It's HomeschoolEstore's 2nd Annual

"Black Friday Giveaway"
Download up to 20 titles for FREE

Nov 23rd-Nov 24th! (9:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m. CST)

I got an affiliate email yesterday about this and want to be sure to post it before things get TOO busy. There are some great FREE downloads to be had through this company. I keep the affiliate code in my sidebar so that I can see what's new each week, I don't think I've ever earned a dime through it. LOL All that is said so you KNOW that I'm not saying "do this" because I'll earn a thing - these are FREEBIES! ::snort:: The price below the link is the normal price - the amount you will save if you download between the 23rd - 24th as stated above.

Christian Cottage
Early Settlers
$13.99

Grapevine Studies
New Testament Timeline Booklet Teacher Edition
$2.06

Brandenburg Studies
Beric the Briton--an Illustrated G.A.Henty Novel
$9.65

Fortunately For You Books
Pockets of Time for Viking Ships at Sunrise: Magic Treehouse #15
$2.09

Evan Moor
Daily Problem Solving: Math for Winter, Grades 2-3
$14.95

Middaysnack.com
Words We See: The A's
$3.50

Living on a Dime
Plan Ahead Leftovers eBook
$5.95

TheTeachersDesk.info
The Inca
$4.00

Bahama Blessings
"Seaside" Fabulous Household Forms
$3.95

Knowledge Box Central
Thanksgiving File Folder Games Package 1
$12.00

Connect The Thoughts
Upper School Science I – Science Basics
$25.00

Connect The Thoughts
Lower School Science I – Science Basics
$10.00

Soli Deo Gloria Resources
World War II - The War That Changed the World
$9.00

NotebookingPages.com
Ancient Mesopotamia Notebooking Pages
$6.95

NotebookingNook.com
Great Inventors - James Watt
$1.99

Graham Family Ministries
Decorated Journal Pages ~ For The Whole Family!
$8.00

Homeschooling With Index Cards
50 State Card Set
$2.25

R-an-K Enterprises
What a Scientist Must Know
$4.87

Live and Learn Press
You're a Mean One, Mr Grinch!
$18.00

Fruitful Vine
Bible Study for Homeschool Mom - Sample
$1.99

Thanksgiving Day, 2007
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

"Americans are a grateful people, ever mindful of the many ways we have been blessed. On Thanksgiving Day, we lift our hearts in gratitude for the freedoms we enjoy, the people we love, and the gifts of our prosperous land.

Our country was founded by men and women who realized their dependence on God and were humbled by His providence and grace. "

You can read this year's proclamation in its entirety here.

Appointments

This is an entry for those who have worried about my advancing decriptitude.

I have made appointments.

Tomorrow - Migraines

Dec 5 - Eyes

Mammogram - it seems the imaging center and the base have different ideas about how often I should have a mammogram. Sorry, Darhia, I dodged this one. The imaging center said yearly. The base says the current norm is once every 2 years until you are 50 even if you have a family history - unless otherwise indicated. I asked if the letter from the imaging center indicates that there is something there they want to check yearly....they asked if I'd noted any changes. Nope. There is some small chance of too much radiation being bad as well - so I will not be getting these yearly unless I note a change or until I turn 50. The base DID call back and say that if *I* wanted to have a yearly mammogram for my peace of mind, because of family history, they would allow it. I told them my peace of mind was just fine but I'd talk to Mike. He hasn't said anything - so I think I'm free for a year.

THEN the OB offbase called me. It seems I scheduled my yearly appointment with her on Nov 16, 2006... yes, SIX! WHY would I schedule a year out? Why would I schedule it the week of Thanksgiving? I was shocked. I was to do that today - but the base says no. They now have a nurse that will do those for us on base and I can't go off base. I scheduled that for next week.

I should soon be done with all the yearly maintenence issues.::snort::

TEXAS NUGGETS or

Life of a Pecan

Miss Ivey, a wonderful lady from chapel, asked if the kids would like a nature outing to her backyard. It seems that the Pecan Trees have gone wild this year due to all the rain we had in the spring. The squirrels were not up to the job this year. We had noticed around town that the ground was crunching. ::snort:: People pick up pecans from parks, the chapel yard etc. I had resisted buying Pecans last week because of the price, so this seemed like a God-send all the way around. I told Miss Ivey that before we'd moved down here I always thought Pecans came halved in a plastic bag. ::snort::

After the dentist and McDonald’s yesterday, Jared, Arielle, Nolan, Zander, Stacia and I, headed for Miss Ivey’s. We had an hour and a half before I had to start making our way to speech.

We don’t know a lot about Pecans (other than we like them better than Walnuts and they make a great pie), but this is what we learned.

It all begins with a tree or two

The pods fall off the trees (Miss Ivey says that Pecan trees are ALWAYS dropping something on you:leaves, sap, pecans, bearded blooms)

These pods crunch underfoot - and must be picked up by either squirrels or humans. ::snort:: We all got into the act at this point.

Miss Ivey did have a great little gadget that we took turns using

They have a dry outer shell

Which begins to split open at some point

To reveal what Zander (and now the rest of us will probably always call) TEXAS NUGGETS - this will end the debate on how to pronounce Pecan ::snort::

Someone got hungry for a snack and cracked this one open and ate it right on the spot....ah the memories of strawberry and blackberry picking. I apologize, Mom. ::snort::

With visions of Uncle Bill's Chocolate Pecan Pie dancing in our heads - we quickly cleaned Miss Ivey's yards and netted 8 walmart bags, 36 lbs, or 2 6 gal buckets of Pecans. For a bit healthier version of Uncle Bill's pie click here. I sure thought of him a lot as we picked and cracked - he would have been thrilled with all this bounty.

In one of our forays yesterday I purchased two "Texas Nut Crackers"

Mike came home and declared a good ole set of Yankee pliers would work better

Ah - the end result - still not quite enough for two pies; but we'll keep cracking


Notes: At $6 - 10 a lb to buy LOCAL pecans this is going to save us quite a chunk. It was a gorgeous day for being out in the weather and doing something productive. I woke up wondering why the back of my thighs were so sore. I wondered if Leslie's walking DVD had finally caught up with me. While writing this up, I realized there are great exercise benefits to picking Pecans too!