Lapbooking!

For our Halloween study we did a Halloween lapbook. It was great! We are ableto see how it all came together. Lapbooks are a great way to organize all your iformation. I know this is a short post but I just wanted to post a little about it. I will have to take pictures and post them here.

Treadmill for Sale

https://post.craigslist.org/manage/1390532112/94pfi
I am selling our treadmill. there is just not enough room in this house for all of us so I hope to eliminate a few unneeded things. Its a very nice treadmill. So if you want it let me know.

My Ideal Homeschool Day

I wish I would have known how things just don't go perfectly smooth for ALL the work to get done. I have to say I had no idea how very hard homeschooling was going to be.

My children are. 6, 4, 3, 1 and one on the way. My oldest went to public school last year and is now being homeschooled for first grade. I knew public school was right for us right from the first week but wasn't able to start at that point. So I planed and I researched and I planned and ...
I had a vision in my head as to how well it was all going to go. LOL! I could see my younger children playing happily while the older ones were doing their work, me doing laundry while dictating writing practice, and so on. Then we would have field trips often and go to play dates. hmmmm Doesn't that sound good?
It has been hectic from the start! The curriculum I bought doesn't work for us. The children are fighting all the time. The van has broken down(AGAIN!), so no play dates or field trips(plus we have to have someone help us all get to church) because we don't have another vehicle that can get us all in it. Add in that I am a terribly inconsistent person. It has been kinda crazy.
I have only figured out today that I should schedule all the appointments in the afternoons if I want to do the majority of our lessons in the first half of the day. All this and we've only been trying to get this on a roll for the last month. We have been sporadically getting lessons done. I have to figure out how to keep the younger children occupied while I am working with my oldest. Then I have to figure out how to keep the house clean and meals cooked while doing all the rest and still have some sanity.
I know this is the way Heavenly Father has shown us we need to go. So I know I will keep trying and maybe one day it will just fall into place better. I love doing the lessons with my daughter and will begin teaching my 4 year old to read very soon. I just haven't started that yet because she learns so very differently than my oldest daughter. I also have got to become more consistent and form some sort of schedule. I think that will help us a lot.

Snakes AHHH!

James, me, and the kids were in the living room and Mom was setting up her room. Then we hear the dogs going nuts outside, which scary enough, isn't a rare thing. The back like crazy on the side of the house ALOT especially n the last week or 2. James and I ignore them because theres no one in our drive way and every other time we've looked we didn't see anything.
Mom comes out of her room and goes out there to check. The second she opened the door we could hear something weird but in that second didn't think nothing of it until mom starts screaming to Chyenne to get back in the house right then because there was a rattlesnake out there. James and I leap over the couch into the kitchen(our baby gate broke) in about a half a second. James goes to see it and I am searching for the phone to call 911 because I didn't know any of the police numbers or anything. We manage to get the dogs to come in the house and Mom and James stand guard so that if it tries to leave they know where it goes because we didnt want it to still be around here. I call and the first time the 911 operator hangs up on me after I tell him whats going on!!! I call again and they tell me animal control will only help if its in the house because outside right off my porch is its "natural habitat!" I am freaking out on that one.
We call out land lord on her cell because she wasn't home and tell her.She said she will call someone to come right away. Well while on the phone with her the snake uncurls and decides that its clear enough to get away. We start throwing thing(we are in a safe enough distance to be okay) to block it and its still going. Mom picks up a long stick and hooks the head to keep it in the flower bed. I tell James to go get the guy at the end of the road because they hunt and I know they have guns. He says ok let me get my keys and shoes and I'm like no run down there now. Instead I take off and run the whole way there (oh did I mention I an 3.5 months pregnant with baby number 5 and am already pretty big)and pound on their door and theres no one home!!! Then I run to the other house down there and they are gone too. I then run to the sheriff at the beginning of the road and no one answers the door there either!! Ahh I know its as pretty day and all but come on! lol So all this time(really only a few mins because I tell you I was running the whole time up hill or not) James and mom have been trying to keep the snake from getting away while the kids are under strict orders not to even dare think about leaving the living room. So as I am coming back from the sheriff's house, the person Connie called is driving up. We get the dogs back in the house and they shot it. One shot right in the head. They picked it up said it was about 4 feet long and counted the rattle and there were 11. It was huge as big around as the largest part of my forearm. When mom went out there to check on what the dogs were barking at she nearly walked out onto it. If she would have stepped one more step off the side walk she would be in the hospital! I am saying my prayers in thanks that she didn't get bit or a few hours ago it didnt come up when my kids were out playing and the missionaries and Brother Carlson were here helping mom move. I don't know if they kids will be playing outside in the yard anytime soon it shook them up pretty good (mostly the girls) to know there was a snake right where they like to play and dig.
We were thinking about getting rid of our puppy because she has been tearing things up in the nieghborhood. Well shes not going anywhere now! The nieghbors dog and our dog will now be looked at as heros. You may think I am crazy for saying it like that but the snake was right where my 4 small children play and we walk everyday. I am sooooo happy it is dead. I know there are most likely more snakes close around here but I feel good knowing at least one is gone especiallyh since it was 3 feet of my porch which is a concrete slab the is on the ground not in the air.

About 2 months ago there was a small snake dead in one of our glue traps we dont check that often so the anestetic had killed it by the time I was vaccuming behind there and see it. So now 2 snakes in 2 months! The one in the house was not poisonous but it was still in the room where we are the most part of the day. AHHHH I want critters of all kinds to stay out of and away from my house!

Any way I have pictures. I will come back soon and post them. for now I am going to bed and trying not to dream about snakes.

The Body of A Mother

This is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard/read about a mother. Well worth the minutes to read it! Very VERY BEAUTIFUL. Please read.

http://tms-giraffesmakemelaugh.blogspot.com/2009/04/if-i-said-you-had-beautiful-body.html

Wii Fitness

We bought a Wii with our income taxes. When I saw the price on Wii fitness(something that when I first heard about it I really wanted) I decided it was just to much. James went back and bought me one. I am soooooo glad he did! It is soooooo much fun!

My favorite part is the super hula hoop. Its a workout to hula hoop that long! I also like the yoga and the balance games. The strength training is okay. All the games and things on it are fun and it makes it even better that its exercise that I am having so much fun doing! My favorite of the yoga poses is the warrior pose. I have done yoga before and liked it but on the Wii balance board its better because it trains you to keep better form.

I have done the body test for a month now and with eating better and walking 3 times a week and doing wii fitness I have love 15 lbs!! So cool to hear it go from telling me I'm ob ease to saying I'm over weight. Now this might not sound good to you but I take great pride in that. I have successfully lost 15 pounds in a month. I haven't done that since I was boarder line anorexic (I had a 20 yr old boyfriend @ 13 yrs old and he broke up with me and I went into a deep depression that had very little to do with him) and I lost 70 lbs in 2 months.

To anyone who is going to buy a Wii I highly recommend Wii fitness! It is Awesome!

Nie Recovery

I had heard about this when the story was shown on the Today Show but had forgot to go back and read more about how they were doing. If you haven't heard about this family you should go to the blog and read about them and what has happened.
I am glad they are out of the hospital and wish them continued speedy recovery and they are in my prayers.
Such an amazing story!
http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/