It's a Boy!
Our sweet baby was born Fri evening. "Little" boy weighed 9 pounds 4 oz and 22 inches long. He's a happy little chubb lol. His big sisters are so excited over their little brother!
Pics soon :-)
Still Here!
WOW I can not believe it's been 2 months since I've had a chance to post.  I've only have a few days left to go before our newest baby arrives!! I've been sick a lot in the last few months between normal lack of sleep and the kids sharing colds.
We have most of our garden harvested, potatoes were the main thing we planted this year. So far we've harvested about 1000 pounds and still have at least another 400 pounds to get up this week.
Last week we had our first real snow that stuck on the ground. The kids just loved it!! Me, well I'm not so ready for winter yet LOL. Once our potatoes are all in and the woods all been cut and stacked then I don't care. I'll be able to snuggle by the fire with our sweet new baby all winter. 
I've been busy making new cloth diapers and fleece/wool soaker's to. Each of my little seem to have out gown what I have! And dd1 who has lots of diapers that fit her seems to have developed an sensitivity to the suade cloth inners (sigh). She gets rashes from the pretty quickly now. So I'm going to try and go back to flannel with her. I'm hoping I can get all this sewing done before the wee one comes!
12 Days of Holiday Homemaking!!
Joyous Home is having an incredible holiday special starting Nov. 14. From sewing projects to recipes there will be something for everyone. Make sure to stop by and check out the goodies!
Craft Show
Posted on Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 11:50 PM by Michelle - 5 Comments - Post Comment - Link
I sold my soaps at a craft show over the weekend and did quite well. My goal was to sell 100 bars and I sold 130 bars! Not quite as great as the last show, but more than any show I did last year. I had some repeat customers, even one that showed up and bought on Saturday, then came back and bought more on Sunday! Very cool!
I planned out what kinds I need to make in the next two weeks to be prepared for the big show after Thanksgiving - the Public Market. I made up three batches yesterday and want to make about 24 more. Each batch makes 30 bars. I have three mall shows before Thanksgiving and set a goal to sell 100 bars at each of those. Then I have two mall shows in December, so I need to make sure I have enough for those as well. I have alot of soap to make, and hopefully I can sell it all :o)
One Step Closer to Debt Free
Posted on Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 1:08 AM by Michelle - 11 Comments - Post Comment - Link
Last Friday, I made the final payment on my credit card - PAID IN FULL!
It has been less than two years since I really buckled down and started to focus on getting rid of my debt. I started with nearly $20,000 in credit card debt, $10,000 owing on my truck - all of that is gone, plus I paid $4,000 to get the woodstove installed. It is a great feeling to have that all gone, just the house left now. I figure it will take 3 years to have the house paid off too.
I thought it would take forever to get the credit cards paid off, but once I got started, it just accelerated. The biggest change I made was that I use cash. Each payday, I take out spending money for food, gas, etc in cash. This helps me from overspending - I don't use checks. When I make a purchase, I use dollar bills, not my change. I collect the change in a jar and when it builds up, I deposit it and make an extra credit card payment. It is amazing how fast that can add up! I pay bills on payday, so I don't have that money sitting there. Any money left over went to the credit card. Any extra money I got would go to the credit card. Now I will save for purchases, not charge them. I really think about buying stuff. I've been motivated by other blogs here and use lots of money-saving tips I've learned here. Thank you for that!!
If you've been thinking of getting rid of your debt - find a way to do it because it is such a great feeling to have it gone. You can do it - where there is a will, there is a way!!
Potato Harvest
Posted on Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 12:59 AM by Michelle - 2 Comments - Post Comment - Link
There was finally a little break in the weather this afternoon - I even saw the sun! That has been a rare occurance this summer. It was a great chance to dig up our potatoes - organic Yukon Gold. The plants have all died and I was worried the potatoes might have rotted with all the rain we have been having. But they were perfectly fine! Yea!! I dug half of the large raised bed and here is what I ended up with:
There are a few good sized ones in there, most are smaller ones. I am hoping there is about 2 more bucket fulls left to harvest - the other half of the raised bed and the four potato bins. We don't have a root cellar or a basement, so no real good spot to store them. I'll save out some for the next month or so, but will try canning some and maybe drying some too. I would like to be able to store some to use as next year's seed potatoes... Anyone have any advice?
Craft Show with my Soaps
Posted on Monday, September 15, 2008 at 12:43 AM by Michelle - 3 Comments - Post Comment - Link
Saturday and Sunday I had a space at the Nugget Mall Arts & Crafts Fair with my handmade soaps. It was a huge success! I sold 235 bars!!! I can hardly believe it. That is better than I did last year at the Public Market by over 100 bars! I'm just so happy with how it went. I'm sure most of it was because everyone just received their Permanent Fund money, so they all had cash to spend. Works for me!
Here is how I had my tables setup. I had 15 varieties of soap at this show.
The best sellers this time were: Berry Patch, Lavender Dreams, and a 3-way tie between Oatmeal, Milk & Honey, Pioneer Peppermint, and Alaskan Rainforest. This was the first time I was setup to accept credit cards. I signed up with ProPay (www.propay.com), which allows me to call in to process, or use my laptop. I had 4 credit card transactions, so I am glad I can offer that option to people. It is on the expensive side if you do just small transactions like mine, but I still think it is worth it. I'm working on finding a cheaper way to process credit cards though.
I have signed up for 7 more craft shows before Christmas... I am going to have to get serious about making lots of soap now! yeah! I have this week to make everything for the next show, which is October 18 & 19. I need to make sure I have enough supplies too since everything needs to be ordered and takes time to get it through the mail. I use rain water in each recipe that I collect in buckets outside - nature has made sure I have plenty of that the past couple weeks! I guess that is one good thing about all this rain :o)
I sell my soaps on my website if you want to go take a peek: www.homesteaderscache.com
Blogger Friend School Assignment 101
Memory Verse: Psalms 55:22 - Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee; He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
Assignment: This would be a good week to tell about your worst struggles with a lifestyle of homeschooling. Tell about something you’ve struggled with and how God’s mercies gave us the strength to get past it. Also, share any curriculum/homeschool methods that have been a relief to you, i.e., a particular Teacher’s Manual or Homeschooling method that’s been easier for your family. Talk about how you felt when the burden was lifted and Oh, What a Relief it is!
Hmm...If I really stop and think about it my worst struggles aren't major problems. My biggest challenges are homeschooling with toddlers and wee babies in the mix. Also getting rid of the pressure to get it "all" done. I've learned to work around the littlest nap schedules for the more one on one topics like math. After coming close to a burn out for both the little ones and myself I realized that I needed to cut back. I've always said I felt the biggest problem in homeschooling is the HUGE wealth of good books and topics to cover! But when you try to do to much at once, even if its fun, you burn out.
Last year I was trying to do FIAR every day, math, phonics, reading, grammar, copy work and then have world history (SOTW) 3 days a week and science 2 days a week. It was just to much with pregnancy/new baby, and two toddlers and major renovations LOL. This year we have relaxed and although we have added MORE topics to cover we are having fun doing it a simpler way.
First I'm using FIAR as our main curriculum. Putting the focus back on this allows us to truly enjoy the program. We also do math, and language arts everyday. Then we do ONE extra. So one day a week for each wold history, Canadian social studies, nature study, science, artist/composer study.
I find this works sooo much better for us! And of course we do lots of reading together and cover many "extras" that way also.
Blogger Friend School Assignment 100
Assignment: Take time this week to write about YOU and your feelings of trials and triumphs with homeschooling. Touch on when you first heard about the concept of home schooling and whether you tip-toed into the idea or just jumped in and never looked back. Share your schooling as a child and how you compare it to what your goals are for your children.
I was a public school child. I loved to learn and always had my noise in a book. However it did not take me long to figure out the kids that like learning are on the "outs" in school. The teachers might like you but know one else does. Being in a room of 30 other children that mock and pick on you all day does nothing to encourage a good learning environment!
There was a homeschooling family on our street and I always envied them. They got to really learn things and we not stuck at a desk all day. I remember being so surprised at some of the topics they learned about, that we later didn't touch on until high school!
When I was in my mid teens I removed myself from school and finished with a mixture of homeschooling and correspondence. I LOVED it! Once again I could actually LEARN.
I always knew that if I had children I would homeschool them. My husband also had very little he liked about his public education and was all for my choice in this.
My goals for our children are to love the Lord with all their harts, develop a true love of learning and good work habits and not to be afraid to be themselves.
Blogger Friend School
Last year I had a lot of fun participating in the Blogger Friend school, I'm a little late this year but joining in the fun anyway. 
The are also kicking off the new school year with a give a way. Stop by and check it out!
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