Dandelions

Dandelion information and recipes!

 

http://agypsyherbal.blogspot.com/2014/05/herbs-in-my-backyard-dandelions.html

Using Amazon Prime for Movies and Shows

I'm tired of paying $100+ a month on cable. We know we can't live without T.V. so we have been researching different ways to watch our shows and news. We discovered that our Amazon Prime account has a ton of movies and shows for free! You are able to watch these shows and movies on your computer. But for a techy husband, that wouldn't do. So, we discovered Roku-at Walmart. Roku is a box that sits next to your T.V. It's kind of like an phone that has different apps-one being Amazon Prime and Netflix. Roku also has an app for prime time stations, like abc and Fox-so you won't miss out on Scandal! We are planning on canceling our contract in December, as we are completing our 2 year subscription.

To see the movies and shows you can access for free, you should try Amazon Prime for 30 days for FREE! Make sure you use this link:

Try Amazon Prime

If you are already an Amazon Prime member, tell me what you love about it by commenting below.

Summer Reading Programs

We love to read! Here are some book stores offering Summer Reading Programs:

Barnes and Noble
Read 8 books and complete the log to get a free book!
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/summer-reading/379003570

Books A Million
Read 3-4 books, get a free tote!
Must go into the store and fill out a form.
http://www.booksamillion.com/summerquest?mobile=no&DDTN=Books&DDLN=Summer&id=6343021497812

Family Christian Bookstore
Read 10 Christian books and get a $10 coupon!
http://www.familychristian.com/summerreading

And the most important Summer Reading Program of all is your local library's!

Happy Reading!

Have you found a Summer Reading Program in your neighborhood? Please share!

Proverbs 31

I just love Proverbs 31! They speak to me as a wife and mother.

10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
Can I honestly say that I am worth more than rubies in my husband's eyes? He definitely makes me feel like it!

16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
Well, I try to have a green thumb. I've been successful with strawberries. Does that count?

22 She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. 24 She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
I REALLY try hard with this one. Making clothes is a little challenging, but a curtain, tote or a valance-I'm on it! Crafty Little Ladies

30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
I've found that surrounding myself with other like-minded women helps me stand by these values.

Are you a Proverbs 31 Woman?

Dad's Death

It's a month and a half since I watched my father pass. I wanted to write this post as a reminder to myself how important life truly is. My father was 72 when he passed. He was a kind and gentle man. Dad was a very modest and traditional man. He always looked presentable, reminded us of our improper grammar and was a sports enthusiast. I truly loved my Dad.

I wanted to write about his passing. It terrified me, intrigued me, and changed my opinions about the process of dying. My siblings and I witnessed, with mixed emotions, the death of my father. It was a sunny day outside as we entered the hospital. One by one, we entered the hospital room with anxiety, tears and forced smiles. I have 3 older sisters and a brother. As the day progressed, and with the doctor's recommendations, we made the decision to remove Dad from life support. I held his hand and whispered to him that he did a good job and that we were going to take care of him. And with that, he squeezed my hand and closed his eyes-never to open them again.

If you were to ask me a couple weeks ago, I would say that the process of dying was agonizing and ugly. But through prayer, I feel that Dad's death was strong, comforting and truly planned. I'll explain my later feelings in a bit. To me, Dad was so strong. Some of my earliest memories of Dad was on his shoulders. I felt like I was on top of the world! I also remember him carrying me to bed, when I fell asleep on the couch. Dad mowed the grass in 100 degree (it felt like it) weather, with a beer in his cup holder. He put together those horrid Ikea bookshelves and modern desks that Mom and I always brought home. He dragged lumber from one end of his lumber yard to the other, once even nearly sawing his pinky off! Dad was strong. And in his death, he was even stronger.

I'll return to my feelings I mentioned earlier. His death was strong. Dad hung on for 12 hours after the hospital removed him from life support. His breathing was loud and labored. It felt like he was hanging on for all of us to stay just a while longer, together. He even went a couple minutes in between breathing sessions, only to let us know he was still in the room by taking deep and loud breaths again. We reminisced about silly times, embarrassing times and bittersweet memories with Dad. He wasn't about to pass up this meeting, so he held on strong for 12 or more hours.

Dad's death was comforting. Yes, that sounds horrible when I think about that phrase. I am no longer afraid of dying, because I watched my father die. Dad was surrounded by his children and their spouses. He wasn't alone. We were together as a family, while witnessing a natural part of life. I am comforted by Dad's death because I know he will be waiting for me when it's my time to go. Some never get to have those last moments with a loved one. We were blessed to be able to get time with Dad before he traveled to his next destination. And that's why I believed his death was planned.

God planned Dad's death. He planned for his children to come together and witness Dad's final moments on Earth. God wanted us to see how much his love brought us together. He wanted us to understand that death is a normal process of life. Dad's death was strong, comforting and truly planned for us. His death was to help us understand that family is everything. It's so cliché to say. But it's true. Life is so important. Dad, I will remember that!

Our First Year of Homeschooling

Did I just type that? We did one year of homeschooling, and survived? I'd like to say that we spent most of our time learning State Capitols, homophones, reading classic literature, double digit addition and the frog life cycle. Yes, some of those we really did, some we did not. What we really learned was more valuable than learning mandatory standards. We spend a total of 9 months learning how each other reacts, our likes, dislikes, how we learn, what annoys us and who NOT to be.

Since I am now considering myself a Veteran Homeschool Mom (sticking out my chest), here are some tips for the Newbie Homeschool Mom:

• Do NOT buy any curriculum

I spent a fortune on a specific type of curriculum, because it worked for me as a Teacher. Well guess what-I didn't have the same students! Buy used curriculum from ebay or another homeschool family. It will save you close to $200.

• Use the Library

The library was wonderful! Did you know that other homeschool families go there, too? I have met some wonderful friends and families by ditching the textbooks and gaining invaluable wisdom from other homeschoolers. We read together, made friends, learned how to search for books and joined a wonderful homeschool support group.

• They don't need to know that, right now.

Do not try to keep up with the Department of Education standards for their grade. They are being taught so much in school, that they don't remember half of it. Focus on topics that interest your child. For instance, my 8 year old is really into fishing right now. We went to the library and she checked out books on fly fishing and different books on fish anatomy. At home, we can do paintings of fish, write stories about fish and even develop a spelling list for vocabulary words in the book. The possibilities are endless!

The most important thing to do in your first year of homeschooling is to have fun and learn how your child learns. What worked for you in school is usually what will work for them. What frustrated you in school, will more than likely, frustrate them. Embrace learning together!

If you are a Veteran Homeschool Mom, what was your first year like?
If you are a Newbie Homeschool Mom, what are your concerns?

Growing with Girlfriends

The last few years have been wake up call for me, in terms of girlfriends. I have loud friends, shy friends, happy friends and sad friends. I expected my relationships with each friend to be the same. Girl, was I wrong! I realized that I was sabotaging my friendships by making them fit into a cookie cutter idea of what a friend should be. At the time, I expected a friend to be loyal, exclusive, inclusive, outgoing, entertaining..how unfair!

Why weren't my friends meeting up to MY expectations? News flash, it was ME! How wrong was it for me to expect my friends to cater to my needs? If I could go back, I'd slap myself. I found a beautiful book called, Grown Up Girlfriends by Erin Smalley and Carrie Oliver and my life was changed. Every page applied to my life and my distorted expectations of girlfriend relationships. I am still being changed by the words in this book. I promise that you will feel the same!

Reading this book opened my eyes to the baggage I was bringing into my grown up relationships. The deep scars from my high school years were definitely still fresh wounds on the arms of my grown up relationships.  I wasn't 16, 18 or even 24 anymore. Time to grow up!

If you have wonderful friends that are supportive and loving, or have friends that you don't understand why they won't include you, I encourage you to read this book. It changed my views on girlfriends and definitely helped me find grown up girlfriends.