Week Sneak Peak

Each Sunday I try to mentally plan out what I have to do the following week and when. This was really important during the last few months of school since I was going in early at least a few times a week. Now that summer is here it's not such a big deal, or it wouldn't be if I could remember what day it is half the time (still haven't figured out how to fix that one). Anyway, each Sunday I'll add my planner here so I can't loose it before Monday morning.

Monday

• Pick up check from the office (and make sure it's all there this time)
• Put check in bank before bad things happen
• Professor B Looney at library (10-11)
• Visit the pool (if S has cleaned her room)
• Ask for key to Methodist Church (for Girl Scout meetings)
• Laundry
• Plan Girl Scout meeting
  

Tuesday

• Work on school pile (all the stuff from my classroom)
• Reading group at the library 2-3
  
• Wash sheets
• Girl Scout meeting

Wednesday

• Trash day (and they keep coming earlier!)
• Balance check book, pay bills
• Clean out refrigerator
• Laundry
  

Thursday

• Grocery shopping
• Menu planning
• badge work with S
  

Friday

• Laundry
• Work on school pile
  

Saturday

• Going to yard sales!
  

Fun Day Friday

For today's Fun Day Friday we are sharing our new snail farms. Haven't heard of one, well neither had we. I went to take the trash out a couple of days ago and there were snails all over the back porch. So, for fear of stepping on one I hollered at K and asked her to come gather them which was oodles of fun for, the first snail farm was hers, then S needed one too. So, if you have a plethora of snails on your back porch, here's what you can do with them.

Get a small Rubbermaid tote box (ours are shoe box sized) and use a Phillips head screw driver (or a drill if you have one around) to make holes in the lid so the little guys have some ventilation. Add some dirt (we used potting soil leftovers) add in some moss (it makes it prettier and gives the snails some diversity on their farms). Water the soil well, you can use a spray bottle or just pour it in a little at a time until it is absorbed, and grab some food for them. We are feeding ours oranges, apple and egg shells (to help make their little shells strong). I don't know why, but according to what I've read online, you should not give your snails carrots. Since I'm not big into experimenting with animals, I haven't tried this one so I don't know if you will get mutant snails or just sick ones. You should clean your snails' palace every few days, the more snails, the more often. We are observing ours for a while then releasing them back *under* the back porch, hopefully they will like it better there than on the porch itself.

A new outlook

I have a confession to make, the Proverbs 31 section has always, well, irriated me. Here's the problem I had, in verse 15 it talks of how the lady will rise early to prepare food for her family, and her servants. I was lost right there, if all of this was being accomplished by a woman who had servants at her beck and call, then there was no way I would be able to ever measure up. Then, this weekend I was blessed with reading Crystal's newsletter. In this month's edition she wrote a wonderful article about kitchen appliances being servants. Almost instantly (it does take a moment for me to register things) I was hit with the realization that servants do NOT have to be people! Oh my goodness, if only I had thought of this years ago (granted, I probably was not ready for this realization years ago). This little discovery stayed with me through today and as I was talking to my daughter this morning about buying a bread machine (no, I have not, but I really do want one) it hit me again. I have so many servants already, and do I appreciate them? Usually not. For example, my dear husband bought me a great new blender for Christmas and it has never even come out of the box. It's very cool looking and I really did need a new one, but I did not appreciate his gift enough to find uses for it. I have a huge wonderful crockpot that was a gift from a very dear friend (who I have not seen in years and I do miss her) that I could really be getting some use out of by having dinner ready for us when we get home and the kitchen already cleaned, but do I use my time wisely and do these things? Nope, instead I try to throw together something when I get home and wonder why my family has not been thoughtful enough to do this without my asking them to. I also have in my "staff" an awesome stand mixer that was another gift from my husband and I rarely use because it is heavy and I don't like lugging it around. If I would make a home for it on the counter where it belongs, I would not have to lug it anywhere. However, the servants are not only in the kitchen, I have a wonderful washer & dryer set that are HE front loaders, and I could have all of our laundry done in just a few loads a day. Instead, it piles in the bedrooms, bathroom and laundry area and I curse my wonderful machines that they don't sort and fold the laundry as well. So, what am I doing with my newfound outlook? Well, My washer and dryer are running very efficently today, because I keep giving them new tasks to do (every servant needs a plan to follow) and I am looking for crockpot recipes (on the internet, what better servant for a household than that?) that I can prepare in the morning before work (I don't leave the house until 11 most mornings so I have plenty of time) and have dinner bubbling away while I clean up the kitchen. This will also lead me to be more efficent with our resources (another Proverbs 31 lesson) and more self-suffiecent because we won't need to pay other to create a not-so-healthy dinner for us. While these are a good start, I also like the idea that my mindset has been updated. I have learned many things from Crystal, but have never had such an ah-ha moment as this one.

Where's Stanley?

Here is Stanley

And here is Stanley's home

See the problem, well, maybe you don't so I'll tell you - STANLEY IS MISSING. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am not fond of snakes. Jody went camping last night and came home with Stanley (by the way, he wasn't here long enough to get a photo of, the one above was swiped as a visual aide.)

So, now we may have a snake loose in the house, or he may have gotten out, who knows? In the mean time we (when I say we, I mean me) are a little nervous as to where he just may pop up. At first I thought he probably did just find a crack in the floor or something, but then I remembered how we thought Bobber was long gone several years back and Sydnee found him hiding under the buffet a couple of weeks later. I hope we don't find Stanley hiding out in a couple of weeks - be free Stanley - and please be outside.

Fall Fun

Ah, cool Autumn mornings are here again. The leaves are beginning to turn colors and the days are getting shorter. All of these are signs (at least to our clan) that it is Pumpkin Patch season. We have been visiting the same patch for nine years now (since Krista was in kindergarten) and have loved every blessed trip. However, this year we made a huge mistake - we went on the same Saturday when the photographer was there. You would think after so many years of visiting on Saturdays we would have come across this earlier, but nope, not until this year. Cars were lined up in a fashion only comparable to a hillbilly family reunion and the place was packed. The girls still enjoyed the visit and we did come home with several Autumnal treasures, but I have learned my lesson - we will call ahead and not go on a day when half the state is taking pictures of their "little darlings" with every gourd known to mankind.

We have added our bounty to the front yard display and hopefully today a scarecrow of some sorts will join in the fun. I've saved a pair of Sydnee's overalls for the special attire, now to find a long-sleeved scarecrow-like shirt. Each season or holiday it seems I select a new theme to decorate or craft with. For instance, this year I am scarecrow crazy, I have them in my classroom and on my front lawn. We've done scarecrow dress-up relays in the after school program and made our own scarecrows using felt pieces. Next year I will have a new focus (obsession) but for now the scarecrows have it. Once we get a resident in our display in the yard I will post some photos.