Gas Thieves!

I haven't seen prices like that for about 10 years!! This must be an OLD picture.

Gas prices at the cheapest station in town hit $4.09 for regular unleaded today.

We discovered our neighbor had all their gas syphoned out of their car sometime during the night.

I'm glad we can park in the garage.

Quick Update

We gave our toad a quick ride down to the river and released him in the hopes he will meet Miss Toad.

He didn't appreciate the temporary accommodations and cheeped the entire 10 minute ride.

Free at Last! Free at Last!

We've had a wonderful week adjusting to our summer schedule. The kiddos were to have off from any school work for at least 2 weeks but they wanted to get started on their Vacation Stations. They've done a few days worth and seem to really enjoy the change. We are going to work hard this summer at developing some good habits. I tend to slack off with chores during the summer and then try to get everyone back on a schedule in the fall. It always backfires! While reading Charlotte Mason's philosophy on habit formation it hit me that I try to make too many changes all at once. So this summer we are working on timely personal hygiene in the morning (no dilly dallying) and daily Bible reading for ALL of us. The children already do great with their "clean-up" chores already so I'm just not going to slack off this summer.

I'm really amazed at all we get accomplished when I'm not on the computer. It is rather embarrassing to realize how often I would complain about "lack of time" when in reality is was simply "mis-management of time." I just could not force myself to be disciplined in this area. A dear friend of mine suggested I start praying that God would take away my desire to "escape" to the computer and that my desire would be for GOD, rather than focusing MY energies on MY improving MY time management. I cannot thank her enough for the thunk on my noggin. It's that age-old advice. You drive towards what you are looking at. So am I going to look at me or at the computer or at my faults or my weaknesses or am I going to look to HIM?

Blessings on you all!

Summer

Passionate Housewives Desperate for God won the poll! I started it tonight! Awesome and convicting and I'm only on the 3rd chapter.

Tomorrow is our last day of school! We won't be back in the school saddle until August. I just wanted to let you all know that I won't be around here much this summer. I'll try to post my continually evolving plans for the fall and our vacations pictures but other than that I'm keeping a low-profile.

If you email me, please understand that it may take me a while to respond but I'll do my best to keep up with the inbox. I wish you all a blessed summer.

What do I want to take home from my summer vacation? Time. The wonderful luxury of being at rest. The days when you shut down the mental machinery that keeps life on track and let life simply wander. The days when you stop planning, analyzing, thinking and just are. Summer is my period of grace. - Ellen Goodman

CA Judges at it Again!

The California Supreme Court ruled today...

"In a 4-3 decision replete with concurring and dissenting opinions filed by individual members of the court, the majority opinion determined state laws specifying marriage as being between a man and a woman were unconstitutional."

Same-sex marriage is completely and totally unbiblical but not all that surprising in a society that does not honor God. The point that sends my blood boiling in all of this is...

"The people of California decided eight years ago that marriage in our state will be defined as between one man and one woman. Four arrogant, elitist, activist judges decided that they know better than the people how marriage should be defined," said Karen England, of Capitol Resource Institute.

Simply put, WE, the PEOPLE of the state of California, already decided this issue in a democratic fashion. And yet, four people can overrule us for no other reason then their belief that we are too prejudice and child-like to self-govern. Unbelievable!! You can read about it all over the news today but the above quotes were taken from Black Robes Trash Traditional Marriage by Bob Unruh of World Net Daily.

Western Toad

Look who we found hiding under a bush next to the house?

His name is Bufo boreas halophilus but we call him Western Toad for short.

He made the coolest little peeping sound when we picked him up. Note: Make sure to wash your hands after picking up toads as they can secrete a poison from their glands. We are debating taking him down to the river because we don't think he is going to find Miss Toad in our yard.

The neighbor across the street caught a ton of baby toads last year down by the river and brought them all to his house. Some of them jumped across the street to our yard. This guy is the only one we've seen this year which is why we are debating taking him back down to the river. We don't think we have the right conditions for a wedding (no standing water, no social network).

Timeline as Assessment

Sorry, this picture is lousy.

I know quite a few folks keep a timeline book or wall timeline through-out the year. I'm sooo bad about this. So this is what we did this year and it worked out beautifully. I used the timeline as a cumulative review/assessment. I printed, from the internet, pictures of various events and people in American History and saved them for the end of the year. This morning the children cut them all out and glued them in chronological order using their history notebooks as a help. They added names, dates, and important information to the pictures and voila, we have a timeline. They had a blast and it turned into an incredibly effective way to review what we learned this year (especially since they were reminding me of things I had forgotten to include). They cannot wait to walk Sage through it when he gets home. I imagine everyone who walks through our door this summer will have a tour of our American History timeline

Weblink Wed: Star Wars vs. Victorian

I'm a bit late getting this up. Sorry, gals. Today is George Lucas', (American film director and producer) birthday. He was born in 1944 and is now 64 years old. The vast majority of you will not care. I do not care. However, my son LOVES Star Wars (old series). So for all those Moms out there who do not know a X-wing fighter from a Y-wing fighter, this sight is for you.

Wookieepedia (this is not a kid's site so please use discretion)

And for those of you who think that Star Wars is the ultimate in torture and tend more towards the girly, here is a little something for you.

The Victorian Web (LOL)

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Yosemite Edition

This week's edition of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival has been posted on Harmony Art Mom's Blog. It is called the Yosemite Edition for good reason. There are some beautiful pictures of Barb's recent trip to Yosemite. You'll find some great posts so head on over.