We've moved!

Please visit us at:

http://www.comeonhome.net 

Look forward to seeing you there!

We're moving!

Ok, not moving as in a new home................but the blog is moving.

Since blogger now offers pages with tabs, I am consolidating a few of my blogs into one.

Newer posts can be found HERE

I hope you will continue to follow us.

The Queen and Princess

iPod - training dog extraodinaire!

The puppy comes home

The Princess:

We got the puppy last night. We ended up getting a girl. . We still named her iPod.

She seems to love Rocky and everybody here. She especially loves me.

I am the first one who held her, and I will be the main trainer.

Here's a picture of the little cutie pie:

We have a training manual to read

She's very smart and she already knows how to sit. We're teaching her to walk on a leash.

We're taking her to the library soon.

Check our puppy blog for updates

Finally...some pics!

Work and Play at Home (and Elsewhere....)

Last week, my Girl Scouts made "Pillows of Hope" for kids in Haiti. The one to the right is an old T-shirt of mine that got a bleach stain on it, so I donated it to the cause. The girl that made this T-shirt is the only one to complete hers thus far (even mine & my daughters aren't done!) In fact, this girl made two! Good Girl, "G".

High Tea-Time

A few days ago, I was making a cup of  Green Tea "purple oxidents" - fortified with Grapeskins, Rooibos (Red Tea), Anthocyanins & Vitamin C. The Princess made a cup of regular green tea. Next thing I know, she's dumping the tea pouches out onto a napkin and seeing how much moisture the napkin absorbed. We then noticed how different the tea leaves of the two looked. That led us to opening up a pouch of Dandelion Tea (didn't mind wasting that one!) and regular tea as well. Quite interesting!

Speaking of dandelion tea...

To tell the truth, that is about THE WORST tasting tea I have ever had!

Now that I got that out....I have been studying everything to do with camping, since that is my new obsession. This led me to boondocking, or camping for free. There are many state lands that let people park for free or very little. There is often no water or electrical hook-ups.

Some people really get into it (like I know we would) and search out foods found in nature. Very interesting subject. I think I may get a book on the subject to study (just like the tea leaves, a lot of plants look similar, but different).

That would expand on the tea experiment, and we would learn before we venture out camping. It can also ride along in the trailer to have info on hand.

Tech Tub

The Girl Scouts have several "tech tubs" available for troops to borrow. We borrowed the "engineering" tech tub. We started on it this week. Look at this thing! I thought it would be a little bin- it took up most of my backseat! It is so cool, and the Princess could do some of these on her own here if she wants.

One of the experiments was "Toxic Popcorn". The girls had one tub that said "safe" and one that said "Toxic". We dumped popcorn kernals into the Toxic bucket, which was in the middle of a big circle (forgot dimensions right now). Using only a tire tube (only 1) and a 7+ ft piece of rope (per girl), they had to pour the popcorn into the Safe container. They weren't supposed to step in the circle, and the Toxic bucket had to be in the circle.

They did it, but a few of the girls got mangled and mutilated by the toxic waste when they forgot and stepped into the circle! It was really fun. Before that, they had played a game that teaches the different types of engineering jobs.

There are several more cool experiments, which should keep us busy for a few weeks.

Toothpick City II- Temples and Towers

Yesterday, the Princess did her interview with the Stan, the toothpick man (forgot to ask him if he minds me calling him that!) He is a pretty cool dude. I'll put the link here for the online version when it comes out (in March). In the meantime, visit his site at: http://www.toothpickcity.com/.

After that, we grabbed a sub at Subway, then went to the library. I was trying to find a book on Boondocking- no such luck here in the Boondocks (Ha-Ha!). The Princess got one of the Twilight books- I think the second one. She's been reading it like crazy- yeah vampires!

I have a new student I'm seeing this afternoon at the library- I'm a Literacy Volunteer. The Princess will either go visit her homeschooling friends, or browse around the library, play games on the computer, etc...

One of our new fave ways to learn...

Are you smarter than a 5th grader (um...no, I'm not!) and Cash Cab (I LOVE this show!) Check 'em out!

Anyhoo, gotta go!

Talk about self education!

I'm not sure what the Pricess is learning, but I'm self-educating about living on the road. I am totally serious about wanting to hit the road, just not sure when (or if) it would be full time. And seeing that I don't even have a trailer yet, well....

Actually, the Princess was looking at a cool book I had gotten her several years ago about the human body. It has those tabs on the side where you can slide pics in and out of the book.

It has some cool pics of the skeletal system and more.

Then we got interested in reading the labels on our vitamin bottles and the labels for wheat germ and flax seed. Then we took a look at common labels- canned goods, cereal, fast food boxed stuff. Yuck- after reading some of that stuff, I'd rather eat the box!

We had to run out to the bank, pharmacy and post office. Did all that, then ran and got Golden Child from school. Then we went to the library to hang out for a while and make some copies. Then we dropped off our school report for the second quarter.

It amazes me how much the Princess has done and learned, even when it seems like she's done nothing!

Tomorrow we have Girl Scouts. We are getting a "tech" tub from the council. It has everything needed for the girls to get a badge. And, it counts as homeschooling!

Wednesday, we are back to the science museum to interview The toothpick guy. I hope the Princess likes interviewing people- I set up another one for her :-)

Thursday, I meet with a new student. I'm a Literacy Volunteer, and have an adult student who needs help. Maybe the Princess will go help the 6 yr old homeschooler, maybe she'll hang on the computers or reading at the library.

Hopefully, Friday I can just stay home! But probably not. There's always something to do!

Field Trip Friday

Our day started with a trip to the Oncology Center. We're all fine, but I need to be monitored. 3 years ago, I had my left kidney and spleen surgically removed  because of a tumor.

The city I had to go to is a pretty touristy town- at least in the summer. When researching somewhere to go for a field trip, I found most places closed for the winter.

We DID go window shopping though! Keeping in with the "roadschooling" thing, we went window shopping looking at RV's and travel trailers. When I showed Princess some of the websites from families that travel, she wanted to go check out some traveling homes. I thought, "Why not?" Except it was c-o-l-d!

So we looked at a few models they had displayed inside, and talked to a saleman for quite a while. When we got home, we checked out all the models on the Internet. We were impressd at some of the space some had!

I think I would really want a master bedroom (fo' momma!) and a small bedroom for the Princess. I liked the homes that had almost full sized kitchens.

Oh, to dream! Definitely something to think about saving for!

But if you're looking for a REAL field trip, check out our trip to the science museum last week!

Oh, to hit the road!

Wow, in all of my surfing the net reading posts by homeschoolers, I've run into a whole new group of people.

I've also found more to keep me entranced for hours on the Internet.

The group is the "roadschoolers"- those that have chosen to hit the road and see the country- or even other countries. They homeschool on the road.

If you have ever read my blog- (ok ANOTHER blog) you know that I have always regretted not having a "camp" for my kids.

I am really a homebody, but I think I could see myself traveling for a month or so, then see how I feel about it. Ron wants to get an RV and travel someday, I want a houseboat ( and I mean HOUSE)! I think Ron's enthusiasm has waned since his brother recently sold his RV. He had sold his home several years ago, wanting to travel in his retirement.

I think they found it was too expensive with gas prices and such, and getting older they need to see doctors more often.

I traveled across country back in 1991 when I moved to Oregon from New York as a new bride. I saw a lot and got tons of pics, but didn't know what was what when they were developed (remember the day?) And of course, half the trip was made driving in the dark. When my dear hubby decided he no longer wanted to be married, I traveled back to New York on a train. I traveled with a 14 month old and a 12 yr old.

Both driving to Oregon and taking the train back were such awesome experiences. I wish I could share that with the Princess.

Hmmmm....maybe this summer. ...