Worm Composting

We are trying to be more earth friendly as well as more self reliant. We have started some container vegetable gardening. It all started last week after visiting Whole Foods for a field trip here in town. Since Earth Day was Wednesday, Whole Foods celebrated it on Saturday for the whole community. The kids wanted to go, so we went...

One of the tabled was Red Worm Composting. Of course the kids just had to have one, so we got one and had to set it up once home, to give the worms their proper home. Well, we couldn't really have a compost bin without a garden to put it in, right? Oh, did I tell you... the compost bin is here in the house, can't you see my skin just crawling? So, we planted ourselves a garden. We have some herbs, veggies, fruit and even some flowers to go it it. We don't have a lot of space, so we are doing container gardening (this way, when we buy our house - our first house, we can take our garden with us). We will be adding to our garden some fun things like, windmills, bird houses, and some bird feeders. We are getting and using the ideas from the book "Green Thumb".

There has been a lot of talk about bloggers taking other bloggers thoughts and storied & coping them and posting as their own blog. That is rude. This post may seem like you read it before over @ Adventurous Instruction... that's ok, I did plagiarize, but hey, that is my homeschooling blog, so, I am aloud to do it.

The Miracle of the Holy Bible

Elder M. Russell Ballard testifies that as Church members we believe, follow, and teach the Bible’s message inviting all to worship Jesus Christ. Go down to the bottom right and pause my music so you can hear this wonderful message.

I am embarking on...

starting my own business. I want to help Nat out w/the family income, but how? I could go out & get a job @ night, but that is not an option (I can't guarantee when he will be home). I thought about Creative Memories, Avon, Mary Kay, but those are out of the question! I have finally figured out how I am going to help with the income.... I am going to start my own Etsy shop. I will be making knitted, crocheted, cross stitched items, and anything else handmade. I just need help with a name. Everything that is sold on Etsy, has to be handmade. I need a name that is catchy, has spunk, and will keep 'em coming. So, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE help me come up w/a catchy name. Once I set up shop, I will let ya'll know so you can see what I have to offer. I will be taking special orders as well. These tips on Name Picking are from Etsy:

Things to consider when choosing a shop name:

• Choose a name that is easy to remember and spell. You want potential buyers to be able to recognize, remember, and be able to find you again, even if they have briefly visited your shop.
• Try to limit your shop name to one or two words that flow well together. For example, “JessicasDesigns” works a thousand times better than something like “beaddesignsbyjessica.” Make sense?
• Take inspiration from others. Sit down with a piece of paper and writing utensil and ask yourself: “What sellers do I know the name of on Etsy?” It doesn’t have to be your favorite seller or any reason other than the fact you remembered their name. This is key. After you have your list of remembered names, take a look at them. Why are they so memorable? After asking yourself these questions, take inspiration from what these sellers have done to create your own memorable name.
• Think about legalities. Some words and names are trademarked, so do your homework first to avoid a possible conflict later. Consider consulting an attorney if you need specialized advice in this area.
• Once you have decided on a name for your shop, take advantage of capital letters to make the appearance of your shop name more cohesive. If you have two words in your shop name, create a visual separation by making the first letters of each word capital letters instead of lowercase. For example, “BoyfriendLetters” reads so much better than “boyfriendletters.” Plus, capitalization doesn’t make a difference when people type your shop name in their browser, it won’t be harder for them to find you.
• If you are selling a very specific product or certain type of supply, it wouldn’t hurt to actually put the basic name of what you are selling in your shop name; this way your shop will show up in most relevant search engines whenever someone does a basic search for “X item” that you are selling. But be careful: if you're thinking about branching out to other types of items, you may not want to follow this tip.
• Last but not least, your shop name should reflect your style in one way or another. If you choose a really elegant name, it would make sense to have elegant items in your shop. If you choose a quirky or clever name, it would make sense that your products reflect that style.

Fort Ross Pics Jan. 26-27, 2009

Finally, here are some of the pics from Fort Ross. Sorry they are so small. This took me a couple of hours to do (there were over 2500 pictures to go through)

Arrival @ Fort Ross

Kids trekking to the fort

My boys, the hunters

Mareal in the Artisan's group

The cooks & I

Hunting for seals and fish

Seals basking in the sun

I'm actually stepping into the fire pit, stirring the Russian Borsch

The Artisans are making lanterns

What a beautiful sunset

Walking to the chapel for skit & story time

Making breakfast & trying to get warn by fire

Preparing for cannon fire

Just after cannon fire

Group photo

Family photo (@ the end of our 24 hours)

If you ever have a chance to do an Enviroment Living (history)Program, DO IT! It is sooo worth EVERY penny. Some balk @ us for spending the $$ to do them, but, you know what? A trip to Disneyland or anywhere else would cost a lot more than this does. The kids will remember this better and have the memories to go with them. What a better way to learn history?

Thou Shalt Not Judge

Oh my goodness. Oh my goodnes. Oh my goodness. She has been in the headlines and the talk of everyone's conversations. I am giving a standing ovation to Susan Boyle of Scotland (I am proud to be of Scottish decent myself). I say "You go Girl! You rock on!" Please don't judge others by just meeting them for the first time, you don't even have a real chance to get to know that person. Give people a chance, we need to be friendlier and more loving towards one another. I am the black sheep in my family, and I am SOOOOOO fine w/that. I will not apologize for things I say on my blog. This is my blog and I have a right to speak my mind. I try my hardest not to offend, but it's not my fault if you choose to be offended. So, please, from the bottom of my heart, DO NOT JUDGE OTHERS.

Leaving it to Chance

I saw this on a friends facebook page, and just had to share it.

Pinewood Derby

We had a fun time @ our pinewood derby this year. Charlie pick out the design of car that he wanted, Nat copied, cut it out, & glued it to the block of wood. Then, all day 1 Saturday, Charlie & Nat cut, sanded, cut some more & sanded some more. Then, during the week, they painted it, several times, and then we put a nice shinny coat of gloss on it to make is glisten in the sun, I mean the florescent lights. He didn't win many races, but, hey, the are supposed to have fun, and that is exactly what Charlie had that night. He received 2 sliver arrow points, 1 gold arrow point, a Scouting for Food patch, and was supposed to receive his bear badge, but there was a mix up in communication on the ordering... but he will receive it @ the Pack meeting this month... a whole month early. Then, off to Weblos he goes... Here are some pics of his fabulouso car! It was so fun (not) cutting out all the stickers for his car. see, those (the headlights, & tail lights) are some tiny little stickers that were fun to peel off the sticker backing.

On Hiatus

Where the heck have I been? Geez, it's been awhile.

Well, nothing much has been happening here in Stampsland. We've been pretty low key. We did have Charlie's Pinewood Derby a few weeks ago (I will post pics later & give details). Last week, we went to see our homeschool group perform "Annie" the musical, the kids really loved that.

Well, I have been pricing pasta makers for a while now, liking the prices on some, and not likiing the reviews on others, but, I did finally find one... Today, I am embarking on a new adventure. I am making my very own pasta. This is something that I have been wanting to do for awhile now, but couldn't bring myself to do so... well, I jumped and here we are! Nat even made me a pasta drying rack as well. He & the kids are excited about trying some homemade pasta tomorrow night for dinner.

This is my assembly line of handcrank machines... pasta maker & my wheat grinder

Close up of the newest member of our appliance family

Here's my pasta dough, just after resting, and before I start to make our first ever homemade pasta.

This is the pasta drying rack that Nat so lovingly made for me last night, after I promised him some homemade pasta for diner.

And, last, but certainly not least... the finished product of homemade spaghetti.

I would post pics of me making it, but the kids were all over the place and got them blurry. Ya don't believe me, here are a few...