Christmas Eve 2009

This morning everyone slept in except for me, but I was fine with it because the house was calm and peaceful. Then once everyone woke up we decided to head to IHOP for breakfast. Yummy pancakes, sausage, eggs, hashbrows were enjoyed by all. The morning has just been lazy with wrapping the last few Christmas gifts. I started teaching Zachary a new computer program called GIMP. GIMP is just like Photoshop but it is a FREE program. He really enjoyed it. Mark went into work for a couple of hours and is now home. I have painted a little bit more on Brooke's mural but I have to wait until Mark can watch her and I can lock her out of her room. Zachary and I will be headed into town to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks the squeakeel. Sorry don't know how to spell that. Later we will do our family tradition of heading over to Mark's Grandmothers house to exchange presents with her and have a huge feast.

Tonight we will make cookies for Santa and put those out with some milk. Mark and I will put the kids to sleep and put out Santa presents and socking stuffers. Then snuggle up and sleep until the morning when we are awoken by the kids climbing into our beds and screaming "Santa came, lets open presents".

Brooke's Mural in her Room

I wanted to put a mural of an Enchanted Forest in Brooke's room on one wall. However, everything I saw was toooo expensive. So, I decided to do it my self. No, I have never done this before but I love to doodle. So, the day before her 2nd b-day I drew the forest on her wall in pencil. Friday of that same week I started painting it. I haven't finished but I wanted to post pics as it is coming along.

I'm not sure how it will turn out but someone told me "That even if it isn't perfect Brooke will love it". This is so true! Every time she comes in and I have more of it finished she squeals in delight.

Right Side of Wall (you should be able to see a litte bit of what I drew in pencil.)

Left Side of wall

Birthdays...

Well, both of my children has had their birthdays. My little boy is no longer a little boy. On Nov. 30 he turned 8 years old. He is starting to cook somethings for himself that needs to be microwaved or in the toaster oven. He can even reach the top of the refrig. It seems that just a couple of years ago he was just a little thing. For his birthday he got a microscope that really cool. You connect it to the computer and view the images on the computer. He also got the 3rd book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.

My baby girl is growing up also. On Dec. 16 Brooke turned 2 years old. After getting her into her birthday dress and fixing her hair she looked so much older. She got a big girl doll house (it is taller than her), some dolls. She is learning so fast also. She already knows her letters and all their sounds. What a huge accomplished to achieve before turning 2.

After looking at my blog header I am going to have to change the pics. They no longer look like that anymore. Those pic are a year old. WOW! how time flies.

Pics (sorry some are sideways)

kids playing in the rain

Brooke 2009

Yes, she has a dirty mouth

She is toooooo cute!

This is some of the kids in Zachary's 3rd grade class playing a game.

Family went to the Arboretum to meet Zachary's TXVA Teacher. Brook looks at a waterfall.

Yep, he likes to pose for the camera.

The arboretum in Dallas is really pretty. Spring is always nice.

Neither one wanted to look at me nor did they want to sit by each other.

Zachary and his teacher Mrs. Layton (3rd grade)

Zachary shooting the bow at Mom and me Cubscout campout

Me shooting a bow at Mom & Me. This was really fun.

Pumpkin patch

Pumpkin patch

Zachary at mom and me (my lil model)

He thinks he is sooooo cute. Watch out girls.

Mom and me campout theme was Circus

Best Friends

Zachary posing in the sun. Oops should have gotten the sun out of your eyes.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

I would like to congratulate my son Zachary. He completed 3rd grade math 2 weeks ago and last week he started on 4th grade math. Good job on all the hard work and keep it up.


CONGRATS Zachary!

General Update

Hopfully I will have pictures up soon. Our old computer, the one that I usually upload pics from, is about to go. I am trying to download everything on CD's before it goes. life has been crazy! School, cubscouts, being a wife, being a mother, cleaning, church, family, deaths, and everything else I'm about to scream.

Mark will be headed out of town this weekend to visit a friend in New Orelans, Louisiana. He better be good! So, I am having a girls night out this Friday. I will be going to watch 2012 the movie (no i don't believe in the whole 2012 prophacy) but the movie should have some really good special effects. I am also thinking about heading to Longview on Saturday to do some shopping.

Shopping now that's another story. At this point I have to think about Zachary's Birthday, Brooke's Birthday and Christmas. To many presants to think about all at one time. November and December just gets crazy around here.

Birthdays will be done differently this year. We have decided to just do birthday parties with family. Then when Summer comes we will have one be Pool party with a bouncy house for Zachary's and Brooke's half birthday. Right now I am thinking no presants but maybe a can food item to donate to the food pantry.

A lot has happened

Well, I can't believe that it has been over a month since I blogged. Sorry guys! Well, this should be a long post.

Weight Lost Jorney:
Well, WW didn't work or I just wasn't into it. Then when school started up so did cub scouts and the ww meetings and cubscouts are on the same day at the same time. So, I couldn't go. Well, I am a huge Biggest Loser fan. I think I have only missed 1 season. Well, you know that thing they were on their arms, I have one. Yes, that is right I have one. So, if you see something on my arm it is called a bodyBugg. It is actually the coolest thing. I long onto my account and input my food for the day. It calculates how many calories I ate then I plug in my bodybugg and it calculates how many calories I burned for that day. If i am in a deficiet I am losing weight if I am in a surplus I am gaining weight. It will also tell me how much protein, fat, carbs, etc.. that I have eaten for that day.



3rd grade school: (Zachary)
Zachary is doing great. He loves the science even through he he way ahead of it. He is moving so fast in it that he will be finished probably by december. I have purchased an online program called www.Exploreelearning.com. It has both math and science. We will use it mainly for science. It goes from 3rd-12th grade for science. It is like doing all the hands-on experiments without actually buying all the materials to do them. He loves it and will actually do it on Saturdays.

He has completed all the math unit assessments but we skipped the lessons assessments and he is 37% finished with 3rd grade. I asked the teacher to move him up but she says he has to be 85% finished. UGH!!! So, we are blazing through the lessons assessments to get to 85% so that he can move up. He has only missed 5 or 6 questions total in 37%. Plus, if he can do the unit assessments then he understands the lessons assessments. I also think he will move fast with the 4th grade curriculum. With this program it looks as if mid-way through 5th is his actually level.
Zachary in Art class.Brooke in her brothers art class

Brooke:
Well, Brooke is growing leaps and bounds. Both physcially and mentally. She is in the 90% for her height. She is really verbal and loves to talk. She has also started potty training. She started when she was 20 months old. I say give her a couple more months and she will be potty traning. Wow!! It will be nice to have a child that is potty trained at 2 years old.

Sewing:

I have started sewing. I love making pillowcase dressing and skirts. Here is one that I made for a friend.

1st & 2nd day of 3rd grade

Ok, Yesterday was the beginning of 3rd grade at Texas Virtual Academy @ Southwest. TXVA is a virtual public school. Yesterday started off with an assembly in the auditorium. Now you may ask how do you do this at a virtual school. We do it on line using the program/website called Elluminate. Elluminate has a whiteboard where you can write or show powerpoint presentations. I can hear the speakers and type in my questions. There where 400 people there. Afterwards we did a small introductory lessons on how to use their online schooling system (which is pretty cool). Then Zachary started taking a reading test. The test will adjust to every question you answer wrong or right in order to pinpoint your grade level. So the test lasted 2 hours.

Today he did the math portion of the test and it adjusted the same way. It took him 2 hours and 40 min. to finish. At one point he had gotten into algebra questions like 4ab + b - a/b= with a=2 & b=4. He knew how to substitute the letters for the numbers but didn't know you multiply 4ab. So, the test adjusted down from that. We then did an introducation to learning their system. This program will be done for the first 10 days. Then he was got onto Study Island. It teaches math, reading and social studies in a game format. He really enjoyed it.

I don't know when we will find out the results of his 2 test. I hope it will be soon. But, we are off to a great start.

G/T in Texas: Is it Worth the Label?

In the state of Texas at some time during a child’s year in Kindergarten they are nominated by the teacher or the parent to get tested. This test will determine if your child is Gifted or not and if so will be placed into the G/T program at your child’s school. But is it worth getting tested?

Most schools have a G/T pullout program. This program is for children who have tested into the gifted range. These children are the top 2% of the children in the school. They are pulled out for 45 min. once a week. The time in which the child is pulled out is during an elective course like P.E., Spanish or Computers. This is the only service that G/T children receive currently.

When the child is pulled out they are normally pulled out during a class in which they would be learning new material or a class in which they enjoy. Children are not pulled from a class during a subject in which they have mastered for that grade.

The G/T pullout program focuses on critical thinking skills. This is a skill that all children G/T or not would benefit from. The G/T pullout program should focus on the subject or area that the child is gifted and help the child to continue learning and advancing in that subject/area.

So, if a G/T child is not being helped in the subject or area that this child is gifted and is being pulled out of classes in which they enjoy and are learning new material then why would any parent allow their child to be label as gifted? There is no benefit to the child’s giftedness when labeled G/T and placed in the pullout program.

If G/T children in the state of Texas really received help in the subject or area that they are advanced in the gifted child would flourish. The state of Texas needs to overhaul how they treat our brightest and smartest children. These children need subject acceleration, grade acceleration, early entrance into Kindergarten, counseling and peers that are on their same academic level be it the same age or not.

Currently the state of Texas is teaching our gifted children that it isn’t what you know it is how old you are that gets you through school. Until the state stops discriminating by age within the schools our gifted children will not receive an acceptable education through the public school system.

Weight Update

Ok, I skipped the last 2 weigh-ins. One I forgot and the second one I went to the doctor. So, I went yesterday. I have gain 1.4 pounds but after a cousins reunion it could have been a lot more. Goal for this week is to write everything that I eat down.

Voodoo Grove

Voodoo Grove

I don't know if this will work or not. Here is a link to a YouTube video of a great band. They were a local band from college (NSU). They went down to New Orleans and dissolved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyLEm2lcIlM

2009 - 2010 School Books Arrived

I was so excited last night when the UPS guy showed up to my house. He had two huge boxes from K12.com that had Zachary's school books in them. I started opening them up and was excited about some of the subjects like Health, P.E, and Art. However, when I came to the science I laughed. The little readers that came with it looks really neat however, the textbook is the same textbook that we did last year. So, I don't know how that is going to work if I have to ask Zachary to re-read the same textbook that he read last year. I also looked at the math and it was way below Zachary's level. He ended last year working on high level multiplication, division and fractions and many more. This book starts with adding 5+5 and then teaching how to add w/carrying, subtract with borrowing, beginning mulitplication, beginning division, beginning measurements and so forth.

I haven't looked at the Language Arts stuff so I don't know what level it is compared to what level Zachary was doing last year. I did look at the Social Studies book and it is the next grade level that we have at the house that we looked and read some in last year to get Zachary ready for the 2nd grade CBE's.

I don't know who Zachary's teacher wil be yet but when I do I will have plenty to discuss with her/him. What do we do with his Science and Math? Hopefully I will find out soon who his teacher will be and we can beginning to start dealing with these issues.

A New Me!

Per someone's request they want to know updates. These updates will be short and to the point.

So, here is update 1. I have lost 2.4 pounds the past week. I have lost a total of 7 pounds if I go back to when I started losing weight.

A New Me!

Ok, this is going to be a very honest post. It is time for a New Me! I am 50 pounds overweight. Yes, you heard me 50 pounds. I currently weigh more than I have ever weighed in my entire life (except for when I was pregnant but that doesn't count). I currently weigh 202 pounds. The idea weight for me is 150 pounds. So, I have 52 pounds to lose. How am I going to do this you may ask? Well, with a lot of hard work. I joined Weight Watchers last Thursday. I have done this several times but the one time that I got serious I lost 30+ pounds. So, I know this program works. I have joined a boot camp that meets Monday, Wednesday, and Thurday at 6:00am and last for 45 min. I plan on walking, swimming or weight training on Tuesday and Thursday of each week. I have a friend that is doing atleast the WW with me too and is keeping me accountable. I also have giving this to the Lord. I have prayed about this and fasted about this and I know that it is going to work b/c He is going to help me. I don't care about getting skinny but what I do care is about my health and how I am a role model for my children. I have to love myself and take care of myself so that I may take care fo my family.





So, there it is out. I have stated everything.

Here is a before shot w/my precious little girl. That fat face is history!

Wordless Sunday

First two weeks of Summer 09

Well the first two weeks of Summer has been busy for Zachary. The first week he went off to Walt Disney World in Florida with his Grandma (Kissy) and his Aunt Pookie. They had a blast and came back with lots of good stories. One of those is that when Zachary was waiting for the airplane in DFW he started talking to a boy behind him. The boy is 6 years old and was headed to Walt Disney World too. Zachary got his email address and the boys said they would write each other (ok email each other). I missed by boy greatly but enjoyed being with just Brooke.

Brooke and I at that time headed off to Dallas for some girl fun. We left on Thursday morning and went shopping. For lunch we went to RainForest Cafe. When Zachary was this age he didn't like RainForest Cafe however Brooke loved it. She loved all the animal noises and the lighting. We then went and babysitted for a Friend of mine. In turn we slepted over at their house. The next day was more shopping. I found some really neat cloth at JoAnns and could have stayed in there for hours. But, we had to leave and go meet a friend at her house. We stayed there and had lunch and chated for 2 hours. We made tinative plans to go back to Dallas and go with her and her 2 daughters to Medival Times and to the water park close to her house.

This week was also busy. Brooke started MDO and was away from me for 6 hours for the first time. She enjoyed it and did very well. She will continue to attend on Monday throughout the Summer and then go Monday and Fridays when school starts up. Zachary started swimming lessons but the lessons were for beginners and he is past that point. So, we stopped group swimming lessons and now he will take private Swimming lessons starting next week for 5 days. Tuesday Zachary went to Cub Scout Day Camp. It went from 8:00am till 3:30 am Tuesday through Thursday. He was tired and exhusted but had a great time.

Next week starts our churches VBS which is really a sports camp. Zachary will be doing swimming lessons from 3:30 till 4:00 and then VBS from 6:45 till 9:00pm. I will be volunteering at the church for the younger kidos VBS. Brooke will be attending VBS with me but in her own class. I think I will take PJ's for her to change into b/c 9:00pm is late for her to be out.

Well, Summer has begin. Zachary is off and running with everything he is doing for the Summer. Brooke is now walking and is becoming a very independent little girl. And the weather is already getting into the upper 90's during the day.

No TV, Internet, Wii week and Dress Making

I decided that this week (5 days) we would go without the TV, Internet and Wii. We listened to the radio. I did a short story on Thomas Edison and Electricity and we will be making a light bulb and an electricity game tomorrow. Zachary read more books and played a lot outside. Brooke played with her big brother and by herself. We also all played together. I have read 1/2 of Swiss Family Robinson (unabridged). It is a really good book and different from the movie. I also made a dress for Brooke. Yes, I sewed. This is my frist attempt and completed attemt at making clothing. All in all, I think we will cut the TV and computer off more so that we can read more and just be together.

Brooke in the dress I made.

My little model!

Oak Tree Down

About a week ago we had a really bad storm go through during the night. The rain was pounding our bedroom windows I could hardly sleep. When we awoke in the morning it was still raining a little bit but not to bad. Mark had left early to go to a Chamber meeting. When I walked into the kitchen and looked out of the bay windows the huge oak tree was down on the ground. I thanked God for the direction the tree fell. If it had fell the opposite way it would have hit the house. I went outside to check to see if it went across the road but it hadn't. God's hand must have been over our house that night. I had been asking Mark to cut the tree down b/c you could go up to it and pull bark off of it. I told him it was rottening but he said it has leafs so it is still alive. Guess I got what I wanted!

Here are some pics of when it first fell. It has now but cut down, atleast most of it.

Dad and Lad 2009

A few weekends ago Mark and Zachary made the trip to go to Dad and Lad. Dad and Lad is where the father and son go camping together at camp dierks. Zachary is a wolf cub this year and this was the 2nd dad and lad they had attended. They had a really great time but said the food was just ok. Zachary loved the food pizza's and hot dogs. Here are a few pictures that Mark had taken.



If you have a young boy please consider scouts. It isn't as much time commentment as you think nor does it cost a lot. The boys develop friendships and learn a lot of skills. I have been a den mother for the past 2 years and will be the den mother for the Bears (Zachary's group) next year and I have enjoyed working with both my boys and their parents.

Update on Zachary's Schooling

I checked with Connections Academy which is my first choice for Virtual Public School to see if they had gotten the Out-Of-District letter signed by my superintendent. Well, They had not. They said that they were going to send a letter to my superintendent from the superintendent of the Houston ISD. This letter would also be specific to Zachary and no other child in the MPISD. Hopefully with the letter individualize the superintendent will sign the letter.

The other thing I found out is that Zachary was accepted into 3rd grade next year and also was accepted into the Gifted Language Arts, Math and Science courses. I am so proud of him for this achievement. In order to qualify for the gifted classes he had to take a 4th grade placement test. He pass these test with a 100%. What this says is that Zachary (Technically a 1st grader by age) is ready for 4th grade work. But what I love about Connections Academy is that they are keeping him with his age mates (somewhat) but letting him go deeper and faster with his subjects. The math program allows him to do 2 years of math in one year. The science makes him think deeper and do projects. The Language Arts allows him to do a Literature Study. He will also be able to talk to other gifted children.

I am considering if the school isn't able to get the superintendents signature to take this matter to the school board. I am hoping they will see that they don't offer these types of gifted classes and will sign the paper so Zachary can attend.

Zachary's Schooling

While I was looking into enrolling Zachary into TXVA (virtual public school) I discovered that there was another virtual public school in Texas. This one is called Connections Academy and is offered through the Houston ISD to all students in the state of Texas.

After reading more about CA (Connections Academy) they offered more in the way of gifted education. They have a gifted Math, Science and Language Arts course. The school is for 3-8 grades. I contacted them and they said they would except Zachary is they thought his course of study this year was equal to 2nd grade. Well, I knew he would get in. I started gathering all the paper work. One of the papers they needed to enroll Zachary was a letter signed by my local school district superintendent.

I took the letter to get signed. I called to see if he had signed it and he wanted to talk to me. He said that he needed to let his legal team look at it before he signed it because it was a blanket statement that covered all students in his district. I told him it wasn't and it was only for Zachary. He said he would call me back.

He called back and told me about another virtual school program that was really good and I should check into that for Zachary. I did check into it and it is for High School students. I told him this and he said "Oh, I didn't know". Then why did he suggest it for my 7 year old son? UGH!

So, he called me back a few times. We exchanged words as to me saying that the public school didn't do anything for Zachary's academic needs and him saying they did. He doesn't know what really happened in Kindergarten. He called me back and said he wasn't going to be signing that paper. That he didn't want any kid in his district to be going to another school that was out of his district. That the schools here offered an excellent education. However he did say that the district didn't have the funds needed to provide the gifted classes that this virtual school offered. His other concerned was over the funding. If Zachary goes to CA then Houston ISD getting the funding for Zachary and not the local school district. He didn't want his funding money to go to another district. I told him that right now he wasn't getting any funding for Zachary anyway and that he was more concern about the money then my son's education. At first he said he wasn't but then he agreed he was. It all came down to MONEY.

So, without his signature Zachary can not attend CA. So, I completed the enrollment for TXVA. Zachary is currently set up to attend TXVA next year. He will also be in 3rd grade. We have gotten a one year grade skip for Zachary, however I don't think that will be enough for Math. I am going to try to get him into 4th grade math.

I am not happy with the way the current superintendent has delt with this issue. To put MONEY ahead of a child's education is not right. My child may not be attending the local school district right now but may be in the future. It will be with my voting that I will change my local school district.

Happy 10th Wedding Anniversary

Mark and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on April 17. We left the kidos with his sister, Alison. We then traveled to Shreveport, Louisiana for a long weekend. We arrived at Sam's Town, who had comp. our room for both nights, check-in and then headed to the steak house.

The steak house was great! It was very nice and quiet. Mark had the Ribeye and I had Blackend Snapper with a crawfish cream cheese sauce. We split an order or chesse grits w/red pepper and grilled asparagus. We then had split dessert.

After such a nice meal we headed to the to play the slots. Mark showed me a lot of the new slots and how to play some of the table games. The last time I was in a casino they still used the coins. Well, they have taken the coins out and it is all computerized. We did sit down to a blackjack table and enjoyed ourselves for a long while until we ran out of money. We decided to go ahead and head to bed. This was at 11:30pm.

Well, the next day I just couldn't sleep in. So, I got ready and went downstairs to the coffee shop with a book. Mark eventually joined me. We walked around outside a while and then had a big breakfast. After breakfast we got the car and went to the boardwalk. The boardwalk has all these shopping places, restaurants, boweling alley and movie theater. We shopped some and walked a lot.

We then headed to an Italian place for Lunch. It was starting to sprinkle on us but we didn't care. We had a caprse salad and a margarita pizza. The pizza was made like we had had when we went to Italy. The owner is from Italy and he had something on the deck. By this time the rain was coming down in sheets. I realized that the man had a huge block of ice. When we asked about it he said that he was going to carve the ice in a face. We left very satisfied.

We then went back to the boardwalk and watched the movie "Knowing". If you haven't seen it go, it was really good. We then walked around more and did some more shopping. We then went to eat at Coplands Cheescake Bistro. We had Cheese dip, Cesear salad, and hot wings the size of turkey legs.

We then went back to Sam's Town and went to bed. I sleep in till 9:00am. I do not remember the last time I sleep in for that long. We got up and Mark went for a run. I went to the coffee shop and read my book. We did a little gambling and then went and packed up. We headed to Barnes and Noble and looked around for a while. Afterwards we went to Superior Bar and Grille for Lunch around 1:00pm. They have the best fajitas in the country. We then headed home.

What a great 10th wedding anniversary!

First Family Campout

Friday I packed everything that the whole family would need for our first campout. Mark and Zachary has gone to Dad and Lad and Zachary and I have gone to Mom and Me but this was the first campout that the entire family was together, including Brooke. The campout was with the other families from Zachary's Cub Scout Pack.

Brooke, Zachary and I arrived at Lake Bob Sandlin Stat Park around 1:30pm. I set up camp by myself. And NO it didn't fall! Another family showed up shortly afterwards and the boys played. We went on a short nature walk and then came back and relaxed. Other campers started arriving around 3:30pm and all the boys had a blast running around and acting crazy. Mark got there around 5:00pm.

The ladies started setting up the food tables for dinner around 5:00pm and I got started cooking 44 hamburger patties and 20 hotdogs. After dinner the boys played in the dark with glow sticks while the adults sat around the campfire and talked.

Brooke started getting sleepy around 9:00pm so our family went ahead and got ready for the night. The others were still up till 10:00pm which made it difficult for Mark and I to go to sleep. But the kidos where off to sleep very fast despite all the screaming outside our tents. Apparently someone cut open one of the glow sticks and it got on the dog that was there. Then everyone started cutting them open and putting it on each other and playing like they were infecting each other.

I sleep ok except for the fact that Brooke was in my sleeping bag with me and I was falling off the side of the blow up mattress. About 5:00am this morning Zachary crawled onto the blow up mattress and said he was cold. So, I feel off the mattress completely. I felt of Brooke and she was running fever. I estimated it to be atleast 102. So, I went to the bathroom and then came back and got Brooke. We left the camp grounds around 5:30am. Once home I gave her some medicine and we laid down in my bed together until 8:30am. Now that was the best 2 hours of sleep all night.

Mark and Zachary stayed and had pancakes for breakfast. The boys played while the men talked around the campfire. Then a park ranger came and talked to the boys about local snakes and fishing. Did you know that you can fish off of any bank or dock in any state park without having a fishing lic. We didn't know that. Mark packed the campsite up and loaded everything into his car. Thankfully we had 2 cars at the park.

So, as a first family campout this wasn't the best. Brooke got sick and Zachary is coughing too. Maybe next time we go camping it will be better!

And OH, by the way I didn't take any pictures. I did bring my camera but was to into the moment. But atleast taking the camera is a good step. Usually I forget the camera. Maybe next time I will actually take pictures.

Savings on groceries and family update

Yes, I know I haven't blogged in a while. Having only 1 computer and not being able to do anything with pictures is keeping me away from blogging. Oh, and also being soooo busy.

Family Update
Brooke was sick with a bad virus. Her fever got over 105. We took her to see the doc twice and pretty much it just had to run its course. She is better and doing fine. She has actually started to walk. She has taken 2-5 steps by herself and she will walk for a bit holding one of my hands. She also has a new phrase " Oh, Man". If any of you have kids you know where she get's this phrase from. Yes, it is Dora or more specificly Swipper. She just loves that show.

Zachary has been very busy. He is learning his multiplication tables, he just received his Wolf badge from cubscouts (so next year he will be a Bear), and we just participated in a Geography Fair in which he did Jamaica.

Grocery Savings
Ok, ladies if you want to save some money here you go. This is at CVS. This is from Money Savings Mom.

Good only through Tuesday) Buy 1 Irish Spring Body Wash 15-18 oz. at $4.99, Get $4.99 ECBs (Limit 1)
Use $0.50/1 coupon from the 3/15 SmartSource insert
Free plus $0.50 overage after coupon and ECBs

Buy 1 Dry Idea deodorant at $2.99, Get $2 ECB (Limit 1)
Use $2/1 coupon here
Free plus a $1 overage after coupon and ECBs

Buy 1 Colgate Max Whitening Toothpaste (4.6-6 oz.) at $2.99, Get $2.99 ECBs (Limit 1)
Use $0.75/1 coupon from the 2/22 or 3/15 Smartource insert
Free plus $0.75 overage after coupon and ECBs

******NON-ECB DEALS******

Wheat Thins or Ritz Crackers are on sale for $1. Buy 2 and use the $2/2 coupon from the 1/25 SmartSource insert to get both packages free.


******MARCH ECB DEALS******

Buy 1 CVS Pharmacy Vitamin D 400, 100-ct. at $2.99, Get $2.99 ECBs (Limit 1)
Free after ECBs


If you don't understand what all this is gooogle Money Saving Mom and she will be able to explain it.

Zachary and School

Zachary has finished 2nd grade math. Today he is starting 3rd grade math with Abeka. The beginning will be a review but we are excited about the new workbook. Third grade Abeka math really focues on Multiplication, Division, and Measurements. He already knows his 0's, 1's, most of his 2's, 5's, 10's, and 11's multiplication facts. So, we are really going to focus him memeorizing the rest of 2's, 3's, 4's, 6's, 7,' and 9's. Once Zachary has all of his multiplication facts memeorized I don't believe that we will be in the 3rd grade math book for long. He just picks up math so fast.

Starting next year Zachary will be attending Texas Virtual Academy at Southwest www.k12.com/txva. This is a public school that is virtual. This means that he will be in public school next year but he will be at home. 25% of the curriculum is delivered through the computer the rest is through textbooks at home. So, it is homeschooling and public school all in one. TXVA provides the child with a computer, a stipend for internet service, and all the textbooks and extras that the child will need. The child will be assigned a teacher and she keeps up with with the child is doing. The virtual school doesn't start till 3rd grade and Zachary will be only a 2nd grader next year per his age. But, they have agreed that they will let him enroll into 3rd grade next year. Which I don't believe will be a problem. At the end of the year Zachary will have to take the TEKS test and the CBE's from Texas Tech University and make a 70's average on 3 of the 4 major subjects to past his grade level. By doing this if we ever decide to put Zachary into the public school system here in MP he will just transfer from TXVA to MP. MP school district will have to except the transfer b/c it is from one public school to another. They will also have to accept what every grade Zachary is in.

Update

Ok, there is a lot to update. The biggest update is that my big computer is dead. This is the computer that I downloded all the pictures I take. So, I can't add pictures right now and I have some interesting ones. So, no pictures till the big computer get fixed.

Guest
We had an interesting visitor the other day. Our dog was barking so we went outside to see who was at our house that early 7:00am. We got outside and discovered our dog had ran a racoon up to the roof of our shed. It was really interesting to see a racoon that close up. I took some really neat pictures of this visitor.

Brooke
Brooke has started standing up by herself without holding onto anything. We are thinking that she may be walking in the next 4 weeks.

Business
I have also closed down my company www.AbundantCrosses.com. The company that was hosting the website was charging me $30 a month and I wasn't bringing in enough money to cover that. I may bring the website back up later but with a different hosting company. Right now I am in the process of building a website for Titus County CARES. Once this is finished which I am hoping by tomorrow I will start on an old business of mine. I make flashcards and then sell them as .pdf files. I have partnered with www.CurrClick.com and they will sell my products along with my website. Right now you can preview and purchase at www.DiscountedMontessoriFlashcards.com but coming soon will be www.MontessoriCards.com.

Slow Fade Video

This song is so true.

Weekend in Big D

Saturday we went to Dallas. We got up and packed when we decided to and we left around 11:30 a.m. When we arrived in Dallas we ate at Razzoo's Cajun Cafe. We ate crawfish, french fries, catfish with a jalapeno sauce and rice. While the kidos has popcorn shrimp and fries. Brooke likes crawfish. But, I haven't found to much that that girl will not eat. The kids had milk to drink while Mark and I indulged in a New Orleans treat called a Hurricane. UMMMMM!

After eating we headed up to Frisco. We stayed in a really nice hotel called the Aloft. The Aloft is part of the W hotels. Actually they call it " a baby W". The room was very nice but very modern. The rooms have 10' foot ceilings. As you walk into your room the sink area is open (no walls). There is a sliding door to where the toilet and huge walk-in shower are located. As you go further into the room there was 2 queen size platform bed (no box springs). On the opposite wall was a huge flat screen tv, a long sitting bench and a table that looked at one of the two huge windows. You also had the ability to hook up cameras or any electronically device and it would play on the TV. Down on the first floor was a pool table, a sitting area with a fire place and a bar. All of this was in walking distance to the Frisco Mall and the surrounding shopping center. It was a very nice location for under a hundred dollars.

We attended our old church, Fellowship Church in Grapevine. The message was really good, the music was wonderful. Zachary had a great time in the children's worship service. It is nice to be able to set through a service without correcting a child.

After that it was party time. Long time friends of ours was hosting their annual Christmas/New Years party that was also a housewarming/going away. He had accepted a position through his company that would take him and his family to Sweden for 2 years. Upon arriving to the party we learned they the job transfer and move is on hold b/c of the economy. Zachary stayed mainly upstairs and played PS360 and stayed up till 11:30pm. Brooke finally went to sleep around 9:45pm. She did have a small accident when she slipped and fell on the brick fireplace. A little blood but she is fine. We party hard till 11:30pm. We went back to the hotel and we all asleep by 12:00am.

The kids woke up around 6:30am. So, we got dress and went to Main Street Bread Baking Company in the colony. Nice little place for breakfast. We then went back to our hotel and packed and checked out. We headed to Alison apartment and visited for a while. Then we made the trip to Central Market. This store is a luxury that we partake in every time we go to Dallas. We grab lunch there and shop. We get fresh mozzarella, pancetta, hummus, cous cous, and other items that we can not find in Mt. Podunk.

After shopping and eating we headed home. After such a long and busy weekend we are glad to be back. But, we are always longing to go back to the Big D for the food, shopping and old friends.

Sorry for all of you that want pictures. I did take a few with my phone but will have to figure out how to go from my phone to the web. I will try to remember my camera from now on.

Shelving Unit

I really wanted a shelving unit that you see in preschools for Brooke's room. I got a teachers catalog and they ran from $170-$280+. There was no way I could afford that. So, I told my self that I could build one and it wouldn't cost as much. I went to lowes got the material. Had it cut there but then found out I miss calculated on a measurement. I cut 5/8" off using my father-in-laws table saw.

This morning I screwed it all together. It is not perfect but it works, looks good and I made it for around $40. A lot less than what I would have paid for out of a catalog.

I haven't painted it. I don't know if I want to just stain it or paint it bright colors.

Brooke really does like her new shelves.

In her room before I put everything on it.

Right after I built it.

Another photo of it in her room before the toys and books were on it.