New Toy!!!

Yesterday, we brought a new toy home with us.



Yup, that is a Nutrimill. Mike and I have been talking about getting one for a while. He had no qualms with it, even though it is a bit spendy. His goal is for us to one day be self-sufficient. A Nutrimill is a step in that direction. HA! We did have trouble finding the kinds of wheat we were looking for in this little town. Thankfully, there are several places we can order from. For now, I will just have to deal with the Hard Red Wheat. Towards the middle of May I should have some Hard and Soft White Wheat.

The kids were wondering what exactly do wheat berries look like?



Pay no attention the the clutter in my kitchen. I do not have near enough counter space in this house.



I just ground a little flour to begin with, since I had no idea how much flour the amount of wheat berries I put in there would actually make.



Not bad for my first loaf of bread with freshly milled flour!



It was a little dry for my liking. The kids didn't mind. They ate half of the loaf for dinner! I've pretty much decided it's not worth my time to make only one loaf. I have to do at least two at a time. If you have a 100% whole wheat recipe that you love, please do share it with me!

A Little Easter Fun!

Easter was pretty low key around here this year. We did baskets, but they were pretty small. We are attempting at cutting back at holidays. I've went overboard for too many years. We are now paying the consequences. I hadn't planned on making a dinner on Easter since we made it the weekend before while Mike was still here. We were invited to our friends house for dinner, which was VERY enjoyable!!!! No family pictures were taken that day. This is all there is...





I should tell you, I've been sewing. You may see a sewing post within the next couple of days. :-)

Edited to fix the photo link!

Spring in Alaska

There are many different things that remind people Spring is on its way. Possibly flowers blooming, seedling starting, trees budding, snow melting, mud puddles, etc. For me, one of the most prevalent things that let me know Spring is on its way is the honking of geese! They pretty much honk over-head all night. I hear them when I'm laying in bed getting ready to go to sleep, and I hear them before I'm even out of bed in the morning. We enjoy going to Creamers Field to view the different water fowl species. We saw a couple of swans this visit through the binoculars, but weren't able to get a good picture with the camera.





I just love this picture of Benjamin...

Prom

Devin went to prom Saturday evening. He said he had a good time, although he wasn't very forth-coming with information. :p None-the-less, he cleaned up pretty well. I can't believe my oldest kid is old enough to go to Junior prom!

Is Your Day Well Planned?

Two years ago, I stumbled upon the Well Planned Day. The publisher was offering a sale at that time, so I decided to place an order. I had tried Homeschool Tracker Plus, as well as countless other attempts at planning our day, but hadn't found anything that worked the way I wanted it to. Can I just say that I LOVE the Well Planned Day?

Well Planned Day 2011-2012 Preview

There are pages for listing curriculum we're using, pages for keeping track of what books we're reading, what field trips we're planning, etc. There are even spaces for keeping track of budgets!!! Each planner can track up to 4 kids worth of homeschooling info. You can use it to keep track of attendance as well as grades. I like that there are articles and verses throughout the book. On each weekly pages, there is a space for meal planning, weekly activities and weekend activities. Have I told you how much I love this planner? I just received next years planner in the mail. I'll actually have to change things up a bit next year, as we'll be back to homeschooling 5 kids again, but I'll figure something out. I've never seen the high school planners, but more than likely one will be showing up on my doorstep soon. Happy Planning!!!!!

Trudging Along

It's been a couple of weeks since I've blogged, which doesn't please me. I don't want to go back to my old blogging habits. :p We've been busy lately, although I'm not exactly sure what has been taking up so much of our time. I did get a dishwasher installed, thanks to my husband! He did a GREAT job! He had never installed an appliance like that before, so I'm very proud of him! It is so nice to be able to start the dishwasher at night and waken to clean dishes!! My two biggest kids appreciate it as well. It sure does make their job easier! HA!
I have been doing a little knitting here and there, but not a ton. I was sick this week, which hasn't helped. I did read a book though. Heaven is for Real. If you haven't read it, do it. It'll certainly give you lots to think about!