Journal Jottings of a Maine Mama - April , 2016

I haven't had much time (and truth by told ENERGY) to do much blogging lately, or even reading all the wonderful things you all blog about. My life is blessed! I simply want to enjoy every day that God has given me with my loving husband and zany kids, the new experiences, the adventures, and even the challenges.I miss writing though, and this link-up. Perhaps starting it at the beginning of the week and posting the following Monday will work...

CLOCK READS
2:48pm

WEATHER IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS
Although we've had some days of steady, cool rain, the weather has warmed up. We are enjoying more and more sunny days. Some days we don't even have to wear jackets!

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW and IN THE GARDEN
All the snow is gone. The leaves have been raked off the lawn. The downed tree branches have been gathered and stacked to burn in the fire pit. The grass is green and growing. Cate's perennials have popped up as well as the Bleeding Hearts under the crabapple tree. The brook is swollen with melted snow from the mountain. Decidious trees are leaf buds. And the birds and spring peepers are back filling the woods with songs.

WHAT I'M DOING RIGHT NOW and AROUND THE HOUSE
After a busy morning filled with learning and errands, I'm resting in the livingroom. The windows are open and I can hear the hens clucking. Another egg? Sam is making homemade peanut butter cookies and watching Netflix. The dogs are napping on the other end of the couch.

TODAY'S TO DO
Laundry
Grocery Shop
Bank
Band Practice
Homeschool
Dishes
Vacuum
Scrub Toilets

DINNER MENU
Monday: Pepperoni or Cheese Pizza
Tuesday: Spaghetti and Meatballs, Garlic Bread and Steamed Peas
Wednesday: Leftovers - Baked Beans and Hot Dogs or Spaghetti and Meatballs and Baby Carrots and Celery Sticks
Thursday: Breakfast Pizza with White Pepper Gravy, Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Bacon and Pineapple Chunks
Friday: Chicken Alfredo and Steamed Cauliflower/Broccoli
Saturday: Chinese Take-out
Sunday: Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

WHAT'S ON TV
I usually catch up on "Survivor", "The Amazing Race", "The Voice", and "Big Bang Theory" on Hulu or CBS sometime AFTER they have aired. We haven't had cable or local TV in several years now (nor Netflix). I do miss some of the shows on cable, but it's convenient to watch shows when it works for me through Hulu or CBS.

FROM THE CRAFT BASKET

Most of you probably don't know that 3 1/2 years ago I attended the birth of my nephew Ayden. I was also there with my family when he died 50 minutes later. Ayden, the first child of my sister, arrived at 22 weeks due to an incompetent cervix. He was perfect in every way, but too early. It's been on my heart for a while to use my crochet to create special hat and blanket sets for Moms and Dads who's babies never go home through prematurity. These parents have only a few special items from their babies so they are treasured. I took a break from my 2 temperature blankets to make 2 sets for hospital donation. (If you are interested in also donating Project Robbie is a great place to start.)

The left set is for a baby about 1 pound. The hat is approximately 8" in diameter and 3 1/2" from top-to-bottom. The blanket is 17" x 17". The right set is for a baby about 2 pounds. The hat is approximately 10" in diameter and 4" top-to-bottom. The blanket is 18" x 18".

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

It's truly been a blessing to spend a couple of overnights a month with my husband boondocking in our little camper. We've had wonderful times together: fishing, exploring waterfalls, seeing new areas. The simple pleasure of a homemade breakfast sitting near a rushing river or reading our bibles before it gets too dark at night with the ocean waves lapping the shore nearby and a campfire are special times together.

DEVOTIONAL and INSPIRATION

James 1:17 - Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

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

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: 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 6 - Gone Campin' and Fishin'...and Learnin'

So, how was your Independence Day weekend?

Tom and I took the kids camping. We had glorious weekend weather, perfect for swimming in the lake, having campfires in the evenings and sleeping in a tent. (OK, it was a little cool to sleep in a tent. I should have packed the thicker sleeping bags and a few more blankets.) Our campground even let off it's own fireworks, which were quite good! 

And I only have about 20 bug bites on my legs. That bug spray worked...

Despite the 'quitoes, I love camping. There's something awesome about spending days outside, walking around talking to other campers, playing horseshoes, swimming and fishing, reading and crocheting, eating at a picnic table and sitting around a campfire, falling asleep with the sounds of owls and loons. Not all the kids shared in my enthusiasm though, and despite some fun, memorable times we ended our camping trip a day early.

But that gave Tom and I a day to drop our little boat into a small, quiet lake to fish. We only saw 2 kayaks and 1 canoe the whole 5 hours we were rowing around. (No motors on this lake.) The fish were jumping out of the water! A great catch day! I even caught one. Finally. But my favorite part of the day was seeing a Mama and Daddy Canada Geese with their goslings swim by. So sweet!

Our Summer Studies are going well! The kids haven't complained about doing some Language Arts and Math yet. I know that it can be hard. It's summer vacation after all. But it's also important to get a little extra work done is areas they're struggling with. And there's ice cream when they get 12 days completed...

According to Khan Academy, Cate has already mastered 18% of her Pre-Algebra course. She struggled with Saxon Algebra 1/2 last year. I'm hoping that Khan's different learning approach will help her to "master" those areas she just didn't get from Saxon. And Debussy seems to help the learning process...

Sam never did finish the entire Saxon 54 last year, but he's working on Khan Math 4 this summer. He's already mastered 13%, good, steady progress.

I didn't think that I would like Khan, but I do! I love the Progress Report! It shows me quickly what they have worked on, what they know and what they're struggling in, and it'll make a PERFECT chart to include in her end-of-year portfolio for assessment.

Summer School Day Counter

Cate - 7 days | Sam - 6 1/2 days

I joined a Facebook Bible Journaling group a month or so ago. I was inspired by the creativity of all the beautiful artwork and lettering that I decided to try journaling myself. Some choose do to the journaling right inside their bibles, but I decided to stick to a small hard-cover notebook for mine. I'm not an artist. I'm creative and enjoy handicrafts and photography, but drawing and painting has never been my thing. I'm quite happy with my first attempt though!

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

"When one teaches, two learn." - Robert Heinlein

Wednesday Hodgepodge: Red, White & Blue

1. On Saturday July 4th America celebrates her Independence. (If you're not American,  feel free to answer in terms of a national holiday in your own country) What is your favorite thing about the day? Your favorite food on the 4th? Do you fly a flag at your house? Fireworks-yay or nay? Any special plans this year?

We're going tent camping with our kids. I'm SUPER excited as it's been quite a number of years that we've done something special as a family on the 4th. We may even get to see fireworks! The weather looks perfect. We'll be fishing, swimming, kayaking, grilling, and sleeping under the stars. I can't wait!

2. What's something you recently got for free?

The MOST recent something we got for free was a pair of "old school" oar locks from my Dad for our new-to-us aluminum boat. We have a trolling motor, but there are lakes and ponds that prohibit them, and usually these spots have the best fishing. So, we have oars too. I grew up rowing a "punt" (i.e. rowboat). It's part of life living on a Maine lobstering village, but my husband grew up in in a farming family; rowing is a learning experience for him. (You're doing great, honey!)

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3.  The Statue of Liberty, The Liberty Bell, The Washington Monument, or Mount Rushmore...how many on the list have you seen? What is your favorite historical American monument, and why? 

I've visited the Statue of Liberty in high school and the Washington Monument (and Washington D.C.) numerous times as an adult. I haven't seen Mount Rushmore or the Liberty Bell (except in pictures). Favorite? It's not a monument, but I love our national parks! President Roosevelt did a GREAT thing my preserving land for natural enjoyment.

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4. When it comes to the news are you more ostrich (stick my head in the sand) or hog (they have room to take a whole lot in)? How much attention have you given the recent news reports regarding ISIS and the acts of terror they've perpetrated against those who do not share their beliefs or support their cause?

Well, without cable I don't get a chance to see much news...and I'm not sure I want to. Such a depressing thing! Most of my news comes from FB, and we know how accurate that can be. (Insert sarcasm.) But it's good to be informed about what is going on at home and abroad as it does effect us. (CNN Student News on-line is a GREAT resource for current events without the harshness of cable news. It's geared towards middle and high school students, but I'm, er, not that much older...) But for the question: I guess I'm an...

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5. We're talking plain ice cream...vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry? Choose one.

Chocolate! When you're a chocolate-oholic, there is no other choices! LOL

6. Share a song you love containing the word 'stars' in the lyrics or title?

7. Describe and/or say goodbye to June with an acrostic. 

June was cool and

Under drizzle day after day.

Now? We're  

Excited for warmth and sun and days at the lake.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

For those of us in the U.S.

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Join Joyce from From This Side of the Pond for Wednesday Hodgepodge. Share in the randomness!

Happy Hodgepodging!

Memory Monday: A Sticky Situation

I'm linking up to Memory Monday at Retired, Not Tired today. This week's writing prompt is: A Vacation Memory. If you would like to share your favorite (or not so favorite vacation memory) head on over and link up too.

_____________________________________

Have you ever camped? in a tent? with extended family? during a major thunderstorm? I think you see where I am going here...

Jake, Cati, Sam, and I headed out to a campground resort nearby with my parents. Although a campground resort has awesome extras like boat rides around the lake and a mini waterpark, sites are eensy-teensy (to squeeze in as many campers as possible). The 6 of us shared a postage stamp-sized camp size with a firepit, wooden picnic table, 1 vehicle and a 6 person dome LL Bean tent. (Our 2nd vehicle was parked in a nearby lot.) There wasn't much walking room between anything on our site.

At least until my parents camper van broke down and had a couple of overnights at the garage instead. Guess where we all slept (kind of)?

Now, our tent was rated for 6 people, but the rule of thumb around these parts is to divide that number in half for more comfortable quarters. Add in air mattresses, a busy box for Sam, clothing and personal toiletry items for 6, and it was cramped cozy.

Our neighbors, in a HUGE 5th wheeler big enough for 10 and encroaching onto our site, were kind enough to warn us of an incoming violent thunderstorm racing across from New Hampshire. Worried about the predicted high winds and downpours, we staked down the tent, covered it with a large tarp and staked that down as well in a chaotic, unorganized panic with 3 active kids, er, helping. Why we didn't just pile into our one working vehicle and head home or walk down to the rec hall and hang out is beyond me. We were going to "ride it out" though!

When the storm arrived we were all piled into the tent like sardines in a tin can. Fortunately, the storm wasn't that bad and we got through the night. (Unfortunately, a tree did come down on a pop-up camper in New Hampshire, killing two.)

But our night wasn't without mishaps. 

My Dad had staked down the tarp so well that getting in and out of the tent was like escaping a straight jacket, only a lot of wiggling and twisting was it possible. And I had 3 young kids, including a toddler who needed frequent trips to the potty (under the "cover" of  an umbrella HE insisted on holding). Stumbling around multiple air mattresses, too many people and STUFF, and crawling out a partially opened tent door without getting muddy was exhausting (and a wee bit frustrating).

With the mesh ventilation covered, we got mighty hot and muggy inside that tent. It was summer. Although not particularly hot temperature wise, that many soggy people in a 10x10 tent made for a sticky situation.

And then air mattresses started deflating. Have you ever slept on hard-packed ground riddled with tree roots? Yeah.

But did we laugh! We shared stories, growing up ones, other mishaps and adventures (that you only see the humor in years later), embarrassing moments, and snuggled together as one big happy (sweaty) family onto the 2 inflated air mattresses. Sometimes you just need to make the very best of a sticky situation!

Our Camping Trip

Our first camping trip in 2 seasons was a success! And although the kids and I enjoyed TENTING, we're not ready to give up our pop-up camper! LOL

We arrived on Monday afternoon and set up our site in 30 minutes flat! (But we're SPARSE campers compared to some.) Having 3 "older" kids to pitch the tent, blow up air mattresses and set up camp chairs made for a quick camp set-up! Lovin' the teamwork!

Our LL Bean Ultimate 6 Person Dome Tent

Our Air Mattress Beds with a Sleeping White Pine (Left Side) 

Our Camp Closet for Clothing (Right Side)

Our days were spent swimming in the pool since we had several SCORCHER days! We're all tanned up (despite sunblock) from HOURS and HOURS swimming. And I was excited to see that Balsam Fir's ability to swim has come along by leaps-and-bounds already this summer!

We enjoyed evening walks after campfire dinners along the brook and pond. We saw turtles, a Luna Moth and dragonfly, and a PORCUPINE...and heard several different kinds of birds and frogs.

Balsam Fir Sitting Atop a HUGE Tire at
the Playground by the Brook in PJs

Brown Saddlebag Dragonfly - Identified by Entomologist
Nick B (who at 9 Knows More Than I Will EVER Know About
Insects LOL)

The Brook that Meanders Through the Campground 

Dusk at the Pond

And we enjoyed quiet evenings around the campfire, reading and talking and listening to birds.

((sigh)) And now back to MOUNTAINS of dirty laundry! LOL