Graduation Day and A New Co-Op

I am so proud of my husband. In January of 2011 he decided he wanted to be a firefighter. At first I was honestly like OK, you are never going to do this. But, we were supportive. Yesterday was finally graduation day. At the ripe old age of 41 he completed with honors, the most grueling physical fitness, and mental fitness anyone can do. He was awarded two special certificates for perfect attendance, and scoring academically high grades on exams. He was proud, and we are proud of him.

Today, and every Monday, for the rest of the year, we are doing an education co-op with another homeschool family. We started the day with a walk, then we proceeded to watch Lewis and Clark the Journey West, by Nat Geo. Then we had a reading assignment on how a compass works, and then made homemade compasses which was surprisingly simple. We covered fitness, Science and History all in one day, and in a fun way. This will alternate between my home, and the other families home, each Monday. The hosting family will plan the lesson, and serve lunch. The guest family will bring drinks, and be on time and ready to learn. I am so glad I thought of this idea.

I have had the last three Saturdays off, which means I have not worked in almost five weeks. At least not outside the home. I so needed this time off, and have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I have been learning to paint, and have had lots of time to do that. I also used the time to have some extra time with my hubby. With his classes and my work schedule I feel like we have not had anytime together. We both really needed this. Now my pocketbook on the other hand is very sad, lol!

Social Saturday Helping The Needy

Well I didn't get any papers graded, LOL! I did get a whole bunch of other stuff done though. One of the things I would love for my children to learn is to be thankful for what you have, and to help others who are not as fortunate. My husband has recently joined the volunteer fire department, and is currently working his way through the fire classes. This is such a great example he is setting for our children. It takes a lot to volunteer your free time to help others who need it, even when they are not always grateful, or even kind to you. Some of you probably know that I make jewelry with gemstones I have been collecting. You might even notice the big banner at the top of my blog. 10% off all my Etsy store sales, through December 31, will be donated to the Hunger Site. So far I have been able to make sales and have five dollars to donate. Not bad, but it could be better. I am not trying to plug my store, I have another blog for that lol, but it is one of the ways we have decided to help the needy. I try not to call them poor, because any of us could be needy for many different reasons and variables. You might also remember that each year at Thanksgiving we donate food to the local food bank, which is a church here. This year, and for the next year too, we have decided to purchase a little bit of extra nonperishable items and add them to a box. Once the box is filled it will be delivered to the food bank. After all people are not just hungry at the holidays. I can not take credit for this idea. DJ read something similar in a magazine and suggested we do it. So we are. I did notice one thing. I was going to put peanut butter in there. It is healthy and lasts a good long time. But, most food banks don't want peanut butter because so many people are allergic to peanuts. So keep that in mind if you decide to join in too. It would be great if some of my readers joined. Plus every year we give toys to children who do not have as much. Usually I would give to Toys for Tots, and I do usually still put one item in their collection box, but since my husband started working at the prison we have been donating to children through a program that they sponsor. Now until the beginning of December I add an extra toy, CD or other item to my grocery shopping days to donate to this program. By doing just a little bit at a time, I don't feel overwhelmed by doing it all at once. Oh, by the way Walmart is bringing back layaway for Christmas. It doesn't start until October 17 and you can only put on Toys or Electronics, and yes I will be using it. Kmart also offers a layaway service, unfortunately we are not close to one. I also offer a layaway service in my Etsy store, and have had a few people that have used it, and they loved it.