Does anyone know what happened to Scarecrow?  I just realized his blog disappeared.  Praying he's doing okay!

Blessings,
Carol

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My son, Luke, is now an official blogger here on Homesteadblogger.  He is so excited!  If you have a chance, please visit him at Luke's Place.  He would love to have you stop by!

Blessings,

Carol

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I'm sure this is one email everyone has received at least once, but it's certainly worth repeating and sharing with your children!

Blessings,
Carol

Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time..

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one. 
 

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Yes, we have a new addition to our family!!!  One for whom I have been waiting for years . . . . . .

I finally got my collie!  We named her Dixie.  This picture just doesn't do her justice - she is absolutely gorgeous!  And the next best thing is, my mom bought one of her littermates, whom she named Belle.  We are so excited to finally have a puppy again!

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Last night, dh and I went on a "date" for the first time in quite a while.  We took the kids to my mom's to spend the night and then went to an Italian restaurant for dinner.  Keith had a stromboli while I had cheese lasagna.  Yummy!

Then we went home and watched "On a Clear Day" netflix movie.  It was okay; I think we will have to see it again and use the subtitles the next time so maybe we could understand it a bit better.  The girls have been wanting to see it because Billy Boyd (Pippin in Lord of the Rings) is in it.  Because it is rated PG-13, I wanted us to preview it first.

Then we bowled a few games and played a few rounds of golf 2008 style - via the Wii, that is!    We finally broke down and got one after we got our income tax rebate.  It was my first time to play it and it is really fun!

We don't get to be alone together very much, and we really need to work on that.   We are blessed to live so close to my mom so that we can do that occasionally.  When the kids were younger, they spent at least one night a week there, but as they got older we just got out of the habit.  Hopefully we'll start doing this more!

Have a great day!

Carol

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For anyone out there interested in Affordable Mineral Makeup, here is an incentive for giving it a try!

Celebrate Earth Day, April 22nd with 15% off at Affordable Mineral Makeup.  Put the word earthday2008 in the coupon section to take off your 15%.  You must also put in the comments section one thing you'll make an effort to do to help the environment.

Have an awesome day!

Blessings,

Carol

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I am now officially HOME!  After much prayer, I felt it was time for me to quit my job at the daycare, and I have been home now for a couple of weeks.  It feels so good to be home with my kids!   I will be subbing from time to time, so I can bring in a bit of money here and there.  I really do need to get into a good routine because I end up wasting so much time and not even realizing it.  But I am HOME!!!

This will be a short post because it is now time to run to piano lessons, but I did want to mention that the herbal treatment for lice works great!!!!

Have a blessed day,

Carol

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I found this from www.welltellme.com:

40 drops Bergamot essential oil

20 drops Lavendar essential oil

20 drops Tea Tree essential oil

1/2 cup carrier oil (I used olive oil)

Mix together, drizzle over hair and work it in.  Wrap head in plastic and leave on a minimum of 1 hour or overnight.  Comb through with a lice comb, and then wash hair.   Do this twice a day for two or three days.

My sweet little niece has battled lice for over six months now.  My b-i-l has tried the regular over-the-counter treatment over and over, but they still come back.  We caught them from her a few months ago, and now Luke has caught them again.   My head has been itching, too, although I haven't found any on me.   Last time we found a wonderful herbal shampoo, Therapeutic Treatment Shampoo from Dessert Essence, that worked really well, but this time I thought I would try something else along with the shampoo.  I will not be able to do this twice a day, so we will just do it once a day for four days, which is what you are supposed to do with the shampoo.  It smells really great!  I'll let you know how it works.

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Reading Maa's Mom  entry tonight reminded me of a site that I had heard of quite a while back.  I always thought we would have moved by now so I never followed through with it, but it sounds like a great deal.  Here is the blurb from the main page:

 WELCOME

        Every year millions of unsold, high-quality, nursery

       plants are destroyed.

        Sheltered workshops all over the Nation can provide

       jobs.  The problem is to find enough work to keep

       the doors open.

       We find unsold plants, have those workshops

       package them and...

 The Plants are YOURS FREE!

          You pay only processing and shipping

Reserve your FREE Plants Now!

So apparently all you have to do is pay for shipping and processing, which I believe is a very modest fee of $7.95.  Like I said, I have never done this, so I cannot guarantee how healthy the plants and trees are, but $7.95 is not a big risk!  Here's the link:

http://www.freetreesandplants.com/index.html

Also, I just found out that if you join the Arbor Day Foundation for just $10, they will send you your choice of 10 free trees that are right for your zone.  Not a bad deal at all!  Here's that link:

http://www.arborday.org/

Hope this helps someone.  Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Carol

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Well, it seems that while I was offline a few months ago, I was tagged by none other than Randy, aka Scarecrow.  Here are the rules:

Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So, although it has been quite a while since I was tagged, here goes:

1.  I am only 5 feet tall.

2.  For as far back as I can remember, I have ALWAYS wanted to live in the country - just haven't  realized my dream yet.

3.  I always get chocolate covered cherries in my stocking at Christmas.

4.  I am allergic to bananas and avocados.

5.  I have always lived in Texas.

6.  I have three surviving children, and seven in heaven.

7.  I love learning about anything pertaining to homesteading.

Now, instead of tagging others, I'll just say. . .

"If you read this, consider yourself tagged!" 

If you decide to do this, please leave me a message and let me know!

Thanks for stopping by!

Carol

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It's hard to believe that a whole year has gone by since I first started blogging here at Homesteadblogger!   It's also hard to believe that my oldest daughter, Shera, turned 15 today.  Where has the time gone?   Today she wanted to spend some time with just her daddy and me, so we went to her choice of restaurant - Steak and Ale - for lunch, and then dropped Keith off at home while she and I went shopping.   We went first to Kohl's where she bought two tops and then to Target for a couple of t-shirts.  We will be having her birthday party next week with my family.  She is saving up for a laptop so all she wants is money.   Here's a picture of the two of us on her birthday. 

You can see how much she has matured by comparing our pic from last year.

Speaking of laptops, my daughter Hannah has saved for quite a while to get one - and she accomplished her goal this year.   In fact, she got it today.  It is a refurbished one that we were able to buy from my nephew's company.   They sell them at a discounted price, plus he got another discount, so she was able to get an IBM Thinkpad for only $270.  She saved so much that she was able to buy herself a digital camera and still have some left over!  Luke would like one, too, but we'll have to wait and see about that.

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You may have already heard this, but this is just so awesome, it's worth repeating.  A 13 year old boy from a ranch in Nebraska called a Christian radio station distraught from having to take down a calf.  Listen to what the Lord taught him:

Logan, the Sky Angel Cowboy

(Sorry, I don't know how to embed the video or I would have done it!)

Blessings,
Carol

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Please be praying for this precious little guy and his parents:

http://www.prayforcoy.blogspot.com/

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It has been quite a while since I posted last, and so much has happened that I really don't know where to start.  I'm at home today nursing a cold and not feeling very well at all.  Two weeks ago I had a stomach virus.  One of the perks of working in a day care, I guess!

We have temporarily moved in (for the most part) with my mom, so I don't get access to the computer very much.  We usually come back home for the weekends, but the kids usually beat me to the computer!  A month ago, my dh had surgery for an umbilical hernia, and needed a recliner to sleep in while he healed.  We don't have one, but Mom does, so we stayed with her.  A few days before the surgery, Mom fell at home in the bathroom in the middle of the night and gashed her head.  She had to have 3 staples.  What is scary is that she is on a blood thinner, so had she blacked out, she could've bled to death.  She's very tough, though, got up, got the bleeding stopped, and then called me to take her to the hospital.  While my kids had happened to be there spending the night, they slept through it all.  It concerns me now to leave her alone, though she doesn't know that.  She is 79 years old, doesn't usually fall, but got up to use the bathroom in the dark so it wouldn't disturb the kids.  The darkness and being half asleep was not a good combination.  Anyway, we have continued to stay with her during the week.  This helps me out as well because I don't have to worry about cooking supper when I get home at night.   I am also working on decluttering my own home, so it helps to be able to come over in the mornings and work a while with one of my daughters without having everything undone so quickly! 

I'm still working at our church's day care, and while I love my job, I am SO ready to be back at home full time.  I miss being with my kids - it's homeschool, eat, leave for work, come home, eat, and go to bed.  I haven't been able to spend very much time with them, and then I'm so stressed trying to get "school" done that I'm not always very nice in the time that we do have.    But dh's work has not picked up, and it looks like I'll be there for a while longer.  Please be praying that by the first of the year they will get more work so I can come home!

Another prayer request I have is for one of the mothers whose babies I have in my class.  She is a foster mom, and had just started the process of adopting one of the babies, Alex, when he contracted pneumonia and died.  He was 7 months old, but had been about 3 months premature.  His little organs couldn't take  the stress of pneumonia.  She is, of course, deeply grieving right now.  The other foster baby was taken away for a while during the investigation since he died unexpectedly at home, but is back with her now.  She desperately wants to adopt this precious little girl as well.

It is so good to be back here - even if it was while I was sick!  I have so missed reading everyone's blogs.  Hopefully it won't be so long before I can post again.

Blessings,
Carol

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I received this in my inbox and thought I'd pass it along . . .

THIS IS TRUE....PASS TO AS MANY AS POSSIBLE WITH CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN OR KNOW SOMEONE WITH CHILDREN....in other words, EVERYONE YOU KNOW
this is disturbing. thought I would share so you would be informed and then base a decision from there.

You may already know about this, but I just learned about a kidʼs
movie coming out in December starring Nicole Kidman. It's called The
Golden Compass, and while it will be a watered down version, it is based
on a series of children's books about killing God (It is the
anti-Narnia). Please follow this link, and then pass it on. From what
I understand, the hope is to get a lot of kids to see the movie - which
won't seem too bad - and then get the parents to buy the books for their
kids for Christmas. The quotes from the author sum it all up. I'm
going to tell everyone about this movie. I hope it totally bombs
because we were all paying attention!
If any of you have read this book or know more I would be very interested.
http://snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp
 

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As many of you already know, I am really big into natural type things - eating whole, organic foods; using herbs and essential oils; and so on.  One thing that has bothered me was the world of makeup.  Our skin is our biggest organ, and what we put on our bodies is just as important as what we put in it.  Most makeup has a lot of really bad stuff in it.  You can go to Skin Deep, type in your brand of cosmetics, and it will tell you what the ingredients are and what harm they can cause you.  Also, if you visit www.mercola.com and type in cosmetics, you will find a lot of articles on the dangers many wearers of cosmetics face.

My daughter and I have tried some new makeup and really love it.  It is called Affordable Mineral Makeup.  I actually had tried a different brand of mineral makeup before but just wasn't impressed (with the results AND the price!).  This, however, looks so natural and is really inexpensive compared to other brands.  Also, there are only four ingredients in this makeup:  zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, mica, and iron oxides; all natural ingredients from the earth.  There are no fillers such as cornstarch or bismuth, no chemicals, parabens, petroleum, oils, or dyes, and no preservatives.  My 14 year old daughter is just now getting interested in makeup, and I wanted to find something simple, pure and natural for her; something I felt good about letting her (and myself) put on.

Anyway, since we loved it so much, I have decided to become a consultant, and now have my own website.  The wonderful thing about this company is that you can purchase samples of the makeup to see if you like it and to figure out what shade looks best on you, before you buy a container of it and find that it doesn't suit you at all.  In fact, that's what I did the first time I tried it - just purchased different samples and tried them out.  I hope you check it out for yourself - if not my makeup, at least check your own out and make sure you are not adding unnecessary risks to your health!

Blessings,
Carol

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The kids and I have taken the week off from the computer, aside from some research.   We are still trying to settle into some kind of routine for school in the mornings to be finished before I leave for work in the afternoons.  We finally started doing some school in the evenings before bed and that seems to help.  I know it will take some time but we'll get there!  I really love my job ( I'm working in the infant room at our church's Child Development Center) but I really miss being here with my kids in the afternoons.  Hopefully we can get some bills taken care of soon and I can come back home.  Meanwhile, it has been a good experience for the kids.  They may not realize it, but they are learning responsibility, independence, and how to take care of conflict (among themselves!) while Mama's not here.  I honestly never wanted to go back to work while I had kids at home, but I guess there's a season for everything.

It was a great surprise to log in tonight and see that Maa is back!  Yay!  I so love their posts and have really missed them!

We still have not got a new car yet.  We're hoping maybe tomorrow we'll be able to go looking.  In the meantime, we have been checking out cars at cars.com.  That's a great place to look without having to leave your house until you find something.  But some good news - Keith's truck was found and our baby bed was still in it!  Almost all of his tools were taken, as was Hannah's Game Boy, but the baby bed was still in it, unharmed.  Praise the Lord!

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great weekend!

Blessings,
Carol

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Now we have two teenagers in the house - yikes!     Today my sweet Hannah Rose (animalluver) turned 13!  I can't believe how quickly the years have gone by.  Seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital.  Now she's taller than I am and almost weighs as much as I.  Her feet outgrew mine a long time ago!  We were able to spend a little time alone together this morning before I went to work.  She chose to go the bookstore where I bought her six books.  Our local bookstore, Book Stop, is going out of business so we were able to get 20% off of each of those books.  I need to go back and get some for Christmas before they close - some of their books and gifts are now 40% off.  I always get them a classic book for Christmas.  Shera wants Pride and Prejudice this year; not sure yet what I'll get Hannah and Luke.

Well, gotta go get these guys off to bed.  We're starting school (finally!) tomorrow and I need them to get off to an early start.  It's going to be quite different this year with me working part-time.  My goal is to be completely finished each day before I leave except for any independent work they may need to do.  We'll see how it goes!

Blessings,
Carol

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