Today... Happy 4th!

Posted by ~Melissa
8:04 PM, July 4, 2008 .. Posted in Daily Musings .. 0 comments .. Link

I took the girls to the parade. They decided at the last minute to help with the church's float, so I took them. It's about 30-35 miles from our house, so we got up early and got some chores done then left. The Parade theme this year was REMEMBER WHEN... and our church's float was small (just a pick-up truck with several walkers walking by it). They had signs that said "Wise Men still seek Him" and 3 wise men in the back of the truck with a wooden camel. They got lots of cheers, I guess, through out the parade, so they knew people appreciated the thought. My kids handed out flyers with the rest of the walkers... they has small children's booklets and magazines to hand out and a few adult flyers as well. I just watched from a friend's house which is the very corner the parade starts and while we saw all the floats, many weren't in sync until after the first block.

After the parade, I quickly ran into town with a friend's keys to her store and picked up as many empty boxes as I could fill in our mini van for the BIG FIRE CLEAN UP! I so appreciated the boxes, that means I can start right away (and we did this afternoon), just removing dirty items from the immediate house and have them out of the way for the cleaners. I packed up my cookbooks and then boxed up all the food they told me to throw and I also inventoried it all. My girls packed a few boxes of items they did not want to have messed with when they are away at camp.

We are to record our time cleaning and boxing items and we can work off our deductible. The insurance adjuster told us to keep track of times. He does not have the exact rate we will be paid at, but it will be between $8-10. I figured if we got the rate of $8, we need to work off 132.5 hours. So far, we've logged 16.25 hours. Not much, but it's hard to do much when they say you can't clean until the cleaners come. But some things like laundry and boxing up items we can do (now that we have approval). I have four pages of inventoried items from my spice cupboards. The adjuster said I'd likely have to take a price shop and get some prices on the items and then figure the cost... by how much was left in the packages. Full, half, 1/4, etc. I am really hoping that turning in sheet with prices will be adequate. Rebuying everything right now seems just over my head. First, there is no where to put it, and second, I just want the house clean before I think about restocking the cupboards. I will say however that fried potates with no seasonings aren't as grand as one might think... LOL. I really should buy a little salt and some garlic or a couple seasonings... but then again... maybe I just shouldn't fry anything!!! That's bad for my health anyways!

I am feeling a bit better today. I was thinking about how overwhelming this process is really turning out to be. And yet... I recall that recently I was stunned by the doctor's diagnosis of depression. As I was thinking of the garden... if you are gone 1 week, it takes nearly 3 weeks to catch up with weeding... things just don't stop growing! As I looked at the house and noted my past couple years worth of keeping house (little was done when I was dealing with my daughters illnesses, our hard sheep year, and my depression)... I realized I kept the family areas clean... as clean as say... there wasn't food stuck to the furniture, but dusting was done every couple of months rather than once a week... I had lots to catch up on... and if it worked out like the garden... even though I am getting my energy back, trying to keep up and catch up at the same time was still going to be a lengthy process. Now I am offered help. I was at first mortified that they are cleaning EVERY little piece of my home, but I am beginning to be grateful for this opportunity... I mean how often does one get a full cleaning and professional cleaning help when one does spring cleaning? I simply have to humble myself and just admit that I need help to get back on my feet... and Wow, God already provided that help! Even before I asked. How great is that? God is sooooo good to me sometimes that I know I hardly deserve any of this (I don't deserve any of it!), but oh how grateful I am to be His child!

Warmly, ~Melissa

A day spent in the past

Posted by Schatzi
05:13, Friday, July 4, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link

Took the kids this morning to an Old'n Day Village...the weather held out for us and the kids and I had lots of fun....we walked through all the buildings, had lunch at the Ice cream Parlor...... Spent time in school at a One room school house...watched a blacksmith make hooks...sat in an old theatre and watched a movie with Charlie Chaplin ( he was hilarious) And to end day the kids rode the Old Fashioned Carousel. I opted to stand on the side and watch as I knew, that throwing up was not an option for me their ride back home.

It was great to see how the Society for Heritage preservation had restored some of the old buildings and machinery.

When we arrived home, this is what I found on the kids computer....Esther the cat taking a day off also. Even when the kids went on the computer, she stayed there...nice and warm I guess

Anika picked flowers for me from my garden.....aren't they beautiful? Thanks my girl.

Thinking about our School Year

Posted by KimMC
07:40, 2008-Jul-3 .. Posted in The School Room .. 3 comments .. Link

Last week when we went shopping the library was having their annual book sale, it's by donation. I stopped to look and picked out a nice box of children's books! Some of them are for the Before Five in A Row and Five In A Row program we use. I was so excited about that! I also found some nice history story books.

We happened to be back in town a few days latter and they were still having the sale. So I just had to peek again. LOL I found another book to go with the B4FIAR and some nice children's farming books! I'm planning to do a farming unit this fall with the kids. The International Plowing Match will be in our area and we are planning an all day field trip there. Dh is really looking forward to that to. I also picked up some wonderful animal videos for the kids and some documentaries for us. Dh also picked out a encyclopedia set on natural history.

I'm hoping to get to a homeschool book store this weekend. My shopping list has been gone over and over..I'm still tweaking it. So far I'm thinking of getting this: