Dawn K Homeschool

My family just loves this. Quick-cook one cup black beans (this will yield more than one cup. I just boil, simmer and wait until done.) (dry is cheaper than canned, but canned would work.) 1 large jar generic picante sauce 1 small bag frozen corn (I found it for 78 cents at Kroger) 1 onion (I run mine through food processor) about 1 pound cooked ground beef (I buy mine in bulk, cook it all at once, freeze in approx. 1 pound ziploc bags for quick meals). You could of course omit the beef for vegetarian. any canned diced tomatoes you have. (I freeze whatever I don't use from one meal, so I usually have some in my freezer to use) you can also add any chopped peppers (I freeze any we don't eat in time. This makes them easy to chop.) salt, garlic or garlic powder, cumin, chili powder. I just add to taste. Bake in 350 degree oven. ***************************** Cook rice. You can serve this mixture on top of the rice. It fills one up at a good price. ***************************** Tort...

I have a hard time staying cheerful this time of the year. First, what I love: All of the perennials are up and many are blooming. The small veggie garden is planted along with the new annuals. I just love flowers! So many fruits to choose from -- veggies too. I just love finding cantaloupe for $1.00 and fresh strawberries and raspberries . I love a huge bowl of plain yogurt, several diced fruits, some Truvia (I know, this may not be the best), ground flax seed and wheat germ. Finishing up our books for the year -- 2 nd and 3rd grade this time. Looking forward to a summer of lots of exercise, organizing, lesson planning, and a little school for good measure. Now, what I loathe: I cannot do anything outside without being assaulted by mosquitoes. I hate seeing them resting on Ben's head while sipping away. I hate the welts I get. I hate sweating. I hate how much I sweat when I'm hot. I hate humidity -- I am seriously a hygrometer. I hate worrying about sunburn -- on me and the ...

The following is a slideshow of cards I made this weekend. I used the new summer matstack from Die Cuts with a View. These paper pads are perfect for making cards, and I just love these bright colors. These are on sale right now for $5.99 -- making each sheet cost only 4 cents. I buy one of these for each season, and it seems I never run out of paper. Oh, and the card that has the white chipboard with blue flowers and "for your creative life" is actually a piece I saved from some recent scrapook product packaging. I always try to save what I can from packaging to use on cards. Acid-free and such is not an issue for cards. It's just one more way to be better stewards of the earth.

While in line at Tuesday Morning, I saw these mugs and plates. I bought two of each for those special times I have a friend over.

Look at what I found! Big Lots: American Crafts 'MiniMarks' rubons for $2.00 a booklet. Tuesday Morning: American Crafts 'Remarks' stickers for $1.99 a booklet. Making Memories 'Chelsea's Place' specialty paper set for $4.99. They also had Making Memories 8x8 paper pads. I bought: 5th Avenue ($3.99) and Eliza ($2.99) and a double-pack of Sydney ($2.99 -- $1.50 each). Each includes papers, borders, and stickers.

Here is a picture of me pulling in the driveway after buying our new van in September 2007. John and I just got back from the bank after paying it off . We are excited . It's a great feeling. Thanks John for working so hard for us!

Aaron, we are so proud of you for completing your first semester in college! Your grades were a bonus! :) GPA = 3.588 General Biology I = B College Composition I = B United States History I = A Martial Arts I = A College Success Skills = A Beginning Spanish = A

After reading about the first Russians in Story of the World - Volume 2, Ben drew the following pictures of St. Basil's and St. Demetrius' Cathedral. He used a book titled How to Draw Russia's Sights and Symbols which you can see here

Nathan is working on copying a new book: The War Between the Vowels and the Consonants . This book had sat on my bookshelf for years -- unread. I finally read this book and tried to list it on http://www.paperbackswap.com./ Nathan, however, would have none of that. He desperately wanted to keep the book because of the illustrations. I will now share in a .pdf file the reproductions he has finished as of today. War V & C Publish at Scribd or explore others: Other Creative Writing

I just added a slide show of some recent spring pictures of our gardens. The annuals are still rather small, and many of the perennials have not come to bloom yet. The azaleas have faded as well as the candytuft and creeping phlox which I did not get a photo of this year. The peonies are bending over from their top-heaviness, but they still smell divine. I have cut several to fragrance the house, but our cat Maggie toppled over one of the vases. The white and purple salvias are putting on quite a show. I plan to buy more white salvia next year. The centaurea montana and heuchera (coral bells) are in bloom as well. The knock-out roses are truly one of the best plants as their bloom opens early spring and continues on into the winter here. We also love the lamium which drapes around the front yard gum. This is a great time of the year for the plants, though, because they are receiving plenty of rain and the heat and humidity have not stressed them. I still have a few pots to plant...

This was one of the most fun cards to do. My friend Alaina joined me for a day of card-making, and we both made the same cards. We had fun scraping the edge of the cardstock with our fingernail, using a background stamp like we had never done before, and smudging the blue chalk ink so that it looked like the sky. Oh, we also colored the monkey with colored pencils and odorless mineral spirits. As I was trying to adhere the single button on the monkey's square, a torn cuticle dripped a spot of blood onto the card. I fretted for a while and decided to use three buttons instead of one in order to hide the spot (it's under the button in the center pane). You can see Ashley's card here

If you haven't spent time at the Cherry Hill Design by Ashley blog you are really missing some great inspiration. I made the following card which is pretty much a direct copy except I used different papers, markers, etc. If you click on the card, you can see the blue script background stamp better. It really shows up better in real life. here is her card

Sometimes I just want to sit down and make cards. Sometimes I don't want to think about the design, so I just look at other talented cardmakers for inspiration. Sometimes I actually copy the entire design! This was one such night. Jennifer's card can be seen here Jennifer's card can be seen here Jennifer's card can be seen here

Here is my card, and below it is John's. Isn't his cuter? We used this stamp set Hero Arts Lily Pad Greetings and paper from the Die Cuts with a View Spring Mat Stack. We also colored the frog with colored pencils and odorless mineral spirits. We cut the scalloped circles with Nestabilities and a Cuttlebug , and John used a Stampin' Up tab punch. He stamped his greeting inside of the tab.

John and I love flowers! It is an interest that wasn't realized for me until we were married a few years. Each spring, we walk around identifying and enjoying the return of the perennials, and each spring we plant a few more with some added annuals for prolonged color. I thought I would share some pictures this month.

Nathan and I attended the Well-Trained Mind conference in Williamsburg, VA this past weekend. It was fabulous meeting author Susan Wise Bauer and story-teller Jim Weiss. I was also able to hear Mrs. Bauer's mom, Jessie Wise, speak. Nathan was ecstatic to finally meet Jim. When Nathan held out his hand to shake his, he said, "Big fan." As soon as we returned home, he continued to listen to Wulf the Saxon (narrated by Jim) and then Story of the World Volume 3. I think it was rather nostalgic at that point. Even I felt a little poignant at the hearing of his soothing voice. He really is a great narator/story teller, and if you haven't had the pleasure of listening to him, check your local library or go here: http://www.greathall.com/ I am so proud of him for enduring hours of nothing to do while I listened to Susan and her mom speak. Susan's son was so kind to entertain the children at various times during the conference. I learned so much from Susan -- parti...