I won !

Wow ! I was so excited yesterday when I checked my blog and saw that I was one of the winners of the Battle for the Toybox contest . Thanks HSB for such a great contest .  I was going to blog last night but I was just to tired and my mind just couldn't focus . I had to go to the doctor yesterday for my physical and to get results from a thyroid ultrasound . They found what they called a "nodule" that is about 8/10ths of a cm big on my right lobe . The nurse practioner said he wasn't concerned about it but I have this nagging little feeling in my head that it might be something to be concerned about . I had this same feeling with a dark freckle that my DD1 was born with . It began to change and grow as she got older and in the summer of 2005 it began to become slightly lighter around the edges . Once again the NP wasn't concerned but that feeling just wouldn't go away so I just kept at her and she said if it concerned me that much then she would send DD to a dermatologist . When the dermatologist saw it he removed it for testing and it came back as a precancerous melanoma . So DD1 had to go through surgery that was very painful and left her with a scar that constantly itches because of the nerve damage where they had to cut so deep and have more spots removed . She has to be checked every 6 months for the rest of her life . I believe God is that nagging feeling :) So I will call today and see if I can get a second opinion . Everyone just pray for me if you don't mind and BabyGirl I hope you don't mind that I shared your story . It was a frightening time for us and maybe I will blog about it more at another time if it's ok with DD . Parents , just keep an eye on your kids skin , especially during the summer . Make sure they wear sun screen and check birthmarks regularly for any changes  . I was really surprised that her birthmark hid such danger . All of my Blessings were born with dark freckles so I have to keep a close eye on them . Well have a great day today everyone .

Happy Birthday BabyGirl !

Well today my DD1 , BabyGirl turned 14 . Happy Birthday ! I Love You ! We got to watch the meteor shower the other night . It was awesome . Well I'm tired so no long post tonight :) Congrats to you BabyGirl !

Look to the sky

Space is so amazing ! I'm astounded all the time at what our Creator has done . We will be begining our science this year by studying the Solar System and we found something neat to get us geared up . Here are 2 links to some neat stuff happening in the August sky . Check them out .

The Great Perseids   ~ August 12

Dreamy Lunar Eclipse   ~ August 28

My MIL sent me this email below too : 

Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting August.
It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will
cultivate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles of earth. Be
sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am. It will look like the earth
has 2
moons. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.

Share this with your friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it
again.

New Contest

The Battle for the Toy Box Contest!
I entered the Battle for the Toy Box Contest
on the HSB Company Porch.  I hope to win
over $100 worth of, Tales of Glory, Bible-based toys
from one2believe!!

These are some awesome toys ! Check it out !

My Open House

Tiany over at Less of Me ~ More of Him is hosting a homeschool open house . Everyone has had such great posts . I thought I would share a little about us . My name is Nikki and you can read more about me here .

How We Homeschool ~ We are eclectic . We use a wide range of learning material . We use textbooks for English , Math and Spelling and unit studies for most other subject except for some of my DD's courses . Unit studies are a great way for us to learn together and of course they can be adjusted for various ages which is great because I homeschool 4 blessings . The best thing is about 99% of Unit Study material is free , most of the books and stuff can be found at the library or online . We tried doing all textbooks before and it just didn't work out for us . Being able to switch around is the great thing about homeschool though .

Our Homeschool Resources ~  Our local library gets to see us alot during the school year . There are so many great books and videos available there . I 'm sure most homeschoolers are like us and survive on one income and that can make us very frugal indeed . I love to shop at thrift stores and yard sales and used book stores for our curriculum . I have found some great deals at these places . I bought my daughter's Algebra books , TE included for around $ 7 ,her Biology and English for about $5 each (with TEs) . These books looked new , no writing in them at all and they were bought at a thrift store . The internet is of course the resource of all resources . There is so much free stuff that its hard sometimes to figure out just what you want to use .

Where We Homeschool ~  We dream of a room just for our school but for now we work either at our dining room table or in the living room , especially if we are reading together . Our hallway is filled with maps and posters that we get from the Dollar Tree and the internet . I sometimes refer to it as the "Hall of Knowledge"

Our Schedule ~ We have a rough outline but nothing that is down to the wire . Been there done that Waaaaaaaaaaaay to stressful . Now we finish when we finish and if it takes a little longer than fine . I find when one of my blessings begins to stress all hope of learning for the day is shot .  We try to get started by 9 am and are usually done no later than 3 or 3:30 . We break for lunch and other little moments . We  use our "books" Monday thru Thursday and Fridays are spent doing life skills learning . We clean the house , have cooking lessons , work in the yard and other things they need to know how to do . It also allows us to have a 3 day weekend which gives us plenty of down time to be ready for Mondays . It's not that we stop learning , we just slooow down . We take a break from June til after Labor Day . It gives us more family time with loved ones that live elsewhere and plus we have VBS and other stuff to do in the  summer . This schedule works best for us .

Well I hope you have somehow been blessed by a little peek into our homeschool . Have a great day ! ~ Nikki

Happy Birthday Indeed !

I must say I have had a wonderful birthday today . My Momma fixed a great fried fish supper for us . My Aunt or "Second Momma" as I call her was able to join us and I got to talk to my Brother on the phone . It was a perfect time spent with family . I loved the gift of being together more than any physical gift . Although I did get some awesome stuff :) . My Husband and Kids got me a professional chef knife set with the large cutting board that I have been wanting . I also got some "Momma Stuff" . My Parents got me a beautiful bookcase for my books that have been in boxes forever . My Brother got me some candles , yes I am a candle nut :) . My Aunt got me a set of sunflower glasses and a lovely sunflower note set , yes I am a sunflower nut too just ask my Momma , I took a bouquet of hers home tonight . My DDs made me lovely cards , one with a hummingbird , yep nuts about birds too , and the other had a drool inducing cake on it . My DSs gave me special attention and lots of hugs and kisses today :) My BBF and her family gave me two picture frames that my "Lil Buddies" made for me (her sons) . Most of all though , my Heavenly Father gave me the greatest gift  , His Son who paid my debt and set me free , He gave me life eternal and a family so dear and wonderful , not only my "family" but brothers and sisters in Christ , you know who you are :) , a lovely day and a precious rain shower with a gentle cooling breeze . So thanks to my wonderful family and to my most awesome God !

A Tag From TnBabyGirl

You are riding in an air-plane when you happen to look out your window and see a dragon flying alongside the plane. You...
A: Scream.
B: remain perfectly still, too scared to make any noise or even move.
C: Jam your fist through the window, and leap onto the dragon's back.
D: Faint.
E: Trust in the Lord that he will see you through, pray, and come to my senses and realize that there is no such thing as a dragon. :-D

You are sleeping over your friend's house, it's late at night, but you can't fall asleep. Lying in bed, you hear their front door creep open, and the sound of someone coming in and sneaking around the house. You...
A: Grab a baseball bat, or anything at hand that looks in any way like a weapon, and peek past the door to see what's going on.
B: Hide under your covers and remain very still, hoping the burglar or whoever it is would just go away and leave poor you alone.
C: Wake up your friend or whoever is closest at hand to tell them what you hear.
D: First off be scared out of my wits that all I could think to do would be to pray.

You are on the train with your family to visit your Grandparents. You chose to sit at the window seat and you are staring out of the window when all of a sudden the sky flashes. You look towards the sky to see a meteor rock land in a far away field. you...
A: Jump off your seat and look harder.
B: Ask no one in particular "What happened."
C: Try to remain calm and not show that your freaked out.
D: Freak out.

You fling a watch on the side of the road and press a button. Before you know it you are speeding back in time and find yourself confronted with a big, armed warrior, you ...
A: Push blindly at the buttons hoping you will go forward in time.
B: Stare at the scary scene before you, hoping it's your imagination
C: Scream at the top of your lungs
D: Grab the nearest weapon and start swinging
E: Pull out my trusty sling-shot and pick up a stone. Close my eyes, pray real hard and let go. (Hey, God helped David do it, didn't he.) :-D

You're walking from the kitchen to the living room, carrying a cookie. You trip, and you cookie falls onto the unvacuumed carpet. Would you...
A: Break down in tears and lament the loss of nine chocolate-covered fat grams.
B: Kick yourself because you knew better than to try to break your diet, and retreat back to the kitchen to get a carrot stick.
C: Pick up the cookie, and enjoy. Remember, you abide by the 5 second rule.

Rules: Copy the tag and rules into your entry. Bold print the option that most applies to you. Add another what-would-you-do-section to the quiz, and list at least several more options to go along with it. Tag five more people. ~ Nikki