Ugh...where do I start...that's how I feel today. I don't know what is wrong with me, for some reason I have just been off the past few days. I need a dislike button for my mood...

We've had a busy summer so far...having fun with friends at VBS, visiting family, schooling, sweating (which seems to take up the biggest part of each day...) and just playing with friends and having fun with Daddy. I sometimes think that we will slow down at some point, but honestly - who I am kidding - it's just our dynamics. It's what we do. LOL

I am sitting here in the school room frustrated with my printer because it won't work. I ran out of ink refill 2 weeks ago (apparently I was not paying attention when I pulled out the last bottle.) :( So I ordered ink...it finnnnnallllly came in - I refill the cartridge, clean it and put it in and the ink light just keeps blinking. UGH! I have tried all sorts of tricks and stuff (I found on the net) and can't get it to stop blinking or print. Pooh! I am thinking the cartridge must be worn out and I have to buy a new one - which stinks! But I did - this morning via amazon, so now I will wait another week for it to come in. I am not a good waiter. Frustrating, Frustrating, Frustrating! I want to print out my home school planner and get it set up and I have to wait - again! Not good! Not to mention all the good coupons I am missing out on! Double not good! Okay now that I got that out I promise to move on!

I am still canning these days! :) I picked up more vinegar on my last shopping trip so I finished up my bread and butter pickles. Three more quarts. They look so pretty!

Here is our basset hound Scamper! These pics are a little out of order, sorry - more about them being new in a few...

Bug gave him a bath and he was not happy about that. LOL

He ran straight to the back of the yard for a roll in the dirt. Crazy nut! It was quite comical to watch. Apparently he was not very excited that his hound dog stink got washed away. Funny!

Okay here's the dog update! :) My brother and Auntie gave us their bassets - Sadie and Scamp. We were very excited to welcome them to our home. They are precious and we just love them already! Even Lady Bug seemed excited to have them here. Her and Sadie had a few issues at first. I think it was just two gals trying to find their place in the mix. I think Lady is enjoying the company. Her and Scamp get to playing sometimes and chasing each other around the yard. It's quite comical to watch.

Here is Scamp...he is a mess...quite the nut really. He is so easy going and just one of those doo-de-doo kinda dogs. He is funny to watch. The kids love to play with him and have him chase them around. He's a bit hard headed, but what hound-dog isn't?

Here is our Sadie girl - she is just precious. Loves her Momma already. She is a good girl and listens well. She likes belly rubs and chasing rocks that Bug hits with his baseball bat. It's funny. She gets excited when she sees the cows in the back pasture.

Remember those beautiful Sunflowers I talked about on fb sometime back - well here they are - all dried and getting ready to be harvested. :(

Daddy rode down to the land in West last weekend. The State has begun work on the highway - a project to widen the highway - and a new restaurant has moved in to the Red building next to our land. He met the owners while he was down there. Sounds like a place to check out. He said they open August 1st. Friday nights all you can eat catfish...yum!

Well looking back through I can see I need to download pics from my camera...one more thing to do today. LOL

I have been working some this afternoon on my curriculum plans and such for next year. Friday afternoon I was working on History and literally decided to "chuck" the whole curriculum and start over. LOL - I just didn't feel like the one I had originally picked was going not to work for us. So I started researching and doing some reading and so forth and came up with another plan for History. Which I feel good about. This is a little out of the norm for me, I tend to pick one thing and stick with it. I am a big fan of stability. :) I am checking into work boxes - has anyone ever used those? I like the set-up and the idea, I am just a little lost in how to begin. I don't have room for a stacker or box set up so I thought out using either folders or coming up with something else... I am not sure yet - still working on this idea. I like the idea of them moving from one "box" to another with minimal disruption to the other lessons going on in the room. We have limited space and sometimes this can be an issue. (Not to mention the constant - I am going for a snack thing - :/!)

Well I had better get a myself in gear - it's already 3 o'clock! I want to make some banana bread and get my peppers pickled...not mention the laundry that needs to be hung, folded, dishes to do and a ton of other household chores awaiting my attention.

The boys just headed outside...I am hoping these clouds will drop some rain...

Until next time....remember your blessings...

we-