Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain

College Road Trip

We went to the library today and watched College Road Trip. It was one of the cutest, funniest movies I have seen in a long time. I was a little wary because of some of the mommy reviews I had heard. But come on, sometimes we homeschooly moms can be overly prudish dontcha think?? I did not see anything other than a really cool family that loved each other and were working through letting their daughter go in a hilarious Martin Lawrence- Raveny sort of way..

So if your up for a really good movie, it is a must! No swearing, sex, innuendo, or anything along those lines....Oh, there is a houdini pig in it...

Thrifty Thursday

Publix

Large jars of Peanut butter- BOGO
3 boxes Capri sun for 5.00
School supplies- Binders BOGO, 3 boxes crayons for 1.00, Pens- BOGO, Glue 3 for 1.00, etc...
Ronzoni pasta noodles BOGO
Boneless Skinless breasts 2.49/lb
McCormick Season Salt Lg bottle BOGO
Mccormick Garlic Salt Lg bottle BOGO
Wishbone dressing BOGO
Microwave popcorn BOGO
Graham Crackers BOGO
Keebler deluxe cookies BOGO
Chicken leg quarters, .79/lb
General Mills cereal 3 for 5.00
Lawry's 30 minute marinade BOGO
Mt Olive Relish BOGO
Ragu Spaghetti Sauce - 3 for 5.00
Buy 3 coca cola boxes and get 1 free
Thomas English Muffins BOGO
Lysol bathroom cleaner BOGo
SC Johnson cleaning products buy 5 and get 5.00 back

WinnDixie

Poptarts-BOGO
Natures Own bread -BOGO
Breakstone Sour Cream 3 for 5.00
Clorox Bleach 2 for 3.00
Chicken leg quarters .69/lb
bakery white mountain bread BOGO
Eckrich farm franks- BOGO
General Mills cereal -BOGO
Edy's icecream -BOGO
10lb's for 10.00 deals
-vine tomatoes
-nectarines/plums
-avocado
-10 dole salads for 10.00
-5 containers of strawberries for 10.00

Amy told me about Disney's sale . Their Pj sets are 4.99-6.99 with 5.00 shipping

We are home!!

I am wading through email, but just wanted to let everyone know we are home. Feel free to stop by and chat, eat, swim, or just chill.... Does anyone know what day we are supposed to sew?

I am still up for it if you all are!

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I will be out of town and off line for a week. Call my cell if you want to talk ;)

Lovin this new Blog Check it Out

My friend Melissa told me to check out this new blog. It has been quite refreshing and very real. Thanks for sharing it

With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees. Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you.”

Isaiah 35:3-4 NLT

Update on Home Organization

*I have cleaned out and organized the pantry

*My Schoolroom is clean and about 90% organized.

*Yardwork is never ending and I hope to mow again tomorrow before I leave Sunday

* The dining room is good

* My laundry is all done, I just need to continue folding the mountain on my bed

So To Do before Sunday:

**Yard
**Clean back porch and front porch
**Make sure all laundry put away
**Pack
**Light cleaning to all rooms (vacuum and dust)
**Put some meals in the freezer for Mike
** Saturday Night WIZARD OF OZ--- it is Sat night right??


I am off to the pediatricians, and then to get my cleaning groove on at home.
I have a huge long post on children that I am forming in my head, hopefully I can get it typed out tonight.

Hi to everyone we saw or heard about in town today, WHAT A SMALL TOWN!!!

Thrifty Thursday

I haven't been to the store this week, so I am not sure of the sales out there. I have been baking bread and using all of our mismatched pantry items to make some interesting meals.


I have found my favorite easy bread recipe.

From the Barefoot Contessa

Honey White Bread

1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees)
2 packages dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1-1/2 cups warm whole milk
6 tablespoons melted butter, cooled
1-1/2 tablespoons honey
2 large egg yolks
5 to 6 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 egg white, lightly beaten
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water with the sugar. Add the warm milk, butter, honey and eggs and mix. Add the flour a bit at a time but don't add too much, just until the dough stops sticking to the sides of the mixing bowl.
Knead for a minute or so
Add to a buttered large bowl... and let rise


The first stage, waiting for the bread to rise and Double it's size


Take out and roll into loaf size and divide in two, putting each one into their own loaf pan.

Let the loaves sit for another hour. Brush with the egg white and bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes.



Some of my favorite sites for recipes is at making by saving and home made with love

I am also using a homemade dishwashing mix that is super cheap and I cannot tell a difference from my normal gel.

Equal Parts Borax and Baking Soda. ( I made up a ziploc bag of 2 cups BS and 2 cups Borax)
and then use 2-3 tablespoons in the compartment. Use vinegar in the rinse cycle for spots.

I am considering making a batch of Laundry detergent. Has anyone done this successfully, and what about fragrance? I love Gain, so I have been reluctant to try it.

1930's wife - I don't smoke dope

61 As a 1930s wife, I am Superior Take the test!

Okay, well maybe I am not very superior but I didn't even think I would rank this high. But since I don't smoke in bed, have cigarette stained fingers, or smoke dope that must count for something.. It was a fun test, and my friend over at Winchester Academy is right on about being a thrifty wife. I would love to explore ways each of us are helping our family during this recession. Sorry I used the "R" word but lets face it gas at 4+ dollars and a weeks supply of groceries topping 250.00 we definitely are tightening our belt around here. That may be because we have gas guzzling vehicles. Diesel should hit 5 dollars soon- ouch!

So maybe we can share on our blogs if we run across a good deal at the grocery store, or sale at target. How about Thrifty Thursday and we can post a good recipe or ideas to help cut household costs. We are going back to the laundry line, it truly saved me about 100.00 on my power bill. I just have to get the clothes out before the rain comes ;) Okay enough blogging I am off to clean the house...

EHM

Okay, so far we have

Debi - Shelves, organizing and painting. I think a trip to ikea would help with bins or baskets
Amy- guest room into Evan's room, painting and organizing office supplies
Julie- schoolroom (maybe?)
Leisa- Kitchen/Pantry/Laundry (no painting ;))


Anyone else ??

Ok, Amy is working on her's this week before Evan gets home from camp.
Debi do you want to work on yours this week?
Julie??
I am doing mine in a week or two, so no rush on my end.

Office Remade

I posted previously on redoing my office. Sadly I did not take a before picture, but imagine peach walls and FSU border, 2 desks, lots of papers and electronics. Boxes from various electronics, college textbooks and junk....



Now I am using it as storage. Shelves that hold scrapbooking gear, empty luggage, cleaning supplies, extra toliet, and papertowels..

5 kids for 20 days, Oh My!

Yes, I have 5 kids for the next 2.5 weeks. My nieces Jordan 10, and Sydney 8, are down from Atlanta. We will be going to the Springs tomorrow, and yesterday we went boating on the HR and springs. I try to take them to all the cool Florida-y spots while they are here. 2 summers ago they came and stayed and we day tripped to Boca to hunt sharks teeth. I also dressed them up and took them for tea at the tea room in town. It is so funny that they asked as soon as they got here if we could do that again..

So, anyway I plan to keep on organizing the house and doing some fun day trips with the kids.

Yard Work Day

We spent all day in the yard mowing, weed eating, weeding, grooming the garden, roundup-ing and lots of neglected outsidey stuff. Well in the midst of me push mowing (because I ran over the hose with the riding mower and put it out of commission) Maddy ran out to have me referee an argument about "sharks and minnows" a pool game. Mind you I am dripping sweat pushing a mower in 95 degree weather. My face is blood red and I am gasping, yet she wants me to stop and talk about a pool game!! Like I would love to be in the pool...


Liv did something later in the day and I sent her to time out. Well after weed eating for about 45 minutes I remembered her.... Poor thing I found her like this

My garden is putting out all kinds of tomatoes.

Extreme Homeschool Makeover

My project that I would love input and help on is my kitchen/pantry/laundry area. It looks fine with the cabinet doors closed, but when they open you see complete disorganization. I often say well, Liv put away the dishes so it's okay if things are here or there, but really it would be just as easy to show her the proper spot.

My pantry is smallish, and alway seems to get cluttered.

My laundry area is also the kids closet. I keep their clothes downstairs since it is easier to keep track of their clothes. (All the kids rooms ae upstairs, and our room is downstairs)

Kids College

I just had some cute pictures of Maddy's dance performance from Kids college.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
when in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

John Hancock
New Hampshire:Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

The Cleaning Bug

It seems that most of us have caught it. I have spent the week, organizing closets, painting a room, and generally cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning. I have a back office room but it is attached to my master bath, so it is in an odd spot. It has more often been used as a junk room, and was stacked full of old mail, electronics, books and just crap in general. Did I mention it was also this beigy peach color that drove me crazy and it had an FSU border?? Well of course I had to pull off the border, and paint it!

Can I just say that being a patient mom, driven and in project mode is completely incompatible. Maddy brushed by the ladder, which made it fall and a full gallon of paint fell into my master tub.. Liv just stood there and then I guess from the look on my face decided to put her hands up to her ears. It made me stop and swallow my anger, and instead just called Mike to come get his kids!
Well, I think God has a sense of humor because not 30 minutes later, while on the ladder I spilled a full gallon of paint on the carpet and ruined it. So I had to tell Mike, and Maddy, pull up the carpet, paint the floor, wake Mike up to build the shelves because I wanted them done that night ;), and then start organizing. I had only allotted 1 day for that room and I was determined to keep to my deadline.

I rented the rug doctor to clean my carpet. It worked okay for the 26.00 rental fee. Then I moved on to my upstairs guest bedroom.

I could barely open the door, it was piled up, and soon to be creeping out the hall. Well once in there I kept finding clothes and things that the kids had recently been wearing or playing with. I called Maddy in and asked her how these items foun their way into the guest room. She hesitated so I KNEW she had been cleaning her room by tossing what she didn't want to put awayinto a room she knew I did not go into... I can just say that by this point I lost it.


Anyway, I have the school room, a touch up on the kids closets, and my kitchen, pantry, and laundryroom and I am done.... I am trying not to just do my usual clean but to organize, cull out and logically organize so that I can go back to our cleaning system. It worked very well and was introduced to me by Steph. I got each room clean and organized, and then taught Maddy and Liv what I wanted and expected and how to clean the room. I posted the steps to do it, so there was not any thought on how to clean. After they were trained I treated it as disobedience if they didn't complete their chores properly. It worked really well, but I just have gotten out of the habit. So hopefully once I get it back under control I can reintroduce this system.

So anyway, life hasn't been all that fun here at the Freeman house this week, but I am hoping it will pay off when we have more free time in the end...

Happy 4th everyone

Update

Please continue to pray for my aunt and her family. I cannot share everything yet, but they really need to be lifted up.

I am staying home all week and concentrating on organizing and cleaning all my junk places. So, mainly that is my office, school room and guest bedroom.

6 word Meme

I've been tagged by Tiffany over at Hillside Hollow...This meme originated over an idea that was prompted by the book written by Larry Smith & Rachel Fershleiser, Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure. It’s a compilation based on the story that Hemingway once bet ten dollars that he could sum up his life in six words. His words were, “For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn.”


1. Write your own six word memoir.

2. Post it to your blog including a visual illustration if you would like.

3. Link to the person who tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blog sphere.

4. Tag 5 more blogs with links.

5. Don’t forget to leave a comment in the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.So, here we go....my six word memoir:


Ok, so here it goes

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"Dreaming of Maine, Living in Florida"

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I can definitely say that Maine represents an idea for me. Cool days, wild blueberries, incredible views, the sea. It is just unimaginably romantic. Scooping up seaglass among a pebble strewn beach. The lobster boats in the bay. The crispness to the summer air. The rugged earthiness of the people living so close to nature, and individualism. Crisp laundry whipping in the wind on the line. Signs for berry pies at a roadside stand!! Lobster on the dock!

Right now, Florida is hot, and it feels like I am stuck in the drudgery of everyday life. I think Maine just represents excitement, even though I know once I was living there, it would represent COLD 8 months out of the year ;)