Saturday, December 28, 2013

Trim Healthy Mama Recipe - Mounds Muffin in a Mug

Attention dark chocolate and coconut fans! Introducing the Mounds MIM!


(Dark Chocolate and Coconut MIM)
1 egg
1 Tbsp coconut oil
2 Tbsp flaxseed meal 
1 Tbsp extra dark cocoa
1 heaping Tbsp regular cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1 Dash of vanilla
2 Dashes of coconut extract
Sweetener to taste (I use 4 stevia drops, 3 xylitol packets, 2 Truvia packets)
Dash of Sea Salt
1 tsp water, almond milk, cream

Mix well. In separate bowl make coconut filling with 2Tbsp unsweetened coconut and 1- 1 1/2 Tbsp low fat ricotta cheese and another dash of coconut extract.Push into center of muffin mix. Microwave 1 minute. Top with a sprinkle of more flaked coconut and a dollop of whipped cream.
If you have skinny chocolate to melt and drizzle over this you will be in heaven.

Friday, December 13, 2013

"GREEN" Theme Christmas...

This year for Christmas, I would like to give out gifts that reflect all that I learned in my Environmental Science class at University. I was so moved that I have begun making changes in my own life to take better care of our world on a daily basis. So for my first project, I am going to make shopping bags to replace all those plastic ones you get everywhere you go shopping.



Reusable Shopping Bag

Another Shopping Bag Tutorial and Packaging Idea

WHY should we NOT use plastic bags???

Fact: Globally, over 1 million plastic bags are consumed per minute.
Gut-wrenching Fact: Marine wildlife mistakes plastic bags for food and dies.
Frustrating Fact: It’s taking too long for supermarkets and politicians to sort it out. Plastic bags are still blowing in the wind and choking the whales.
Happy Fact: Making your own bags will help, with immediate effect.
Plastic bags in water are serial killers. They are ingested by marine wildlife, as plastic bags are often mistaken for jellyfish. The dolphin, whale, turtle or bird dies by suffocation or starvation and decomposes around the bag. The bag floats off, ready for its next victim…
No one knows how long these treacherous bags take to biodegrade. Humans have only been using them for 40 years but they are already covering the planet. Plastic bags photodegrade (break down into smaller and smaller toxic bits) and the pieces infiltrate every part of the food chain, for marine wildlife and humans.
A young female minke whale was washed up in Normandy, France, on April 6th 2002. These were the contents of her stomach:
minkewhale
1 x plastic/aluminum crisp packet
2 x English supermarket bags
7 x various coloured dustbin bag bits
7 x transparent plastic bags
1 x food packaging wrapper
Factoids at a glance:
  •  Over 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide each year (so that’s about 70 plastic bags per person – if everyone had a trusty 10 or so morsbags to keep and use, problem solved!)
  • Retailers and governments are struggling to make the difference that is needed through taxes and bans – we – the consumers – need to take this into our own hands.
  • “The impact of this plastic waste can be seen littering our landscape, threatening our wildlife and accumulating as ‘plastic soup’ in the Pacific Ocean, which may cover more than 15,000,000 sq. km,” Janez Potocnik – European Commissioner for the environment.
  • According to MSN, the production of plastic bags creates enough solid waste per year to fill the Empire State Building two and a half times.
  • In some parts of the ocean there are six pounds of plastic for every pound of plankton.
These are unreferenced facts and there are plenty more out there on the web. However, it is generally acknowledged and accepted that plastic bags are harmful in one way or another, so we think time would be better spent making a reusable cloth bag than googling! Hope you agree…
The staggering amount of plastic bags freely handed out in shops is boggling and consequently shoppers habitually forget that plastic bags are not the only option.


Course Reflection


As I complete my first semester at the University, I look back amazed at what I have been able to accomplish. First and foremost, I have realized I am capable of a lot more than I expected. A lot of people tell me they are astounded that I can go to college, homeschool four kids, work part time, and run my household as a single mom. I hate to say it but, while it is exhausting at times, it hasn't been hard because I love what I am doing. (Well, maybe not my job, but that is another story.) 

I am truly thankful for college and the things I am learning. I was never able to have this experience when I was 18, but in the end I know I would not have appreciated it then like I do now. The experiences I had in my fist semester made me realize I can do even more, and that is why next semester I am doubling my class load.
In my Digital Media online class, I worked with so many new programs I had never heard of before. I really thought I was a "computer person" but I realized we get into our little niches and never see some of the wonderful creative resources out there.
I love how the class forced me to take my photography skills to the next level. I had to learn about pixels and mega pixels. I really think there is a ton more to learn here, and I plan to take a photography class to further expand this area.
One of my favorite assignments was creating music and the mash-up video to go with it. This is my niche and I loved all 32 hours I dedicated to both assignments. Prior to this, I didn't know how to create digital music, but now I have a product I can be proud of and the skill to create original music for future film projects.
The course also gave me the beginning skills to create a fantastic website with Wix and the ability to create graphics in 3D and GIF animation to showcase products I may want to feature on my site. My ultimate goal is to be my own business owner, and the exposure I had in the class has only helped in showing me the possibilities that digital media can play in my future online endeavors.
I wish I would have had more of an opportunity to learn how to create my own digital illustrations with a program like Adobe Illustrator, but I was able to play around a bit with this genre of art using the Scribbler and Flame programs. The typography assignment was fun, too, and I can see a ton of possibilities in using words and images as logos for any business I might launch. I am excited to take the skills I learned and continue on them throughout my college journey.

Unlikely Holiday Movies

Not all holiday movies have to be "Christmas" specific. Some of my favorite movies have little if nothing at all to do with the holidays but somehow they just seem to be a perfect fit for this time of year. Here are a few to get you started. Enjoy!





Seelio!

Find my work on Seelio now!

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

The Ultimate Christmas Movie List

There is just something about November and December that makes me want to cuddle in with a tasty treat, warm blanket, soft pillow and a good holiday movie. I've already watched quite a few this season and decided to go on a quest for some old favorites and a few new goodies. This led to The Ultimate Christmas Movie List 2013.

Now while it may seem I have found every Christmas movie ever made, I have to say, I left out quite a lot of movies. The sheer number of holiday movies available is astonishing. My list includes movies from the 40's through today. It spans movie theater quality films to made for TV specials. I have seen a lot of them, but not all so this list is as much for me as it is for you.

Some of these movies could be hard to find but not impossible. Here are my search methods:
  • Netflix Instant Video (Monthly membership about $7.99)
  • Netflix By Mail DVD's (Monthly membership starts around $4.99)
  • Amazon Instant Video (If you have Amazon Prime $$, you can usually watch for a few $)
  • Library (FREE!)
  • Youtube (Sometimes it is there, FREE!)
  • TV Channel Websites (FREE) Such as ABC Family, etc…
  • Family Video (My local Video Rental Store)


Today I am presenting my Christmas movie list, but if you come back tomorrow, you'll find my Ultimate Unlikely Christmas Movie List 2013. Hope to see you back!!!








Monday, December 9, 2013

Health and Fitness

Well, my first semester of college is nearly complete and I am so excited with all I was able to accomplish. Of course, being a homeschool mother of 4 children and one college student in addition to working part-time, taking care of all the household business and going to college myself, it is no wonder a few things slipped by the wayside.

That leads me to my own health and fitness. I am pretty sure I put on about 5lbs this semester due to poor eating and little extra exercise. So as the semester winds down, I want to take this opportunity to get back and track and set in motion some new habits that will hopefully stick as I start classes in January. Here is my plan...

Diet - I have been on many eating plans over the years and I have found nothing works as well as Trim Healthy Mama. It is a low glycemic eating plan that does not limit amounts of food, just the types of food you can eat either together or at all. Basically if you are eating high carb at a meal, keep the fat intake to a minimum. However, if your craving something with a higher fat intake, go low carb. Both meals need to have a good portion of protein included. The book is over 600 pages long and includes tons of recipes. I have gleaned many additional ones online at their Facebook page and THM blogs. I even have a Pinterest board dedicated to the plan. Just do a Pinterest search and a ton more will pop up. It is a wonderful way to eat but as all diets do, it requires planning ahead so you have the food you need available.

As far as exercise goes, I am going to get back into running. My favorite resource for this is the Couch Potato to 5K program. I have an amazing app on my iPhone that allows me to listen to my own music while getting cues when to run and when to walk. Before I had this app, I used NHS podcasts.

Two other apps I use often are My Fitness Pal to track my nutrition and Endomondo to track my distances when running outside.

So I have decided to also start adding in some weight training and I have currently requested "You Are Your Own Gym" and "Body By You". I need to be able to work out at home a few days a week. Just getting out is difficult as it takes so much time out of my day. I am hoping these will keep me from needing to purchase a bunch of equipment.

I would also like to add in Yoga and I have found a wealth of Youtube videos on the subject. When doing some research, I learned that Sadie Nardini is considered a great teacher so I will be trying out some of her videos.

So, finally, the plan is 3 days a week of running, 2 days of weight training with 1 day of Yoga starting Monday!

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Gif Animation

Animated Turkey Gif

Click on the link above to see the Animation!

This week we had an extra credit assignment to create a Gif. This project felt very much like a problem solving task. From my research there are many paths to creating a Gif. After several failed attempts that included setting up scenes and photographing them, I decided to create my animation in steps using a Paint Online program. As I finished each step, I took screenshots of my turkey. Once I got to the banner portion of the project, I transferred my last image to PicMonkey and added the text. Finally I uploaded my images to Gif Maker, ordered them, chose a speed and finalized the project. Overall I think it was a fun project and I learned a lot. I am sure I will make more of these in the future. 

Monday, November 18, 2013

Alaska Inspired Learning


One of the reasons I love homeschooling is because we can explore whatever topic happens to interest us. Today during reading we opened my daughters reading curriculum to find our story was about a boy who had moved to the Yukon and was traveling by sled to his uncle's home, who was a doctor. This got us talking about the tundra, Alaska, sled dogs and more so I requested a bunch of resources from my local library to help us explore this topic deeper and I am sharing them with you. 

Who knows how deep we will go with this but I can assure a lot of learning will take place and I wouldn't be surprised to see "sled dog teams" made out of Legos. 



Books that Teach

Alaska, Sled Dogs, Northern Lights, Tales

Thursday, November 7, 2013

3D Imaging



So glad this one is over! Actually once you figure out this program, it is really easy to use. But until you find all those buttons, and pages, and save features your going to spend hours upon hours trying to do so.

This is a 3D Model of a doll I made a few years ago for my daughter. Her name is Dorinda Gabriella and she stands at about 18" tall. I photographed her with natural light about mid-day and used crayons set in patterns around her instead of newspaper as my reference points.

I used all the tools in creating this model. First I cut away the excess background, rotating and resizing as I went along. Then I smoothed out my lines. I used the Plane Cut to bring her back to earth and that was about it. She looks great! Source: http://www.123dapp.com/catch

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Bananas & Ham Oh My!







This weeks menu is dominated by Bananas and Ham, but don't think it is the same flavors over and over! Oh, no, you'll find plenty of variety here. Enjoy! 

Meal Plan: Week of November 3rd-9th

BREAKFAST
Cereal
Smoothie & Banana Muffins 
French Toast Sticks & Sausage
Banana Bread Oatmeal & Milk
Peanut Butter Toast, Banana Slices, Milk
Egg MoMuffins (English Muffin, Egg, Canadian Bacon, American Cheese)

Smoothie Recipes
  1. 1 banana, 1 TBSP Honey, 1/4 c. Banilla Yogurt, 1 scoop Protein Powder, 1/4 c. Milk, Ice
  2. 1 banana, 2-3 tsp.Truvia, 1/4 c. greek yogurt, 5 frozen strawberries, 1 scoop Protein Powder, 1/2 c. almond milk, ice
  3. 1/2 c. almond milk, 1/2 c. water, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 TBSP Peanut Butter, 1 TBSP Cocoa Powder, 4 frozen strawberries, ice.


LUNCH
Ham & Cheese Crescent Rolls, Veggies & Ranch
Club Sandwich (Turkey, Tomato, Bacon, Lettuce, Mayo), Fruit & Whipped Cream
Egg Salad Sandwiches, Cucumbers & Ranch
Toasted Peanut Butter & Chicken Noodle Soup, Grapes
Sloppy Joes, Mac & Cheese, Pickle
Baked Potatoes (Butter, Salt, Sour Cream, Cheddar Cheese, Bacon Bits), Apple Slices
Leftovers


DINNER
Creamy Chicken Enchiladas, Yellow Rice
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, Biscuits
Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Corn
Chicken Fettucini Alfredo
Lasagna, Garlic Bread, Salad
Cheesy Hashbrown & Ham Casserole
Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Smiles Potatoes, Green Beans


SNACKS
Apples & Peanut Butter
Cheese & Crackers
Graham Crackers
Deviled Egg


DESSERTS
Chocolate Covered Frozen Bananas


Friday, November 1, 2013

Art with Everyday Items

I am simply mesmerized....


fascinated....


delighted...


tickled...


and Inspired!


Check out more amazing illustrations by Ecuador-based  artist Javier Perez. His simple mix of everyday objects with line drawings are simply enchanting over at Instagram.


Thursday, October 31, 2013

Typography and Text-Based Art

Mikhail Baryshnikov


This image of Mikhail Baryshnikov, the famous Russian ballet dancer was created using GlassGiant's ASCII Art generator. I looked for a photograph that had a high contrast so that the photograph would come through more clearly. I feel this image accomplished that. My only gripe is for some reason my image was elongated once it was converted. I could see using this program again in the future.  

I added the color image below of my daughter when she was 6 years old. I wanted to show an image in color since I chose to use a black and white above. 













The previous 3 photographs were created using Text-Image. The first is a photograph of my sister when she was little. It is HTML and I used the word "sister" as my letters for creating this piece. The second is a picture of my oldest daughter and is done in ASCII. The third is a photograph I took in Williamsburg, VA and is done in Matrix. I think these programs are interesting and could be a lot of fun with the right photograph as a base.





I L-O-V-E Tagxedo and I expect I'll be using it again, often! If you can't tell, I created these two images of Mary Poppins using the line from her famous song, "A Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down". I love the way it turned out and decided to make two! :)




Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Scribbler Week 10

Scribbler









I enjoyed working with this application although it took quite a bit of time to work out how to utilize the different tools. It was also a challenge getting the images to still look like what I had drawn once Scribbler began. Using a mouse to draw is also very difficult as I am a bit of a perfectionist and wanted perfect circles when that was not going to happen. I added 3 images because I couldn't decide which ones I liked best. 


Scribbler 2





I did not like this program at all. I actually found it more difficult to work with than the older edition of scribbler. I am not very fond of the connectivity of the lines. It made it nearly impossible to draw details. After a lot of experimenting I did find ways around that but ultimately, this is not a program I would use again. 

My first picture was copied over a sunset scene. I tried to mix the different shades of orange, yellows and reds to make a smooth background. The second was a free sketch of dancing feet. 

Flame





I thought Flame was fun. My first image is of a Phoenix, which ironically is a bird made of fire. I really love the way that one turned out. My second image was inspired by the video we watched of the paint that was photographed while being tossed about by sound waves. I thought this looked like an explosion of color as well.


This final image was my attempt at a screen shot while experimenting with the extras you posted. I kept trying to get a good shot but by the time I would get the image captured, most of it had faded. 

Monday, October 21, 2013

New Slide Show - A Day in My LIfe


Revised slide show 
Please note: My animations are not able to be shown here, so you're missing part of my work. 


This movie was created using Keynote on my iMac. I had a lot of fun creating this as there are a lot more features than Google Slides. I decided to do an alphabetic representation of things in my life. I spent a good part of the morning coming up with items for each letter and revised them as the day went on. Then I proceeded to make sure I photographed these events. I hope you enjoy this revised "Day in My Life" Slide presentation.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Becher Grid


It took me a few days to figure out what items I wanted to photograph to make this Becher Grid. I needed to find something that I owned 16 of or go out on location somewhere to find 16 items. I loved the idea of leaves being the huge nature lover that I am, but alas, it was already done. I considered my son's Angry Bird collection but he only owns 12 even though it feels like 100 as they propel through the air in endless hours of enthusiastic play.

It then hit me that I have an immense sewing supply stash that I utilize every Nov./Dec. as the gift making frenzy starts and my overwhelming urge to "Get Crafty" takes over. So I pulled out the spools of thread. My only regret was my limited color choice. Apparently I love blues, reds and greens. Missing were the pinks, yellows, and oranges. Forget about purple, I have a strong distaste for that shade and I reject any mention of it in my home. It literally makes me feel ill to look at it. lol

As I was working my way through the assignment, (L-O-V-E the video tutorials Prof. Ballard!!!) I began experimenting with the values when I strayed from the RGB tab and started altering the individual colors of Red, Green & Blue. By doing so, this allowed me to pull out the natural reflected colors from the shadows. I was thrilled with the results! One problem I could see with the Becher Grid was the inconsistency with the white level. I wanted all my squares to have the exact same brightness but that was difficult because of the reflected color coming from my spools of thread. By bringing out the natural hues in a very strong way, I was able to create a color rich environment, in some cases using complementary colors. I decided to make a black background and go for a warm and cozy quilt look with my Becher Grid. Overall, I am very happy with how it turned out and I hope you like it too!


Thursday, October 10, 2013

A Day in the Life Slide Show


I can see how this could be a really useful tool for communication of ideas and pictures. I had never created a slide show before so I am sure there is still a lot I have to learn about it. I enjoy the simplicity of a white background and allowing the pictures to add the pops of color. I could see myself using this application to make slides for art or history class or even my future educational films business. It is exciting that it is all online and free, which makes me even more motivated to utilize it. Overall, I am excited to continue to explore this product and use it in future endeavors. 

Monday, October 7, 2013

Menu Plan for October

Black Bean and Corn Taco Bake
1 lb ground beef  - cooked
1 can black beans
1 small can corn
1 13 oz jar salsa
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Dump all into a crock-pot on low for 2-3 hours. 
Eat with chips or in a tortilla with sour cream. 

Monday, September 30, 2013

Video Mash-Up


Today I am sharing with you my Video Mash-up using iMovie. This project took me about 18 hours over a period of 3 days. It took me a lot of time to figure out what I wanted this movie to say. It had to have a story. As usual, this process changed and evolved as I searched for clips and began piecing it together. 

The story starts off with the insecurities of life. Afraid to show our faces to those who would judge us, we tend to go about our days hiding. But as the story goes on, we gain confidence in who God created us to be. Because He created us, we don't  have to fear man and their opinions. We can hold ourselves confidently. He is the author of life, and in this parallel, dance. At the end, I show the faces of the ballet dancers from the beginning of the film to represent this. In a few places in the film, you'll hear audio from the 1985 film, Footloose. While I am using the exact words from that film, I cut some words out and I rearranged them to tell a different story. 

I used clips from a lot of movies to make this film. They are: 
Flashdance
Dirty Dancing
The Breakfast Club
Swing Time
Emma
Step Up 3D
The Black Swan
Footloose 1985 Audio only
Footloose 2012 
Save the Last Dance
Something Borrowed
and
A Musical Groups 1940's Style Song Video

This project was challenging because I had to make the dancing in the film go with the beat of my song. So I used the speed feature a lot in my editing. I also put filters on many of the clips to evoke different moods. Some clips were cropped and I also added transitions between some of the clips. I cut, arranged and modified the clips until they hit the song in just the place I wanted them and also to tell the story I was trying to tell. I also learned how to completely remove the audio from a film, leaving the soundtrack to be manipulated to tell a completely different story as I did with Kevin Bacon's audio from Footloose.  

I realize that my video is not very weird, but it is "me". It tells the story "I" wanted to tell and I feel it goes very well with the music. I choose to use my song in its entirety because... well it took a long time to make it and I wanted it all in there. 

Monday, September 23, 2013

Homeschooling the Younger Years...

Homeschooling the younger years doesn't have to be complicated. Find yourself a solid math program, an easy to use reading program without a lot of bells and whistles and you can rest assured that life will teach them the rest for now. However, if you want to add in some enrichment, you can't go wrong with Memoria Press. They sell whole kits but you don't really need all that. What I do is purchase the Teacher's Guides and rewrite the lesson plans to only include the Enrichment portion of the guide. This gives me a rich addition to my son's homeschool day. 

Using wonderful picture books as our springboard we learn about beautiful music, art, rich literature, social studies and science. I often will find the musical selection on youtube where we can watch the actual music being played. How awesome is our life that we can have our own symphony orchestra right in our homeschool room? I teach him all about the different sections and types of instruments. We talk about the feeling of the pieces and through this he is developing good taste in classical music. 

For the art piece, I have created my own art prints for him using Google Images. I downloaded them, and had them printed at my local Walgreens as photographs. He has his own photo album that he keeps them in. Each week, I give him a new print to which he studies. I play little games with him, taking the print away and asking him what he remembers about it. Sometimes we talk about the colors, the textures, the subject matter, etc... I also tell him the title of the painting and who painted it. He keeps that information in the photo album with his print. Each week, he recites from memory the paintings and artists. It is wonderful memory work and makes for an exciting time on our trips to the museum when we see works by artists he is familiar with. 

For the rest of the subjects, we use youtube to look at things he may be unfamiliar with. For instance, today we learned about water powered sawmills. We were able to go on a virtual field trip to see one. Sometimes, for the science, I'll get additional books and videos from the library to expand the topics. 

So for very little money ($30 for the Teacher's Guide), I have a rich addition to our 1st grade homeschool. Here is a screen shot of the 1st four weeks of school this year. I retyped the guide into a more user friendly format. 


Thursday, September 19, 2013

Music for the Ears



Well, it is completed. This project had the largest learning curve of all the ones I've done so far. Not only did it involve learning Garageband, but it also included pulling out all my musical genius (of which I had none... lol). This is actually the fourth song I created. I tried creating original tunes using the on screen piano with my mouse, the computer keyboard and I even went so far as to attach my digital piano with a midi/usb cord.

What ultimately ended up working for me was to use a song I was already familiar with, using mostly the baseline and some of the song. I used a lot of drum beats, percussion, guitars, flutes and so many effects I couldn't possibly name them all. I experimented with the volume levels, echo, pitch and tempo. My inspiration song was "Heaven" by DJ Sammy. It is a dance mix of the same name by Brian Adams. I love this song!!! I hope you enjoy it. I am pretty proud of it. :)





Wednesday, September 11, 2013

City



                                                    City                                    By Michelle P.

Song of the city,
Echoes of the past.
Melody of the future,
Days gone by fast.

Touch of the hand,
Rarely seen in my day.
Pride lost and forgotten,
City light the way.

The other day while driving around I was listening to the radio. The Morning Crew were discussing the fact that my city is considered a terrible, unsafe place to live and they had people calling in to say how they felt about it. Everyone was talking about how horrible and unsafe a place it is as if we live in the ghetto. One women even said she lived in Saudi Arabia for some time and she felt safer there than she does here. I found it rather ironic that here I was driving around since 4:30am (which I have been doing for about a year and a half now), alone, in the dark delivering newspapers. Not once in all this time have I felt threatened or even scared. Not once. I felt sad for the city, this place I call home. I have lived in other places, Minnesota, Illinois and even Michigan. Our city is a place we need to love as long as we are here. We need to make it what we want it to be.

The poem I wrote for this video talks about the men and women who built our city, the craftsmanship and effort that when into things even as small as the cover on our sewer system. It goes on to say how we need to remember that city pride and build a place we can be proud of. All we have to do is look closely at the city of the past to imagine the city of the future.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Urban Landscape Edited

IMG_11.jpg by cmahmh

IMG_11.jpg, a photo by cmahmh on Flickr.

"Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light."      Helen Keller

When I saw the beautiful, ornate lamps on the side of this dilapidated old building in downtown Toledo, I knew I had to get a shot of it. So many amazing details are hidden in plain site as these structures deteriorate with every passing year; details that just aren't important to today's contractors and architects.

This old lamp was photographed during the day and I seriously doubt that even if electricity still pulsed in its veins, it would even function. I wanted to take a step back in time and once again light the night through the magic of editing.

Using my 5 megapixel iPhone 4, I shot this photograph without flash around 7:00pm on a warm August evening. The photo is 1936x2592 which gives me about 5,018,112 pixels or about 5.01 megapixels. Once home, I strengthened the contrast and the saturation to bring out the natural colors already there and to bring a feeling of dusk. I cropped the photo to bring the focus directly onto the lamp. Using a filter, I brought back to life the light of yesterday.


Monday, August 26, 2013

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! I'm a single mom with five amazing kids that I have home educated for the last 13 years. My oldest and I have both started college this past fall and I still plan to home educate the other four. With a crazy life like mine, I am always looking for ways to organize my home, activities and meals to keep things running smooth. I I hope to share all of my many interests, activities and my life in pictures. Here you'll find...



  • favorite recipes
  • organization tips and ideas
  • thoughts on life
  • homeschooling 
  • DIY projects
  • Money Saving and Budgeting
  • Health and Fitness
  • My life in pictures 
  • Balancing it all and more! 


I hope you'll come back often!