Journal Jottings of a Maine Mama: Leap Day

CLOCK READS
9:16am

WEATHER IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS
Bright, sunny, high 30s.

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW and IN THE GARDEN
Snow and ice continue to melt. More and more patches of brown, but turning green grass. Branches and a lone flip flop peek out of the diminishing snow. Water flows rapidly down the brook.

WHAT I'M DOING RIGHT NOW and AROUND THE HOUSE
Light cleaning while Sam completes a math test. 

TODAY
Jazz band practice for Cate. Grocery shopping. Catching up laundry. Free ranging the flock.

DINNER
Spaghetti and Meatballs and Tossed Salad

WHAT'S ON TV
"Amazing Race"

FROM THE CRAFT BASKET
Continuing to work on my anniversary temperature blanket. Completed May 10-September. Half way through October. Anxious to finish for our camper van bed! (Camping blog link) 

I'm sharing my crocheting creations over at Lucy Blossom Crafts (Mondays), Frontier Dreams (Tuesdays), Small Things (Wednesdays), Oombawka Design (Wednesdays), and Lunamon Design (Wednesdays).

PAGE TURNER
Need a trip to the library. Book-less.

A BLESSING
Changing of seasons

DEVOTIONAL and INSPIRATION

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

I'm linking up to The Simple Woman's Daybook and Happy Homemaker are Mondays.

Journal Jottings of a Maine Mama: Super Quick Edition

CLOCK READS
9:59am

WEATHER IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS
A bright, sunny 27 degrees

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW and IN THE GARDEN
Diminished piles of dirty snow. Bare, frozen ground. Broken, downed tree limbs.

WHAT I'M DOING RIGHT NOW and AROUND THE HOUSE
Watching Sam do Saxon Math. Cate listening to music through headphones. Dogs snoozing. Furnace running. Phone buzzing. Dirty Dishes piles in sink.

TO DO
Grocery Shop

DINNER
See To Do

WHAT'S ON TV
"Amazing Race" and "Survivor"

FROM THE CRAFT BASKET
Every day adding rows to my 2 temperature blankets. 

I'm sharing my crocheting creations over at Lucy Blossom Crafts (Mondays), Frontier Dreams (Tuesdays), Small Things (Wednesdays), Oombawka Design (Wednesdays), and Lunamon Design (Wednesdays).

PAGE TURNER
The Bible. 

A BLESSING
Provisions from above to make our dream a reality. Launched our Campfires and Casting blog to share our camping and fishing adventures. Would love more followers and readers (Link)

DEVOTIONAL and INSPIRATION
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. (Romans 15:13)

I'm linking up to The Simple Woman's Daybook, Darling Downs Diaries, and Happy Homemaker are Mondays.

Journal Jottings of a Maine Mama: February 15, 2015

CLOCK READS
6:21am

WEATHER IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS
Absolutely frigid. Not just cold, but miserably cold. We're sitting at -15 right now, but we're supposed to be up to 18 degrees for a high. That's quite an improvement over yesterday.

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW and IN THE GARDEN

WHAT I'M DOING RIGHT NOW and AROUND THE HOUSE
I'm staying cozy in bed with my husband (who has the day off from work) and lots of blankets. It's early. Our kids are still sleeping. The only sounds are the heat coming out of the vents and my husband talking nonsense to me. (He's being silly already this morning.)

TO DO
☐ Fix Leaks (that Never Got Fixed in January)
☐ Declutter and Organize Utility Room
☐ Clothing, Linens and Blankets Purge
☐ Bring Donates to Salvation Army

DINNER
TBD

WHAT'S ON TV
It looks like the new season of "Amazing Race" has started. I'll be catching in free on-line at some point. (We don't have cable.) When does Survivor and The Voice start?

FROM THE CRAFT BASKET

You'll see a lot of my anniversary and daughter's temperature blankets in the coming months. I don't plan on starting any new projects at this point. I finished May 10th-August 7th, 2015 on my anniversary blanket, and I'm loving the colors and stitch. It's going to be a heavy, cozy and huge blanket.



I'm sharing my crocheting creations over at Lucy Blossom Crafts (Mondays), Frontier Dreams (Tuesdays), Small Things (Wednesdays), Oombawka Design (Wednesdays), and Lunamon Design (Wednesdays).

PAGE TURNER
This month I will be doing a LOVE STUDY from Time Warp Wife. I'm excited about learning and applying the 4 types of love - storge, philia, eros, and agape - through bible scripture, on-line discussion, a study guide, and Four Loves by C.S. Lewis. I'll be jotting down prayers and reflections in the SWEET "Quiet Your Heart" journal. (For info on this study, click here.It's not too late to join in!)

A BLESSING

My husband and I were blessed with the provisions to start a dream of ours, to RV and camp. We thought we would have to wait years, but everything seemed to fall in place over the last month, and on Valentine's Day we purchased our first new-to-us Roadtrek campervan. Not only does it have all the stuff we need to camp, but it can be used as a back-up vehicle if needed due to its small size. I'll be starting a blog just for our camping adventures when we decide on a blog name...



DEVOTIONAL and INSPIRATION

Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD and whose hope the LORD is. (Jeremiah 17:7)

I'm linking up to The Simple Woman's Daybook and Happy Homemaker on Mondays.

Weekly Wrap-up: Week 20 - The One Before Winter Break...Maybe

We rediscovered Rummikub this past week. Cate joined Tom and I for some games filled with laughter and "mock" boasting. We'll have to try another game this week as I did not win most of the games. :: wink :: We did have a 4th player join us for a few minutes...

CORE WORK

CATI

• English Grammar 101: Section 7 - Conjunctions and Interjections (85%), Section 8 - Verbals and Phrases
• My Life in a Post: blog
• Vocab Test: List 4 (92%), List 5 (100%), List 6
• Laddie (Stratton Potter)
• Khan Academy: Pre-Algebra (87% Completed)
• CNN Student News

SAM

• English Grammar 101: Lesson 1 - Lesson 2 - Common and Proper Nouns (87%)
• Writing: 5 Paragraph Essay - Finished Rough Draft and Started Editing
• Cursive Copywork:
• The Tale of Despereaux (DiCamillo)
• Saxon 65 - Lesson 15 (Multiplication Table), Test 2 (85%), Lesson 16 (Types of Lines), Lesson 17 (Multiplication By One Digit), Lesson 18 (Double Digit Multiplication)
• CNN Student News

ASTRONOMY

It was all about Jupiter this week as we studied Lesson 9 in Apologia. (Only 5 more lessons to go!)

• Notebook Page/Project Page
• Spacecraft Galileo
• Project: Make a Hurricane Tube
• Project: Rockets Away 

GENERAL SCIENCE

Cati finished Module 8: Uniformitarianism and Castastrophism with a 100% on her exam.

• Vocab: Index Fossils, Geological Column, Evolution
• Experiment: Simulation of Using Index Fossils

U.S. HISTORY and GEOGRAPHY

Sam and I read History of Us: The First Americans Prehistory-1600 (Hakim) this week, chapters 20-21, and finished watching the Magellan documentaries on You Tube.

• "Ferdinand Magellan Voyages of Discovery - Circumnavigation Part 3/4 (BBC)"
• "Ferdinand Magellan Voyages of Discovery - Circumnavigation Part 4/4 (BBC)"
• Amerigo Vespucci
• Martin Waldseemuller - First Map with America
• Roman Catholicism and Protestantism in Europe

MUSIC HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY and CULTURES

Cati studies Music History with Easy Peasy Homeschool, and continued on with Year 3 Geography and Cultures. Since the lessons are quick, she completes one week per day, sometimes more. This week she completed weeks 20-22.

• Percussion Instruments
• Identifying Orchestra Instruments
• Jazz and Concert Band Practice

She went to Jazz and Concert band practices this week, preparing for the Jazz competition coming up in a few weeks.

DAYS COMPLETED: CATE - 118 | SAM - 113

As always, special thanks to these bloggers for their weekly homeschool blog link-ups. Click the buttons to see what other homeschoolers are doing!

Happy Homeschooling!

Journal Jottings of a Maine Mama: February 8, 2016

CLOCK READS
1:17pm

WEATHER IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS
Another snowstorm is blowing in this afternoon. It's overcast and 20 degrees. And a 3rd storm in less than a week is following tomorrow. Here comes the white stuff!

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW and IN THE GARDEN

WHAT I'M DOING RIGHT NOW and AROUND THE HOUSE
I'm able to take a breather finally. It's been a whirlwind morning with getting husband off to work and son off to school, taking care of the flock, dogs and cat, starting homeschool, making an important phone call, running to jazz band for daughter and the groceries store for grub while juggling getting son from public transportation as school closed early (even though we haven't seen a flake of snow yet). :: sigh :: I need to make another call, bake 2 chocolate chip banana breads, finish homeschool, check the flock, vacuum, and finally make dinner before calling it quits for the day.

TO DO
☐ Fix Leaks (that Never Got Fixed in January)
☐ Declutter and Organize Utility Room
☐ Clothing, Linens and Blankets Purge
☐ Bring Donates to Salvation Army

DINNER
Soft Shell Beef Tacos with Diced Tomatoes, Shredded Lettuce, Chunky Salsa, Mexican Shredded Cheeses, Sliced Black Olives, and Sour Cream

WHAT'S ON TV
Who has time?

FROM THE CRAFT BASKET

I started a 2nd temperature blanket just over a week ago. I'm excited as this blanket will represent the high temperatures during our first year married. A special homemade momento on our first anniversary! 

I'm creating this one in the trinity stitch. I love this stitch! (I would recommend it for a SOLID color blanket though.) It's going to make a thick, cozy queen-sized afghan.

I've made quite a bit of progress already. I finished up May 2015 and June is almost complete. I figured out that I will complete 91,250 stitches (without a border) by the time I have 365 rows completed. Phew!

I'm sharing my crocheting creations over at Lucy Blossom Crafts (Mondays), Frontier Dreams (Tuesdays), Small Things (Wednesdays), Oombawka Design (Wednesdays), and Lunamon Design (Wednesdays).

PAGE TURNER
This month I will be doing a LOVE STUDY from Time Warp Wife. I'm excited about learning and applying the 4 types of love - storge, philia, eros, and agape - through bible scripture, on-line discussion, a study guide, and Four Loves by C.S. Lewis. I'll be jotting down prayers and reflections in the SWEET "Quiet Your Heart" journal. (For info on this study, click here.It's not too late to join in!)

A BLESSING

DEVOTIONAL and INSPIRATION

And let the PEACE of GOD rule in your hearts...(Colossians 3:15)

I'm linking up to The Simple Woman's Daybook, Darling Downs Diaries, and Happy Homemaker are Mondays.

Weekly Wrap-up: Week 19 - The One with a Sick Bug and Snow Returns

Poor Cate started the week with ill with fever, in bed. She's a trooper though. She was determined to get in at least a half day of school on Monday and Tuesday. (Her goal is to finish up her year by mid-April.) Fortunately, whatever Cate, Jake and I had, it skipped over Sam. For now. 

And then the snow arrived. The predicted few inches are off by quite a bit. It continues to snow heavily this afternoon. A perfect day for PJs, movies, baking, reading, and shoveling.

CORE WORK

CATI

• English Grammar 101: Section 7 - Conjunctions and Interjections
• My Life in a Post: blog
• Vocab Test: List 3 (90%), List 4 (60%)
• Laddie (Stratton Potter)
• Khan Academy: Pre-Algebra (86% Completed)
• CNN Student News

SAM

• English Grammar 101: Lesson 1 - Nouns (88%)
• Writing: 5 Paragraph Essay - Opening and 2nd Paragraph
• The Tale of Despereaux (DiCamillo)
• Saxon 65 - Lesson 11 (Multiple Step Addition Word Problems), Lesson 12 (Number Lines/Tally Marks), Lesson 13 (Multiplying Repeated Addition), Lesson 14 (Missing Numbers in Subtraction)
• CNN Student News

ASTRONOMY

It was all about Jupiter this week as we studied Lesson 9 in Apologia. (Only 5 more lessons to go!)

• Notebook Page/Project Page
• Facts about Jupiter
• "Jupiter: Crash Course Astronomy #16"
• "Jupiter's Moons: Crash Course Astronomy #17"
• Jupiter's Structure, Moons, Rotation, Revolution, and Orbit

GENERAL SCIENCE

Cati started Module 8: Uniformitarianism and Castastrophism, a continued look into these two concepts from last module.

• Vocab: Index Fossils, Geological Column, Evolution
• Experiment: Simulation of Using Index Fossils

U.S. HISTORY and GEOGRAPHY

Sam and I didn't read History of Us: The First Americans Prehistory-1600 (Hakim) this week, but instead watched some documentaries on You Tube to reinforce last week's chapters.

• "Christopher Columbus (A&E)"
• "Ferdinand Magellan Voyages of Discovery - Circumnavigation Part 1/4 (BBC)"
• "Ferdinand Magellan Voyages of Discovery - Circumnavigation Part 2/4 (BBC)"

MUSIC HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY and CULTURES

Cati studies Music History with Easy Peasy Homeschool, and continued on with Year 3 Geography and Cultures. Since the lessons are quick, she completes one week per day, sometimes more. This week she completed weeks 13-19.

• Brass and Percussion Instruments
• Concert Band Practice

She went to Concert band practice this week, preparing for the Jazz competition coming up in a few weeks.

DAYS COMPLETED: CATE - 115 | SAM - 110

As always, special thanks to these bloggers for their weekly homeschool blog link-ups. Click the buttons to see what other homeschoolers are doing!

Happy Homeschooling!

Journal Jottings of a Maine Mama: February 1, 2016

CLOCK READS
7:41am

WEATHER IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS
Warm weather ushers in February. Cloudy and drizzly, but we may reach 50 degrees. Where are the shorts? flip flops? A sneak-peak of spring!

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW and IN THE GARDEN

Bare patches of ground and grass are showing through the snow to the coop as the mid-winter thaw continues. The hens have been able to explore the yard again, pecking and scratching where they can, and the ducks have been swimming in the brook, preening after a dip in the icy water.

WHAT I'M DOING RIGHT NOW and AROUND THE HOUSE
I'm in my cozy bed with a cooling cup of green tea sweetened with honey beside me. I hear Cate stirring in her room. Wonder how she's feeling? She's had a low grade fever since Saturday.  And I think she's shared with me...

FEBRUARY TO DO LIST
☐ Fix Leaks (that Never Got Fixed in January)
☐ Declutter and Organize Utility Room
☐ Clothing, Linens and Blankets Purge
☐ Bring Donates to Salvation Army

MEAL PLAN
Monday - TBD
Tuesday - TBD
Wednesday - Fend for Yourself Night
Thursday - TBD
Friday - TBD
Saturday - TBD
Sunday - TBD

(Yeah, I don't really have a plan...)

WHAT'S ON TV
Nothing! It's been a while now since I've watched TV, but I think the new seasons of The Amazing Race, The Voice, and Survivor start something this month. I catch them the day after for free on Hulu as we don't have cable.

FROM THE CRAFT BASKET

Isn't it a cute pillow? It didn't work up as big as I thought, but it's a perfect accent pillow to go with my rippled fan afghan. (Pattern)

And here's a look at the progress on my temperature blanket for January. Color key? Purple is for under 20 degrees, navy for 20s, light blue for 30s, and green for 40s. It was a mild month for us. I didn't think I would need green yet! The random pattern based on temperatures is going to create a unique blanket.

I'm sharing my crocheting creations over at Lucy Blossom Crafts (Mondays), Frontier Dreams (Tuesdays), Small Things (Wednesdays), Oombawka Design (Wednesdays), and Lunamon Design (Wednesdays).

PAGE TURNER

A BLESSING
This month I will be doing a LOVE STUDY from Time Warp Wife. I'm excited about learning and applying the 4 types of love - storge, philia, eros, and agape - through bible scripture, on-line discussion, a study guide, and Four Loves by C.S. Lewis. I'll be jotting down prayers and reflections in the SWEET "Quiet Your Heart" journal. (For info on this study, click here. It's not too late to join in!)

DEVOTIONAL and INSPIRATION
Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer all men. (Colossians 4:6)

I'm linking up to The Simple Woman's Daybook, Darling Downs Diaries, and Happy Homemaker are Mondays.