Trailguide to Learning Books

Yes, I know its summer vacation. However, we took a lot of time off throughout the year for various things; So, we are still plugging along with Paths of Settlement. We really love Trailguide. We are definitely planning to continue with Paths of Progress as soon as Settlement is finished. I'm super excited about the new high school supplement they came out to go along with PoP. That means Mikayla can continue to study right along with us!!! One thing I don't like is, printing all of the pages. I thought it would work well, but it doesn't. There are days we don't do PoS because I didn't think ahead and print the pages the night before. So yesterday, I printed all five lessons we have left in the unit we are working on. We've already finished the first lesson. Today, I took them to an office store to see how much it would cost to have them spiral bound. Less than $15 for all three!!!! I think I am going to love this. No more keeping track of papers, worrying about whether they filed them in the right place in their binders, no more enormous binders sitting on the table, etc. I think I should have printed the papers two-sided. But, I didn't Perhaps next time I'll try that. In case you're wondering, I ordered PoP papers already printed. :-)

Testing Something New

For some reason, I never blog from my laptop. I always blog from my phone. Do you know how much of a pain it is to type out a blog post on a touch screen? Yesterday, at the IDEA curriculum fair, I purchased a keyboard for my Ipad. I'm not sure how much I'll like it. The keys are small and I have man sized hands. I'm hoping I'll get used to it and it'll increase my blogging!!!

Belated Birthday

Mikayla was finally able to have her birthday party with her friends. It was a masquerade party. I love this picture I took of her. She's growing up to be a beautiful young lady with a tender heart.

Determination much?

Thursday was take your daughters/sons to work day. I worked a few hours in the floral department that day. I took Mikayla and Liberty, but only seem to have one picture on my phone. I'll have to get the pictures my friend took with her camera. Liberty was helping blow up balloons for an order, which can be a bit scary. Her face is hilarious...

Goats!!!

These baby goats came to live with us about a month ago. We are having a BLAST with them! They are still bottle fed, which is hilarious!!!!! They go absolutely crazy for their bottles. Their names are Sugar and Spice. They will be market projects for the fair. Currently, they both fit in an extra large dog crate, though they won't for much longer. We are working in their "barn" which is really an outdoor shed, but I think it'll work great. We are really enjoying these goats much more than we though we would.

Busy

There has been a lot going on around here these days. I've picked up a part time job, so we are all adjusting to that. Thankfully my hours are fairly flexible. This week I worked 4 days...surprisingly, we accomplished all of the school work that needed to be done!!! Praise The Lord! I should mention, when I say 4 days, that equated to 19 hours. Big whoop. Ha!
The girls have been helping me with some decorating projects. Katie painted the bathroom for me. They've both been working on painting the downstairs bathroom. I'll share that another day.
This bathroom is our upstairs bathroom. We painted it the same color yellow as my bathroom, which we painted last spring. I added new towel and toilet paper holders, as well as a new medicine cabinet, shower curtain and pictures. I also painted the light. I should have taken a before picture, but I didn't. It was an ugly silver that was rusting. I used a brown hammered metal paint. I LOVE how it came out!!!
We have no towel storage upstairs. I know, it's silly. We do have a linen closet downstairs, but it's a sorry excuse for a linen closet at this point. I found the idea using the crates on Pinterest, of course!!! I painted the crate the same color as the light. I am going to make another crate exactly the same and install it directly above this one. I also plan to get a new vanity and sink. Hopefully soon. :-).
We are having a blast finally decorating our house!!!

Granola

  

I've been looking for a tasty granola recipe for quite some time now. One that requires normal ingredients. This one fits the bill! Benjamin declared this my best granola yet! Thanks to a friend who posted the recipe on Facebook. I'm sharing it here so I know where to find it in case I misplace it. :-)

Spiced Vanilla Granola

4 cups thick rolled oats

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 C freshly ground flax seed

1 C chopped nuts

1/3 C coconut oil

1/4 C maple syrup or agave

1 Tbsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In large bowl mix together dry ingredients. In saucepan, combine coconut oil, sugar and syrup. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring regularly. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over oat mixture, stirring well.  Transfer to cookie sheets.  Bake, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. Cool completely. I added a handful of chocolate chips. Yumm-o!!!!!

Isn't the glass jar I used cute? I got it for Christmas. I believe from Katie. I just love the chalkboard label!

There has been some decorating taking place. I'll share soon. Rumor has it my bathroom will be painted by the weekend!