. They have a strong aesthetic appreciation for art, and are likely to be artists in some form, because they are unusually gifted at creating and composing things which will strongly affect the senses." - Portrait of an ISFP (The Personality Page) "At work, ISFPs contribute by attending to the practical facts relating to the needs of people and all living things in their environments. They can infuse a particular knod of joy into cooperative nature. Because they pay attention to the humanistic aspects of the organization, they act in ways that ensure others' well-being. People enjoy ISFPs because they bring understanding yet adaptability to the realities of their work." - ISFP - The Aesthete (Lifexplore)

Tot school and big boy school

Okay first tot school:

This is a great adventure to have with your tot and if you click on the elephant's above you can join us on that adventure. My blog on tot school is Wee-school Pre-school it is so much fun! Did I already say that?

Okay now homeschooling with my big boy. First step by step break down of his school and then how he did in Archery at the STATE competition! Super cool!

Okay here is the break down of our school:

Bible time: we will be starting that this week!

Reading: Everyday we have been reading this book called Boys of Grit! By far it is the coolest boy's book you will ever read. It's about real life boys that grow up in poor or bad circumstances that really prevail into a neat life. Some are people like them man who invented the submarine, the Morse code, became famous singers, bible scholars, entomologist, etc. They have 3 of them and right now and I own two. I was getting them from the library but I really thought my son needed them so we could read them over and over, and we do. If you have boys get these books! The publishers have many great books for boys and girls! We will be starting a new lamplighter book this week!

Spelling: Stuntman is flying through spelling. I don't know if I told everyone or not but he is reading at maybe a 3-5 grade level but spelling at a 1st grade level while in the 7th grade. So all of his words are 1st grade words. I do plan on adding higher grade level words but I am so happy with how well he is flying through 1st grade and enjoying it at this website that I have left well enough alone.

History: So far he has learned about Creation, Adam and Eve, Jubal and Tubal-Cain, and Noah and the Flood plus he did all of his activities. I love how this book teaches about bible history right alone side of the rest of world history. I took pictures then accidentally deleted them so I will have to get more of those next week. We finally started our time line but we left part of it at his grandparents so when I get that I will also get pictures. He is ahead in this subject, always makes a mama happy to be ahead!

Science: We are doing Apologia and this is the first curriculum I have gotten without really looking at it and mulling it over in my head for months. It is so cool!!! It first covered the history of science then my son got to do his first experiment, with water, oil, corn syrup, a cork, grape and a rock. Betcha can't figure out what he did, yep density. Then I think it's followed by a test...not sure yet. I love scripturally based school work! I really like that we got the CD, it's the teacher. Which I don't usually like anyone else to be the teacher but sometimes it's nice for me to have a break!

Math: Same old same old Stuntman is good at math and it seems easy for him. I am going to have my husband check his work but so far it should be right because it's a repeat from last year. I think with future kids I am going to use Math-U-See, I just don't care for Saxon!

KONOS: This class is really fun for us! We get to build stuff, or look stuff up, or write stuff, or listen to stuff. The first week we worked on sound, he built an ear, learned the parts of the ear, and did experiments with sounds. He continuted this last week as well. The scriptures given talk about listening, the experiments pertain to listening, etc. Today we got a timer -ya know the one that goes tick tick and hid it so that we had to really listen to find it. It's just super easy. I don't follow any big schedule on this I just give him the lessons I have the supplies to and he does them...nice and simple! This book is a keeper! Great for scripture learning!

Private bible time and writing to the Lord: we will start that this week as well.

Okay this year in 4-H Stuntman will be doing so much, he has archery, wildlife, beef, photography, gardening, geospatial, entomology, rabbits, just to name a few. We really enjoy archery. I plan on taking a class to get certified for an extreme survival class and taking the kids into the middle of nowhere and trying to find our way back! So cool!

Okay the best part how well Stuntman did at State! We had to drive to Columbia Mo about 3 hours away. Wow long trip! We had to be there a 9:30 well actually an hour early. So here are the pictures

Us waiting for our time...so glad they made us come early!Finally Stuntman's turn!~

Can you see that, I got a pic of the arrow in the air...you don't know how long I have been trying to do that! Very cool pic huh? Oh and if you can't see the arrow it's the orange thing in the tree line.Okay so how he did. First let me explain the scoring. Stuntman gets to shoot 5 arrows each round. And each round he can get up to 25 points. The x in the middle is a tie breaker. He gets 12 rounds plus 2 practices, for a total of 300 points. His score was........drum roll please 224!!!!!!!!!!! He was hoping to get over 200 so he was very please with 224! At a regional competition (his first competition) his score was 187 and we all thought that was pretty darn cool for his first year at archery. Then at State in his first year of archery he gets a 224! We Could not be prouder of him! Sad part is he is a natural. So if he really tried he could easily get a 300!!!! Boy you should see some of those kids out there. The arrows are all dead center; even some girls were pretty cool. It was fun for us to all watch them! Here is Stuntman with his best round...it happened to be his last round. He got a 24! I don't know if you can see it but all are in the center but one and it was just a little to the right. He plans on going Deer hunting this week and I don't think he should have too much trouble getting a deer with a bow instead of a gun!

I pray this was enjoyable to read even though it was long. Don't forget to go over and see all that Little Thunder did this week.

Latte

How I keep from losing my job!

Well we all know that a house wife is a full time job and add homeschool to the mix and your just bogged down with stuff to do. I know most 'out of the house' working people probably don't see it that way but we homeschool mom's know we never stop working. Between the chores THAT NEVER END BECAUSE THE KIDS ARE HOME ALL DAY the errands we must run because WE ARE AT HOME ALL DAY SO WE MUST HAVE PLENTY OF TIME the homeschooling we do which I know my list says it takes 4 hours but really...it takes more than that, their is the missing assignment, the baby interrupting, my grading, filing, making the next day’s schedule I bet it's more like 6 hours a day when all is said and done! Then there is also the normal day to day stuff like dinner, laundry, dishes, etc. It's a full time job!

So in this full time job you can get so lost without a schedule right? I have been doing one that I like and I posted it earlier but how do I stay on task, how do I not lose the schedule, etc. I am going to explain what so far has worked for me.

First I think of the schedule as a must. Yet I don't want a minute by minute guide to my day so I can do stuff like this (posting) with my morning instead of working out. I also make my schedule give us plenty-beyond plenty of room. (I scheduled 2 hours for chores when they actually take 1 hour) so we never get off schedule because the boys were playing, they broke something, or because someone called, etc. Most of the school time is actual school time so I have learned that if an interruption happens then we can eat into other time, like the way over scheduled lunch hour or the 2 hours of free time after school. I made sure to cover my ground. I also gave myself time in the morning for errands (8-10) and in the afternoon (3-5) if need be. If I know that I have something to do out of the house, I try to do those chores either really fast, the night before, or skip what I don't have to do.

Also about how I keep the schedule, if you read my old post you know my schedule system. Well I changed it up just a bit. First I no longer keep my white board next to the computer, instead I keep it on the frig. and instead of one big white board I purchased two smaller magnetic ones. One has an erasable calendar which I write all that is going on for the month and each person has their own color on the white board. So if Stuntman has something going on all his projects for the month are written in green, and so on. This is really neat to have. The other white board has my daily list of "to do" for the day. This white board includes all non-scheduled items like errands or extra cleaning that needs to be done. I also have the grocery list and the dinner for that day on there. I just erase the dinner from last night and right the new dinner. This also helps me to not forget to pull something out for dinner because when I grab breakfast out of the frig, the word dinner is staring me in the face. The grocery list on the frig is so cool because the markers are right there and as I run out of something I am not looking for a pen.

Okay now to keep track of my schedule. Well I use to have it taped to the white board but there is no room on my frig for that so I tacked the schedule on the wall next to the frig and pantry. This way I still see if first thing in the morning and throughout the day, it reminds me to stay on task. I think we all had it memorized after day 3 so it's not too hard to do. I like easy stuff!

Well I hope that helps other moms out there. I got my white boards for I think about 5-6 dollars each at Wal-Mart and they came with magnets and 1 black marker. I think I got my colored markers from Wal-Mart with magnets on them and stuck them on the frig as well.

you can see at the bottom of the calendar I do have a small version of our schedule. It does not have the detail list of our chores or school but it has the time of when we are suppose to be doing curtain things.

I pray this helps you as much as it has helped me. Now if someone can tell me how to keep my desk uncluttered that would be great!

Latte

Okay this school year is so far so good, but super crazy busy! The main reason it's so busy right now is my dear sweet husband decided to take me on a small vacation to "Aa de La Hospital" for 3 days and 3 nights. We did not get the private suite though, but we did have cable! Can you say FOOD NETWORK? And get this my husband did not eat almost the whole time we were there. I don’t know how someone can watch cooking shows all day and not eat! It seems he needed some stones removed from his gal-bladder (and the bladder itself) and the extra stay was because his pancreas was going kuku from it. So when I got home I was husband, wife, mom, and teacher!!!!!! Bet you did not know I could be all that did ya?

Well school last week went smooth aside from my having to hold the fort down. We did most everything on time and completed all the work. The only thing I need to do is look at his math to make sure he is ‘getting’ the work he is doing. I got into a stump last year where I hated grading math because there were SO MANY PROBLEMS! So I told Stuntman this year that if he got them most of his problems right he could cut back on how many he did...do you really need to do about 40 or more problems every day? and most being repetitive? Okay I now what your thinking so I will help you feel better, my house is super trashed! And not the normal everyday trashed, more like almost gross trashed! So I might have got school covered, but the rest is just a joke!


I forgot to add on my last blog about our school year that we homeschool year round...kinda have to because I will can not be tide down to this house 7 hours a day for 180 days (NOT INCLUDING WEEKENDS AND HOLIDAYS) I really don't have the stomach for that venture. I like saying on a Tuesday..."guess what today is a holiday" for no reason what so ever! Homeschooling year round also gives us EVERY Friday off for a 3 day weekend, long holidays so when my husband gets 11 days off for Christmas (that's right ladies, don't be jealous that I get my man for 11 or more days in December-though I SO my husband would like it in June so he could get more of his 'Hunny Do' list done) So year round schooling works out great this way. And because we homeschool year round we are able to do school 4 days 4 hours each day, isn't that super easy for all involved? And because our state law requires 1000 hours this alone gives us around 800. The rest he gets from 4-H, Field Trips, Life Lessons, Community Service, Bible Study, Educational shows and very little weekend homework.


I have a lot more I would like to post but there just is not enough time in the day, so for now....I will leave you with a teaser! I plan to post in the up coming weeks on 'Life with Cancer part 3'-if you have not read part 1 and part 2 now would be a good time. I also plan to post about why we vote republican-and our take on the parties running and their issues, about my homeschool favorites-I have many great ones I can't wait to share!, and many many more, I just can't remember them right now.

Latte

Our School Schedule and Bookieness

Okay here is our daily Schedule to start September 1st M-Th:

11 year old Stuntman:
6-8am Chores/Eat
8-9:45am Yard Work or Guitar Lessons
9:45-10am Snack
10-10:30am Reading or Language Arts
10:30-11am Spelling AVKO and Spell City.com(test every Monday)
11-12pm History- The Mystery of History
12-12:30pm Lunch
12:30-3pm KONOS and Math
3-5pm Free Time
5-6pm Dinner
6-7pm Family Time or 4-H
7-8pm Chores/Bedtime prep
8-9pm Free Time
9pm Bed Time

3 year old Little Thunder:
6-8am Chores/Eat/Cuddle time
8-9:45am Yard time/mom time
9:45-10am Snack
10-12am School more School or Play time
12-12:30pm Lunch
12:30-3ish Nap Time
3-5pm Play Time/Help Mommy Cook
5-6pm Dinner
6-7pm Family Time
7-8pm Chores/Bath/Bed prep
8-8:30pm Bed time

Age something something Latte Mom:
6-8am Chores/Prep Dinner/Cook
8-9am Yard Work
9-10am Little Thunder Time/Snack Prep
10-10:30am Reading time with boys
10:30-11am Spelling
11-12pm History
12-12:30pm Lunch /Lay Little Thunder down
12:30-3pm Teach Stuntman from KONOS
3-5pm Cook Dinner
5-6pm Dinner or Work
6-7pm Family Time or Work
7-8pm Chores/Ty bath time/Get boys ready for bed
8-8:30pm Little Thunder time/Story Time
8:30-9pm Stuntman Time
8:30-9pm Me Time/Hubby Time/Bed prep
9:30pm Bed Time

Age something something Thunder:
5:15-5:40am Chores
5:40-6:30am Drive To Work
6:30-4pm Work
4-5pm Drive Home/Get Groceries When Needed
5-6pm Dinner
6-7pm Family Time
7-8pm Rest
8-9:30pm Rest/Get Ready For Bed
9:30pm Bed Time


Click on any of the links above and below to see what products I am talking about.

Okay to give you the run down first I know our schedules look too full but trust me I gave plenty of room for most everything. It does not take 2 hours to do chores but it helps to have 2 hours cuz we are trying to wake up!~) Chores are usually stuff like, get dressed, make bed, clean room, walk/feed dogs, laundry and eat. For me morning chores include a small workout and shower...and hair and makeup. Little Thunder's morning chores only include getting his cloths out and eating and sometimes helping me.

On day's it's raining or too cold Stuntman will do his guitar lessons, I figure about 2-3 times a week.

KONOS is a unit studies,classical style, and an all in one program that covers Bible, Science, Social Studies, Art, Music, Literature, and health and safety. KONOS also like the mystery of history covers all ages so while I am teaching Stuntman I can also teach Little Thunder. Very cool! What is also very cool is it's only one book and all other resources I need to get I can buy on Amazon, get from the library, or at supply stores as needed. It is 'mom hands on' a few hours a week, but I think I need to be in my kids work more. Besides most of his other work is pretty easy so doing this a few hours a day of KONOS is not so bad. I am really excited because this is Stuntman's kind of school...Like we will do stuff like make an otoscope or a royal costume, learn sign language, make a bird feeder, go to the zoo, etc. Also this book covers character traits like Attentiveness, Obedience, Orderliness, Trust, Patience, Stewardship, and Honor. This book seems like loads of fun for a boy huh! They have cool stuff for a girl too.

Friday's I work all day or shop so the boys get to either go shopping with me, with trips to the park and library or go to Grandma's house. They don't usually have to do school on this day.

Well that is all I can think of, I pray that you enjoyed reading this.

Latte

savings/diet/and such

Lets start with the such...I love this ladies blog! Every time I read it I get a lovely laugh...I want to be as comical as she is, it's great therapy!!! I also wanted to let everyone know we will be starting school in September and I am getting excited again. We are so behind this year with my husband being sick but it does not bother me too much we have years to catch up.

Next savings...I went shopping again. Normally I do this on Friday's but this week we had to be out on Monday so I got some of it out of the way, it will give me more time on Friday to read blogs...tee he.

Okay first I love CVS, you buy certain items they give you coupons for anything on your next visit, you buy use your coupons + ad your Sunday coupons, and get their items on sale and the savings are huge!!!! Okay I will show ya!

Last week I went to CVS and paid 26.76 for these items but the store gave me 27.77 in coupons for my next visit. So this week I got:

Excedrin PM had a Sunday paper clipping (spc) coupon and paid 1.79
Crest Whitening toothpaste had spc and got it for .24 cents after 1.50 coupon for next visit
2 Crest Pro Health toothpaste had a spc and got it for .49 after 1.50 coupon for next visit
Oral B Advantage toothbrush had a spc and got it for FREE after 1.50 coupon for next visit
2 Bic whiteout had spc got it for .50ea
Dawn dish soap-lavendar and Jasmine YUM had spc got it for .38 cents
2 Sure Deodorant had spc got them for FREE
2 Covergirl makeup had spc got them for FREE
2 post cereals had spc got them for 1.65ea
Shick Razor kit 3.99 (this was a rain check item from last week)

My total would have been for all of the items (all were on sale) 36.17 But with my spc coupons the total came out to 20.03 then I used my store coupons from last week's purchases (all but a 9.99 one) and had 2.25 to pay in cash. But I got a 4.50 store coupon back and a 2 dollar store coupon back. So on my next visit I will still have 16.49 in store coupons.

This Grocery Game is fun!

At Walgreens my purchase were:
2 Dawn Dish soap (yummy lavendar again!) spc+store coupon (sc) paid .49ea
1Walgreen's ammonia 64 oz on sale (just needed some) 1 dollar
Paper mate 10 pens sc paid .09
Penway erasers 15pk sc paid .09
paper clips 100pk sc paid .19
wooden ruler sc paid .19
index cards 100pk sc paid .19
scrubbing bubbles cleaner 16oz sc+spc paid1.25
Glade candle 4 oz sc+spc FREE
XLVacuum Travel Bag (the ones that suck the air out of the bag of clothes) FREE after rebate
L Vacuum Travel Bag FREE after rebate

My total would have been: 32.39 But after coupons and rebates I will pay: $3.98!!!!!! Can you believe that!!!!!Hold on I want to do the math again to see if I got that right, yep I got it right!!!!! So everything I listed above for Walgreens came to $3.98!!! I am super stoked about that!

Hope you enjoy this game as much as I do!!! So to recap I got this:

and this:

for a total of $6.23!!!!!!!!!!!! Plus I have over $16 dollars left to spend at CVS!!!! Try doing that at the dollar store!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh oops that video my son got on sale for .99 cents.

Okay weight loss, I did not lose any weight, I did not diet very well and I did not exercise at all! So no update this week...sad. I will try harder this week on working out because I am trying to dieting and even though I am not that good it's better than I was and yet the weight is still not coming of so...

Latte

Deals Deals Deals

Okay well I did some shopping yesterday using www.thegrocerygame.com and I had a blast!!! I really think I will like it more once I get use to doing it. I went to CVS, Walgreen’s, and Dillions.

Now before I tell you of my deals I want you to read all the way through because you may think oh well I don't buy that stuff, but with the grocery game I picked what I wanted/the best deals and you can too.

So at CVS the rules are a little different. You buy some items that are "free" but in a way they are not. First you buy the items that they say are free then you get coupons (good for anything at CVS) on your next visit. And if you play the grocery game and get good deals on the next visit you will really make your dollars stretch!

Okay my savings:

Kodak picture movie DVD (with music, moving pictures, + loads extra) cost 9.99 get 9.99 coupon
30pk Elmo Band-Aids cost .99 get 2.00 coupon
Revlon Lipstick 9.99 get 9.99 coupon
Children’s Advil 5.79 get 5.79 coupon

Now like I said these items sound high but next time I go I will have these coupons, grocery coupons and buy stuff I really need at huge savings. I will say that if I knew how cool that Kodak picture movie DVD was I would have paid full price. It was the bomb!!!

So to recap I purchased 4 large ticket items for 26.76 and on my next visit I will be able to spend 27.77 for free.

Walgreen’s was fun.

I got Sharpie pen buy 1 - 1.99 get 2 free
Gel Pen buy 1- 2.79 get 2 free
White Board .99 -came with magnets and pen
Paper Mate Markers .93 cents each
Hunts tomato sauce .67 cents for 3
16- 3 metal prong folders .26 cents
4pack 60 watt bulbs 1.99 FREE after rebate
BIO Organic shampoo 5.99 FREE after rebate
Pert Plus shampoo 3.79 FREE after rebate
Jane makeup powder $4.99 Free after rebate

All of this (without sales) would have cost me 70.29...I think with the sales it would have cost me 30.39. And after the rebates it will cost me 13.63! Cool huh!

Okay at Dillions :

Cantaloupe reg 3.49 I paid 1.74 each for 2
Sargento string cheese reg 5.35 I paid 2.50
Daisy Sour Cream reg 2.89 I paid $1.00
Kroger Apple Juice 64 oz reg 2.49 I paid $1.00
Welch's Juice 64 oz reg 4.25 I paid 1.50
Windex Glass cleaner reg 3.45 I got 2 for $1.00 each
Lysol all purpose cleaner 32oz reg 2.75 I paid .50cents
Lysol all purpose cleaner 40oz reg 3.15 I paid .50cents
Palmolive Dish Soap 20oz reg 2.29 I paid .87cents
Skinmate shave Gel 7oz reg 2.41 I paid .50 cents

Boy oh Boy is that not cool! Without the sales it would have cost me: 40ish with the sales it would have been 23.36 and with my coupons it was 12.85!!!! Plus get this, I am trying to be more 'green' and I brought my own bags and they give you a nickel for every bag of your own that you bring in! I brought in 2! That made me happy!

I will admit this took me a long time to do, but I bet with time I could get really good at this. I also made mistakes and did not get the right cheese the first time and not only had to take it back I also had to get them to understand they did not give me my extra discounts (buy 10 of certain items get $5 back) so I had to go back and get that! Luckily all the stores were together and I noticed the problems quickly! I also noticed Walgreen’s charged me buy 2 get one free when the ad says buy 1 get 2 free so next time I am over there I will have to get my money back on that. I should have caught that one sooner but the lady at the register was so nice and I got to talking and such and...well she got the best of me. I had a blast making my DVD and if I can I am going to put it on this blog.

Also I did all this running around with children and in the heat and it was still so much fun. We went to the park around 7am for an hour then shop, shop, shop then the library for an hour so that the kids could really enjoy the day too. Next time I pray the kids get more time because I will get better at this.

Love Latte