To The Bat Cave

I am thinking about putting bats in my backyard. The "mus-kee-toes" as my kids call them are out in full force and I hate using pesticides where they play. Besides the fact that the mosquitoes in my neighborhood seem to be Bl*ck Fl*g Addicts and sit at the bar like its happy hour waiting for me to spray, so I have been researching the use of bats. I know I don't have many readers, but have any of you ever had bats on purpose? (Not the kind in your belfry, I've had those kind for years now LOL!)

My mom bought the kids yet another yard toy today from Disc*very K*ds; an In flat able Sprink ler Gl*be. I think I will count this as history and geography!

Testing 1, 2, 3...

I have never been much into standardized testing as I always felt there was a certain unintentional bias in them. I remember in early elementary taking a test that used the word, "davenport". I had never heard that word before and had no clue what it meant. When I later learned that it was a synonym for "couch" or "sofa" I felt robbed.



Anyhoo, I decided to let 6th grade take the practice Terra Nova Test for the experience as she missed most standardized testing during the years she was in traditional school. She strongly dislikes them and thinks "...everyone should not be forced to take the same test as everyone else 'cause some kids are not strong in some areas like math and science." My little rebel. LOL!

Crock-Pot Dinner

I rarely, almost never post recipes on here because while I can cook, I don't like to and do not claim to be particularly skilled at it. I do however love reading other people's recipes and have tried quite a few. Some time ago, Kim over at His Hands and His Feet Today posted a recipe for taco soup that we really liked. Today I knew we would have a longer day at church as James is taking his Baptism classes so I decided to just throw all of the ingredients in the crock pot before we left. When we came home and opened the door it smelled so good that I have never had kids change out of church clothes so fast. LOL!

It was very warm today, so I decided to not do this as soup, but as nachos.

Our version of Crock-Pot Nachos:

1/2 lb of ground chuck (we rarely eat red meat so this is all that I use, but you could use more)
1 can whole kernel corn (drained)
1 can beans (kidney, black, whatever your favorite) drained and rinsed
1 can tomatoes (diced, stewed, however...)
1 pack taco seasoning (per amount of meat)
1 cup water

My ground chuck was frozen when I started so I just threw it in, added the canned items, emptied the seasoning on top, threw in the water, covered, set it on high and left. When we came home 4 hours later, I stirred, added another 1/2 cup of water and it was ready. I served in bowls with nacho chips (we like *Scoops*) on the bottom, spooned mixture over the chips, added shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

It was so easy (especially since the kids opened the cans, rinsed and drained everything while I was in the shower) and fun.

New Toy

Every year I try to buy something new for the backyard as enevidently, things wear out and have to be tossed. This year I had great plans to build a teeter totter, but just never could muster the motivation to get plans and supplies. While perusing Ebay, I found this seesaw and decided this would have to do (and the price was just right - $10 + shipping).

It was fun to put together with the 6th and 2nd grader and because of rain they had to wait until this afternoon, but once they were able to use it, they all giggled so hard. Good fun! Have a great weekend!

Peace

Making Summer Plans

I just signed up for our 2nd year of “Kids Bowl Free” program. Last year was really good and it is a fairly cheap activity. Check it out to see if there are participating bowling alleys in your area.

Busy Weekend

We had a great weekend. I got called to do an emergency respite on Friday night with about a 45 minute warning. It was a child that had been here before for respite. Jordan loved having another girl around and they combed lots of hair, painted lots of nails and glossed lots of lips. LOL! I don't know what time they finally went to sleep on Friday, but I gave a final warning at about 1:15am.

Saturday morning we gathered worms and went fishing at a local park which stocks it's lake. Of course the person that would not touch a worm, was afraid of the geese and scream when the fish flapped caught the most fish; Jordan! She caught 4 little fish, 2 of them with the same worm. They were all too small to keep, so we threw them back, but she was so excited. She really wanted to be able to keep them, but really, altogether they would have amounted to 1 fish stick. LOL! Our guest had never been fishing before and she was very excited and even helped me get the fish off the hook.

Church today and relaxing in the back yard until Jordan got her very first black eye. Eye-yi-yi!

Change of Venue

School Outside Day!!

One On One

I love the flexibility of homeschooling. When we just can't do it, we take a day off. But I do try to keep the train a-movin so that we can have a break before the summer session.

Sometimes, one of my little kidlets will just not be motivated to "do school" so I have developed the "School or Work" Program. If you don't want to come to school, I have a list of those big jobs that always need to be done; cleaning out the pots and pans cabinet, straightening out the linen cabinet, washing windows and hand prints from walls. Today, 2 kidlets did work and 1 kidlet did school.

I must say, it was so nice to focus on just 1 kid for a day. (And my house smells so clean! LOL!)

Clipping right along

Spring Progress Reports

Happy Mother's Day

Our 1st Spelling Bee

So much fun!!!



Pre-K did very well even with the fact that he was using the 1st grade list. He was the littlest guy up there, but did well. He came in 4th.



2nd grade had a hard time with his very first word and had trouble knowing what to do, but he sure looked handsome during his brief time on stage. He received a ribbon for participation.



6th grade did very well, she was in the end matched up with a friend and they both showed such great sportsmanship. She took 2nd place with her friend winning 1st place. BTW, this lovely won last year as well and her mother won national spelling bees back in the day. LOL! They are serious!



Overall, it was a neat experience and all say that they want to do it again. I may try to find some local ones in the meantime.