Hannah's Photoshoot

Today, I enjoyed taking some pictures of my cousin Hannah and her little boy, L.

Taking pictures is such a fun, creative process! I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.

Brownie Pan

I got this pan over the weekend from Kohl's. I have been wanting one for a while now, but was not willing to pay $25 bucks. It is suppose to be perfect for brownies and blondies and making cookie bars.

The best part is I only paid $1.35 for it! 

How? A sweet friend gave me a $10 gift card she was not going to use. Hello, I will find something to use free $10 bucks on! Anyway, it was 50 percent off plus another 15 percent off for their friends and family weekend. How cool is that!

I couldn't wait to give it a try when I got home. I will say it works great - the brownies and cookie bars came out perfectly!

I Won!

Amy from Our Small World was giving away a $35 gift certificate to spend at a CSN Store and I won!

The past few days, I have been having fun looking through all the stores deciding what I will buy. I think I have finally made my decision and will show you soon!

Thank you to Amy for a great giveaway!

Free Subscription

Look what I got in the mail over the weekend.

My FREE Rachael Ray Every Day magazine!

Recently, Money Saving Mom featured this fabulous offer. It was a free year long subscription! You can't  beat that!

Spending the Night at Nana's

Silly Hat Day

It is Silly Hat Day at Awana. I thought I would show you the creations they came up with for the big contest.

M had a boa hat. We simply wrapped and pinned a boa to a winter hat. She won first place in the cubbies.

B had a a dirty sock hat. Scot stapled his old work socks to an old ball cap. He won 2nd in his class.

E made a pom-pom hat which we thought was pretty creative. When we got her from her class and asked if she won, she said, "NO, my little sister beat me!" (S and E are both in Truth and Training so they were in competition!)

S won first place with her crow hat....and not only that, she won GRAND PRIZE!

She was super excited because she won $5 for the Grand Prize!

They all had a great time with Silly Hat night. I am so thankful for the Awana program. It teaches them the Word of God and makes it FUN!

The Deer

During 4H today, Mrs T taught us a little bit about deer. She even brought a baby one that her family has rescued and is raising.  (She is certified with our state to do this.)

The kids and parents fell in love with it! Look how cute! I think she said this one is 8 weeks old.

Don't you just love hands-on learning!

Precious Moments

Last night, M fell asleep while watching the football game with Daddy.

They were holding hands while she was snuggled against him.....

priceless, I tell you, just priceless!

Thrift Store Books

The kids and I love going to thrift stores to look for books. We find the best books there and they only cost 58, 78, or 98 cents.

The thrill of the hunt is so exciting because you literally never know what you will find each time you visit. The kids get so excited when they find a book in the series they are collecting!

And boy do we have quite the collections! I would say that 98 percent of our books have come from the Rescue Mission.

On occasion, we have even found homeschool books there which has been a HUGE blessing. The readers we use are usually in the $10.50 range. Although I have gotten some at garage sales for 25 cents, the majority of our readers have come from the goodwill for less than a dollar.

This year, I needed a certain 3rd grade reading book for S. I have been on the lookout for it for the last few weeks to no avail. When school started in August, I just skipped that book refusing to pay brand new prices for a book that I was sure to find second hand at a fraction of the cost. If I never found it, I thought it really wasn't that big of a deal, I could just substitute something else later in the year.

Well, my patience finally paid off. Today I found the book I needed for 98 cents!

Another great find happened the week after school started. I found a NEW 3rd  grade A Beka Spelling Book I wanted for S.  Noticed I said wanted not needed. (The back story is that I had a semi-new book already, but some of the lessons had been used. Rather than buy a new one, I was just going to erase those 6 or 7 weekly spelling activities and save my ten bucks. I am so glad I did now!)

The day I found it , all books were half price. So I got it for a whopping.....wait for it.....

38 cents! Yes, that is right, a brand new, never used, current spelling book for 38 cents!

How awesome it that!!!! As thrilled as I was, what really struck me is the fact that God provides for us - even in the small things such as "extra" homeschool books!

 If you have kids who enjoy reading as much as mine do, check out the kids books at your local goodwill. I am sure you will find lots of hidden treasures for a fraction of the original costs!

Finger Puppets

M loves doing school with her brother and sisters. She is having so much fun learning the sounds of letters and coloring fun pages and doing art projects. K4 is so much fun not just for her, but for me to teach too!

Today she made finger puppets. We, with the help from the older kids, sang Old McDonald had a Farm while she used her new finger puppets.

Sweet family times like this is one of the many reasons why I love homeschooling!

B & N Free Book Program

Did you  know that B & N has a summer reading program?  It is super easy. All you do is read 8 books over the summer and B &N gives you a free book. This was our second year participating in it.

The kids love going in a picking out their book (from a specific list they give you) and then proudly taking their slip to the cashier who tells them they did a great job and to enjoy your free book!

Here is what they got this year:

E got a new to her series. Something that she may not have ever tried if it had not been for this program. You know that is the great thing about a free book...you are not out anything if you don't like it!

S got the first book in a series by Ron Roy. My kids enjoy reading Ron Roy books. He wrote the Capital Mysteries series and the A to Z Mysteries.  This is the first we have heard of the Calendar Mysteries. She was so excited about it that she started reading it while the other kids were still picking out their books.

B got this book. There were not as many great choices for his age level, but the title was enough to catch his attention. I think he was excited just to get a free book!

Chapel at Callaway

The kids loved climbing on the rocks in the creeks that were throughout the trails leading to the chapel. It was hard keeping them on the trails when there was so many cool creeks and rocks to climb!

Sitting on the bridge that crosses to the chapel

The small waterfall along the trails

We found a turtle and of course, B had to hold him. Nature walks are so much!

Discovery Center

Another great place we visited while at Callaway was the Discovery Center. Another quick shower came up while we were there, but we were able to feed the fish and explore the grounds before the rain came.

Catfish coming up to be fed

S and M feeding the fish

When it started sprinkling, we went under this huge atrium type building. It was gorgeous!

I loved how cool this tree looked from the ground!

Papaya Tree

Bananas

Banana tree

I loved these sculptures in the gardens. There were real plants planted in the middle of the large flowers.

I loved watching the rain bounce off the water in this fish pond.

The rain lasted just a few minutes and then we were off to hike the trails to the Chapel.