Our Halfway Homestead


• Sunday, June 3, 2007 - Wowio.com, Help Me, Pretty Please! :-)

Posted in Home Sweet Home
Ok ladies, 6 down - only 4 to go!  Please, please with sugar on top, LOL.. When I tell 10 people about Wowio and they sign up, Wowio will send me a FREE Ipod shuffle!  (actually they do this for everyone, not just me.. hehe) Yes, it actually does happen, there are a couple of ladies on one of my chat boards that have already gotten their Ipods.  And, rest assured that they do NOT spam, and it is completely free!  They simply want to know what your interest are, because that is what the publishers want to know - demographic info... that's all.

Now, about Wowio:

I thought for sure that the Free Ebooks would be like the ones I've seen around the net, but they are actually very nice books, nicely laid out. You can download up to 5 a day and read them on your computer or ipod. My little one loves to see the pages flash through on the computer as I read it to her!  I also downloaded some REALLY nice historic actiivity books with crafts included.  Have a look at some fo the titles below and please, if you find it in your heart, help me out by clicking on any of the Wowio links in this post or using my email addy - the gabriel network @ gmail. com (without the spaces of course.. :->). I would appreciate it more then you will ever know! :-D

So far I've downloaded :

 

                  
                  Great Pioneer Projects
              You Can Build Yourself

               
                 Great Ancient Egypt Projects
             You Can Build Yourself

              
                   Tools of Native Americans: A Kid's Guide
                      to the History and Culture of the First Americans 

              
                The Tale of Peter Rabbit
                by Beatrix Potter 
                   
              
                     The Secret Garden     

              
                  Great Colonial American Projects
                  You Can Build Yourself     

             
             The Story of Miss Moffet
             by Beatrix Potter 

             
                 The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse
                by Beatrix Potter  

             
                     Tools of TimeKeeping: A Kid's Guide
                     to the History and Science of Telling Time

             
                The Tale of Ginger and Pickles
           by Beatrix Potter
 
            
            Health Secrets of the Stone Age


            
             The Tale of the Pie and Patty Pan
         by Beatrix Potter


Thank you so much in advance to those who choose to help me out!  I owe you one!  ;-D

n
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• Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - Spanx!

Posted in Home Sweet Home
Well, as I watched the view this morning, I got to thinking ~ It is definitely time for me to get some Spanx! With the birth of my absolutely adorable baby boy, I have a bit of "smoothing" to do, I think..hehe.

Like I said, Beautiful baby boy is here, and he is just a delight!  Here is a picture of him just shortly after birth. I must admit, he looks so different now!  He is so cute, and his big sis just loves him to death!



He was born on April 27th, 9 LB .04 oz.  He is a BIG boy!  At his 3 week appt. he was a wopping 10 Lbs. But with the amount he nurses, that is to be expected!  He has definite personality already, and is very different from his big sister. 

So I am back to work!  Taking care of my family, managing my home and helping people obtain affordable health benefits and helping others start their own business. 

We've started our homeschool routine again, and are adding thematic units and lapbooking to the mix. Fun! We are currently working on doing our first on The Velveteen Rabbit, which is the last book we finished. I've found some good resources, and I'm beginning to post them on our HSLaunch website. Oh, by the way, Homeschool Launch is a great place to have a homeschooling site for free!  I've just begun our page, but you can take a peak by clicking here!  We are still using Abeka for numbers, phonics and cursive writing and Sonlight for bible, reading & literature.  We use our own set of science books that we got from a door to door scholastics guy!  And Ebaru for her violin lessons.  It's  alot of fun and she is VERY glad to be back at it!

My home, I must admit, is in the best condition it has ever been in!!!  why?  Thank you MOMMA!!!!  Yes, my mom was here the week after the birth (I know, I am a lucky buck!) and then she was here again for a few days week 3. Well, let me tell you ~ I have struggled with this house for years, trying to get everything done, everything organized and cleaned.  My mom came, and in one day, this house lookied like a bed and breakfast! within the week, it was organized - every closet, drawer, nook and cranny!  Unbelievable.  So, clearly, my mission - to MAINTAIN with all my might!  :-)  My hubby thinks I'm a mad woman, the way I appear out of nowhere to clean up a drop of water that has fallen!  I am serious and have been truly staying on top of everything as to avoid being beack where I was before she came!  All I can say is Thank You Mom! How can I ever repay you!

As for work, How does $1,000 a month for 2 months sound?!  or maybe $2500, $5000, $10,000, $30,000 a month for 12 months?!  Ameriplan is having an awesome promotion that I am trying my best to win!  At our convention in June, there will be a random drawing - 60 people will win $1,000 a month for 12 months. The other amounts are for the grand prize winner ($30,000 a month for 12 months) and the runners up get the lower amounts consecutively.  I would LOVE to be the grand prize winner, but any of the others would be great as well! LOL 
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• Monday, July 10, 2006 - Books, sewing & puppy patience.

Posted in Home Sweet Home

Well, I am officially wireless web-less for sometime, while we make the change to Hughes net.  So for now, I am having to use hubby’s laptop until we are all connected. (for shame, I say, it’s a pc L)  We figured out that even paying for HughesNet, we’d still be saving every month, by getting rid of Bellsouth phone service (since we don’t need it) and Bellsouth DSL.  So, we’re taking the plunge!  If push comes to shove and the need for phone service overwhelms us, we’ll look at Vonage or some other ‘more-friendly-than-Bellsouth’ alternative.

 

So being off line has been a bit difficult, but the withdrawal has been bearable.  I am glad to say that I have been able to catch up on my reading (due in part to my DH’s visiting older daughter bringing the whole “summer break” aura with her).  I started with a book called Consider Lily by Dayton and Vanderbilt – Excellent book!  

 

Consider Lily

I couldn’t believe it was Christian fiction when I picked it up, and I’m so glad I found it! So after reading such a marvelous find, I decided I would try my intellect at another Christian fiction and decided on A Girls Best Friend by Billerbeck.  

 

                                                                               A Girl's Best Friend (Spa Girls Collection)

UGH!  I have to say, that after re-reading the 3rd page of chapter 1 for the sixth time, it became apparent that this book wasn’t enough to keep my attention. Just not enough – not sure what not enough of, just not for me, I guess.

 

I called Borders and asked it they’d be so kind as to take it back and they said yes. Yeah!   I traded it in for Dayton and Vanderbilt’s first book – Emily Ever After, and once again, dear readers, I am in fiction heaven. (seems you can steal a peak at amazon :~) I wish this fabulous team wrote more, as I’m not sure what I’ll move on to once I’m done with this one.  

 

                                     Emily Ever After

 

Other than that, everything on this end is looking on the up and up!  I am getting my insurance license, as I continue my small PR practice. And once I begin earning what we need, I think some house cleaning help is in order.  So that’ll be a part of the budget. Playing FT - mommy, FT - teacher, FT - cook, FT - farmer, PT - PR consultant, PT - Insurance saleswoman, FT - wife AND FT - house –cleaner, is just not going to cut it! So, at the very least, cutting the house cleaner part to PT should be a help. LOL I would so much rather X the work and focus on the home, but unfortunately I’ve got to take on the extra work, there are just too many things happening at the end of the summer, and financially we must be ready. So, in faith, we believe that if we take the first step, and put forth our best efforts at due diligence, our LORD will take care of the rest.

                                                               

In other news :-),Home and Garden Party now has free shipping, we still have 3 weeks 'till puppy pick-up and my step-daughter, my daughter and I are learning to sew a quilt for under-privileged kids at a free sewing class at church! It's very exciting!

                                            

Until again comes..

n

 

whoispateintlycountingthedays'tillpinkytime... :-D

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• Thursday, June 29, 2006 - Is Working from Home Impossible!

Posted in Home Sweet Home

Honestly, I get so sick of clicking on these "WORK FROM HOME!" websites and getting drawn into this never ending auto-email process.  Or signing up for some "FREE" opportunity that requires an investment later.  It seemed impossible, and I was very close to pulling my hear out, feeling like a desperate, depressed, overwhelmed mom.  (As many of you know :-D)

I think I have finally found a Work at home thingy that will work for me.. See I don't need to leave home very often, I have homeschooling to do!  Parties don't work for me, my family and friends are sick of me selling them stuff, and I have no more money to invest for "Start up".   The following is an article that I thought speaks well for me and my situation.  So, if you're looking for a way to earn honest income from home with the same criteria, please read the following article by Kelly Land of MoneyMakingMommy.com:

"I get questions regarding Procard International every day.  And that's ok with me!  I've been researching work at home since 1992, so I've seen alot of what is out there. The good, the bad and the down right scammy!

I've tried direct sales. Many of them fabulous companies. They just weren't for me. I don't like "sales' per say. The type that requires alot of home parties and talking on the phone. I did it....tried it --loved the products (and some I still buy), it just didn't suit my lifestyle or my personality.

That's where Procard's Referral Rewards Program differs for me.
I do not make phone calls. EVER. Unless the person really, really HAS to talk on the phone -- I request email communication only. I do this for several reasons. But mainly I do it because I have kids right here with me. My 4 year old alone makes it hard to talk on the phone. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to be professional on the phone when you have a child begging for crayons, juice, legos --whatever in the background.

Procard International Offers Other Programs
As I stated, I do Procard's Referral Rewards Program. They offer higher earning programs (Marketing Associate) that do require some phone time if you wish to go that route. They provide long distnace and leads for you as a Marketing Associate. The opportunities are endless. It's what suits you and your family life. Referral Rewards was just "right" for the way my family functions, and the way my personality is.

For me, offering benefits that people can actually use and need helped me in my decision to work as an independent Rep for Procard.
I speak with many people every day that are looking for work at home. Many of them have NO medical benefits whatsoever. That's scary and I can sympathize.

Although Procard isn't insurance, it does offer valuable discounts.
A savings of up to 50% at over one million professional providers including Physicians, Dentists, Pharmacies, Vision Centers, Restaurants, Hotels, and thousands of local businesses. Because almost everyone I know needs and uses these services, it's not hard to introduce them to what Procard has to offer.

You can save up to 50% for yourself and your family, which is the way I did it. You can too! How? By enrolling yourself during the sign up.  You receive up to 50% on dental, vision, prescriptions and physician expenses! I've used my card in conjunction with my husband's prescription card too! You can check and see who accepts Procard's benefits in your area by easily, it's just a click away. Just click on "Procard International Providers."

Procard IS a Job
I do work each and every day on my Procard business. I receive emails daily from those wanting more info or those just needing support. You cannot simply sign up and then just sit there! I wouldn't even want to enroll you if you had no ambition to work! This is a job, like any other -- only you get to work at home and have that flexibility. Is that what you want?

If Procard sounds interesting -- I've provided more info online at the following link. Procard Information"

n
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• Wednesday, June 7, 2006 - A productive day

Posted in Home Sweet Home
Today was an incredibly productive day!  It was nice. For some reason, I woke up early!  Oh, I remember, I had to look up a domain for a client (forgot to do it yesterday!), so I skipped out of bed this morning to check and make certain it was still available.  Thankfully, it was! no problems!

So, I was able to get in a few hours work this morning, setting up client domains, hosting, transfers, brainstorming, etc. Then could not figure out what to make for breakfast, but it came together and a mighty nice breakfast happened. Then the little one and I got dressed head to toe to go out and clean the chicken coop. Pretty simple, we just used a long handle broom to sweep the straw unto the ground and laid out new straw.  The hard part was CATCHING the little buggers!  Oh they had us running!  But the little ones got to spend the day outside in the grazing pen with the big ones today. I think they liked it!

After coming inside and getting bathed (both me and the little one), we headed to the school room.  We had a good 3 hours worth of school today, a lot for a 3 year old, but she loves it.  The only reason we stopped was because daddy was ready to go get groceries.  So we bargained another half hour and put the finishing touches on our new flat travelers (going to New Zealand!).  Then we headed out to the bank.  After the bank, we hit walmart for groceries, and then the post office to mail off our  (2) flat traveler packages. (1 to the UK and 1 to New Zealand).  We actually mailed a phone to a lady from freecycle too.

We came back and put up groceries, and started dinner.  Made a beef stew to go with leftovers - Rice and peas, broccoli, spinach, spinach quiche (yes we had a lot of spinach to use up!  LOL) & veggie "beef" for my veggie little one..   All in all a good day!

Oh, speaking of school, we’ve got this really neat phonics board game that we use during school, and it is a big hit!  I got it at a shriners sale for 2 bucks!  You spin the wheel and advance to that color, and then you say the sound of whatever letter you land on to get another turn.  First one to the end wins!  It also came with about 3 other games (for later years), and 2 videos we haven't had a chance to watch yet.  What a deal!




Well, time to corral the chicks and get them to safety in their coop. It's past dark and I'm sure they are sleeping! (They are so much easier to handle when they are sleepy.. hehe).

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• Monday, June 5, 2006 - Guess who greeted me this morning!

Posted in Home Sweet Home
HELLO!



This is what greeted me in my kitchen sink this morning!  YIKES!  A wolf spider?  Luckily, hubby was just coming home from work, and could handle the problem, because I would have just run back into my room, under the covers,  until hubby would come and kill it!  HA!

n

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• Monday, May 15, 2006 - Speed cleaning..pppppppp HA!

Posted in Home Sweet Home
Well, speed cleaning did NOT work.. I plum pooped out! Ended up not doing a thing! ha!

But today was a great day, as I got it all done, just got fed up enough, I guess. Got quite a bit of work for my clients done today. Then got the entire house cleaned with the help of hubby, who cleaned the master bathroom :-) (I know, cute..).

Mothers day was great! We have mothers weekend here (a tradition hubby started). So it's lots of fun, with a new little surprise every day! Be sure to check out Apple Blossom flat traveler blog (check the link on the side there..) to see latest pics and goodies! Myah's learning alot about England.

I think Hubby wil be bringing home his little pup soon. An American Bulldog, very cute!



Looks a lot like his dog, Sherman, who died at 8 months old. Same breeder, different mommy and daddy.

Ballet is done for this year, and now it's summer break. hmmm, so what to do? Don't know yet, I guess we'll figure it out as we go along. Things to work towards this summer include (but are not limited to ..) raising funds for school curriculum, and saving money for our puppy (me and myahs.. a pug). hehe.. 


n
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• Sunday, May 7, 2006 - Time for an overhaul.....

Posted in Home Sweet Home
It is time for a serious house cleaning overhaul.  With the daily house cleaning; laundry; cooking; homeschooling; chicken tending and working from home, my home often gets lost.  Even with one child, there's so much to do.  I often wish we had our second already, to aleviate some of the "mommy all day playmate" responsibility.  It's very hard to get all of the above done when you are the only other person to occupy your 3 year olds time. 

This time I think I will do my catching up a little bit differently. Instead of the slow and steady, Flylady way.   This time I want it done in a few days, so I will have to take half a day on several days and do some speed cleaning (You know, the way hosue cleaners do it!).  

I found a very interesting article about Speed Cleaning, so I'm going ot give it a try!

n
    
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• Saturday, May 6, 2006 - What a beautiful Sabbath!

Posted in Home Sweet Home
We had a beautiful day today.  Church was wonderful, it's always a good message and the fellowship is uplifting.  DD loves the Sabbath school.  After church, we went to MIL's for lunch, as we do every Sabbath.  We're back home now and enjoying some relaxation time.  I'm blogging, daddy is playing a game on his 360, and dd is playing nick jr. on daddy's computer.  Boy this family and technology, LOL.

I am so thankful that the Lord has brought me to a place where I feel like I am content in my decision about a curriculum choice for homeschooling this next school year.   I have decided that we will use sonlight K core plus and Oak Meadow K.  We will also supplement with Handwriting Without Tears, Saxon Math and some scholastics phonics.  It's a full boat, but I think this way, it includes everything we'll need.

n

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• Monday, April 24, 2006 - Oh, where to begin..

Posted in Home Sweet Home
What a week.. I think everything is getting away from me this month! But it's ok, becasue the month is almost over,, LOL!

The house is running away, and we havn't done school in a week. (That can't happen after 4 years of age :-<). The chicks are ok, but we lost one today, we think to piling. If they all make it form here, we'd be doing great, only losing 1. The littlest of the bunch (white crested) is surprisingly doing very well, although we thought for wure he wouldn't make it.

The weekend was good, but we had our first funeral in 4 year at our church this weekend. The car full of teens, and the 18 year old driver who wasn't wearing his seat belt. He attended our church, and his funeral was this weekend. It was very difficult to get through. His mom was single and he was the "man" of the house. Her first son, was graduating next month. sad.

On a happier note, we attended Springtime At The Homestead, in Cartersville, GA. It was wonderful! Everyone dressed in era clothing. We saw shoemaking, learned to start a fire with flint and rock, learned about spinning yarn, dipping candles, shearing sheep, making soap with pot ash, wood carving, butter churning, era weapons, quilting. Myah had such a great time, and she came home with dipped candles and a corn husk doll she made!

Hopefully this week, I will have good reports and be on my way back to some semblence of organization. :-)

n

Life happens and I adjust...

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• Friday, April 14, 2006 - What a Refreshing day!

Posted in Home Sweet Home
It's always nice to get outdoors!  Something I rarely have enough time to do it. ( I must fix that) Today, I was outside planting our 3 yr olds’ children’s garden.  It was a lot of fun, and I hope it does really well.

We have butterfly attracting flowers: Cosmos, Butterfly Bush, Zinnia, Black Eyed Susan, Aster, Alyssum, Sun Flowers & Morning Glory.

We also did Herbs: Lavender, Rosemary, Parsley, Dill & Cilantro.

And of course, the veggie garden: Cabbage, Spinach, Carrots, Radish, Cherry Tomatoes, Roma Tomatoes, Pumpkin, Green Onions, and Nasturtium & Pansies (which are actually flowers, but edible. So we'll be adding them to our salads! mmmm).  Oh!, and a cute bean teepee, with several varieties of gourds and purple and yellow beans that will grow up through it.

We also made sure to add some warming/sun stones for the butterflies, and a few shallow bowls filled with rocks and water.

We still have more to do, as we are going to be making some cement stepping stones. That should be fun!

By the time we were done, we were pooped!  I mean really drained!  I suppose mostly from the sun, which was a fierce one today.

Now if I could only figure out what to do with the backyard...

n


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• Monday, April 10, 2006 - A quiet morning.

Posted in Home Sweet Home
So Peaceful here this morning. The chicks are sleeping.  Myah is outside playing in her sandbox. And dear hubby is still asleep.  The quiet is nice. 



Yesterday, we went ahead and made a larger brooder box for the chicks, especially since the other 25 will be here next week.  Today our cousin will be coming to start working on the coop!  I am very excited.  Now my mind is going to "what next?"  I'm thinking Angora rabbits. But I don't know.  I'll have to consult with my homestead.org group for answers.  It's great; my hubby mentioned yesterday, that the Internet has created a whole new form of apprenticeship!  It is so true; I have learned so much from others, spanning the globe, via the web.  It's wonderful, and lends itself very nicely to homesteading, I think!



{oh PS. 3 hours later.. :-) }  Uncle Oville is here!  Yaay, the building begins.  Oh!  I better figure out something for lunch!   I'll post pictures later!



Until later!


n

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• Monday, April 3, 2006 - Careful with the chicken.

Posted in Home Sweet Home
I gotta tell ya..  I was on my favorite forum at Homestead.org.  One of the ladies there posted about her family member that works at a Tyson Chicken plant.  Well, a truckload of dead chickens came in that died from a disease.  Because the disease is not transferable to humans, they used the chickens anyway - even though they were DEAD!
I find that disgusting, and this is one of the many, many reasons I am set on building my small homestead.



On a brighter note, we knew we had monarchs on our little Yoshino flowering cherry, but it appears there is another type of little flutter bug that loves our tree.  Here is one of our monarchs:



 
   

And here is our other type of little friend:



 

It appears, from web research, to be a Spiced Bush Swallowtail!



n
 

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About Me

Our little backyard homestead is beginning to take shape. And we are Very excited!






Work at home...and spend more time with your children!

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