View from my front door this morning...

Just beautiful!

sMiLeS,

Free Texting!

I'm serious. It is free!
Even if you don't have a cell phone!
All you need is a google email account and a friend to text.  Google email is free too!
I often use this when I'm at home since I have a very limited (cheap) texting plan, and my kids don't have cell phones, but they have a few friends that do.
Read here to learn how.

Further tips:
If you have friends who are not in your email contacts list, you can still text them after enabling the Text Messaging (SMS) option (under Settings, Labs).
Above the chat list on the left side of gmail, there is a search box. Type in their phone number w/ area code, hit enter, and follow the prompts.
Later, you can just click their name in the list and hit enter to open a text box.

To switch to texting, click on "Send Text (SMS)"

To ensure you are texting and not chatting, their phone number should be visible at the top of the window where you are texting. ↓  If it isn't there, → you are chatting instead of texting, and they may not receive your message.  To switch from chat to texting, click on the down arrow beside More, and select Send Text (SMS).  →

In texting mode, the phone # is at the top.

←After switching to texting, you see that the phone number is at the top.  At the bottom there is a notice that your friend may be charged each time you send a text.  Check w/ your friend to make sure their incoming texts (from you) are free for them.  
The "SMS credit" is explained here.

For the cousins or friends that don't have texting, our kids all just message back and forth using Gmail's chat (both parties must have Gmail accounts).
Some features you will see, including voice/video chat or adding people to a current chat, are not available in texting.

sMiLeS,

I love my Computer!

Ha, ha! I L♥ve my friends!

sMiLeS,

Keyboard Symbol Pictures

             
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sMiLeS,

Awesome pics of the moon! =)

http://www.pixheaven.net/galerie_us.php?id=22

sMiLeS,

Fruit-fly Trap

In a disposable cup, pour about ½ inch or so of apple cider vinegar.
Add a drop of liquid dish detergent.  (This breaks the surface tension of the vinegar so when the li'l critters go in, they go down!)
Cover the cup with saran wrap or a sandwich baggie and poke tiny holes in the plastic with the end of a sharp knife.  Use a rubber band to make the wrap stay on.
►Another way is to make a cone with a piece of paper or a coffee filter, making sure the end hole is tiny.  Tape the paper to the cup so that it doesn't come out.


Make sure no cider gets on the outside of the cup, or they will go there instead of IN.  It takes awhile, and they'll sit on the top awhile before going in, but they will.  The cup should be rinsed and fresh apple cider vinegar and soap replaced at least once a day.  Dry the outside of the cup.
I usually set out 3 or 4 of these cups around the kitchen.
►One more method is to place a bit of banana or banana skin in a ziploc baggie that has tiny holes poked in it, but I don't know if they'll die that way or are just in fruit-fly jail!

(If you're doing Apologia General Science, you might need these instructions after Module 9!)

sMiLeS,

A gallon of tea for $0.45!!!

I figured it up.  It costs us $0.45 per gallon of tea!

Dh takes a 16 oz. cup a day to work, with a few cubes of ice (so that it's not as sweet by lunchtime) so actually he takes 14 oz.
I figured it's less than $0.05 per day for him for tea!
(And to think how much drinks cost!)

So... how do I do it for 45 cents a gallon?

We buy the 48-count gallon-sized tea bags of Lipton tea at Sam's.  It's actually two 24-counts packaged together.
When we boil the water and pour it in w/ a gallon tea bag, I have my daughter to do it awhile ahead and let it soak, then make TWO gallons w/ it.
Tastes the same.  We couldn't tell a difference.
So for about 9.50 or so, we're getting 96 gallons!

We use 1¼ cup of sugar in a gallon, and I figured up that the Great Value sugar we buy is 0.28/cup.  (I did the math, but didn't trust myself, so I measured it out and got 10.5 cups in a 5 lb. bag)
So 0.10 for tea and 0.35 for sugar is 0.45 per gallon of tea.

Just wanted to share!
Have a glass of tea w/ me.  =)


sMiLeS,

Ellipsograph/Reciprocator/Trammel of Archimedes

Remember a few weeks ago, I had asked for help figuring out what this object was?
Well, it really is more than just a fun gadget to play with.  =)
Real ones are called an ellipsograph or recipricator, or on Wikipedia, a trammel of Archimedes.
It is used to draw or cut ellipses.
Wikipedia also says that what I have is a toy, or novelty item, sometimes called a "do nothing machine," hahaha!
See what this ellipsograph was used to draw!  →



sMiLeS,

ning y ning

What is this thing? 

I googled "ning y ning" and all other combinations and descriptions I could think of for this gadget. I bought it probably more than 10 years ago at a novelty store. The store owners didn't know what it was either, haha. =)
My niece wants to buy one from eBay, but we don't know what to call it.
Help, please.

sMiLeS,

Are you thankful for your maids?

Do you have maids?  At one time, I didn't realize I actually do have maids!
Yes, several of them, in fact.
I have a dishwasher, a clothes washer, an indoor water pump, an electric stove, and lots more!
Why, I don't have to fetch water from the creek.  I don't have to wash my dishes by hand anymore. (Thank you, Travis!)  =D  I don't have to scrub my clothes on a washboard or beat them on rocks.  I don't have to gather wood for the stove or for heat for the house.
I do have to get my maids going every day, and make sure they're well taken care of, but it sure is a time saver to have these maids.  =)
What other maids can you think of that we have?

sMiLeS,

Let It Snow!

*★Let it★* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★Snow!★ 。* 。* ° 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛*__Π____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ * /______ /~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田｜門｜ ˚ *

The CUTEST little snowmen!

Aren't these the CUTEST things???  Find out how to make this easy no-sew craft at BabyCenter.com.

You could even use a 20 oz. soda bottle; just rubber band the white tube sock to the top instead of tucking in.  Great to use as a centerpiece on a piece of batting.  =)

Frozen Pipes? Nooooo!

It's supposed to be 11º tonight! 
What do you do when the temperature is going to be reaaally cold? There are many things people do to keep pipes from freezing. Of course, good insulation is always great. You know, the foam pipe type stuff you slip over the pipes. But do you know any other tips, little tricks, that you do other than leaving the water dripping (in the other room where you can't hear it, ha).

I like to start a load of laundry right when I go to bed. That way, water will definitely be running through the pipes for a while.  Then I set my dishwasher to come on a few hours later.   That is at least another hour of water running. I know, the water dripping might be all I need, but these chores need to be done anyway.  And I normally do the dishwasher in the evening, and empty it the next morning to be filled throughout the day. So I just wait and set it when I go to bed.

We also have vents that let air flow under the house.  We close those when it's going to be really cold. 
If this won't work for you, what kinds of tips do you have? Leave a comment for me and other readers. Thanks!

Homeschooler's Lunchtime

Checkers and potato soup (made from yesterday's leftover broth).

Anne Frank - Virtual Tour

I've always been touched by the story of Anne Frank.  I've seen one of the movies, read the book several times, and have gone to the play.  At AnneFrank.org, you can read more about the Frank family, and take a virtual tour of the rooms in the Secret Annex where Anne, her family, and others hid from the Nazis. 

Error 1714

Have you ever needed to do a System Restore to your computer?
Hint:  If you have installed anything major, like, say the printer we bought this past weekend, System Restore will uninstall it too, and when re-installing, the "left-overs" from the previous install are still there, preventing successful re-installation. 

This entitles you to spend exactly 1 hour and 26 minutes on the phone with Paul from the Philippines!!! =)

Birthday present or gag gift? LOL

Pets can be a lot of fun!  They can also be a lot of work!  You'd have to really love one to put up with it.

Three years ago for their 10th birthday, my twins got hermit crabs for their birthday from their aunt.
Sandy and Hermy.
They were not much trouble.  They mostly just needed certain living conditions provided.
Clean sand or other substrate like shredded coconut to hold in moisture, heater thingy attached to one end of the tank so they could go near or away if they were too hot or cold, a coconut hut to hide in, things to climb on, both salt and fresh water, and food.  They needed a thermometer/humidity gauge that needed to be kept within certain ranges, so we had to keep the shredded coconut moist, and regulate how far the lid was open depending on our current weather.

For their 11th birthday, their aunt gave them a dog they named Levi.  (He would have been Oscar, but JohnDavid got outvoted.)
Levi has been the most trouble.  He smells, needs to be played with, needs to be fed, fresh water in this hot weather, needs to be brushed, fresh cedar wood chips in his doghouse so he won't smell as much, (a doghouse he no longer goes into), chew toys, (and don't leave your shoes on the porch!) and just needs more care.
He chases birds that fly 50 feet above him; he chases everything!  He is afraid of file folders or anything you are carrying that he does not recognize.  He lays on his back to sleep with all 4 paws flopping outward.  He is one silly dog!

Last year, someone gave them a hamster whose name became Oscar.  (Yay!  JohnDavid has a pet named Oscar!)  He's not as much trouble as Levi, but his cage needs to be cleaned often, food provided, fresh water (and make sure the bottle doesn't leak if you hang it wrong!) and he needs to get out and run around. 

Pets can be a lot of fun, and the kids do love their animals, but I think I will inform their aunt (and others) we do not need any more pets for birthdays.
(who wants a present with a built-in chore!?!)

New Playlist - like or dislike?

Wondering what my readers think of the new Playlist?
I did put it near the top so readers could see it early, and mute it if they wanted.
I love hearing the music, but when I'm halfway down the blog and want to watch a video, I have to scroll back up to mute the Playlist.  =\
And if I'm at the bottom of the blog, and click Older Posts, the Playlist starts over.

So, I'm thinking, I love to look over my old posts (this blog is my baby, after all!), but probably no one else does, so they probably won't scroll down that far, and maybe they don't have a problem with the Playlist? 
So I want your opinions, and you can even vote anonymously (or not) by leaving a comment.
So...
Do you like it, or is it just okay?  Or is it annoying!?!
I'm sure you mute/pause it to watch videos.  But do you mute it first thing every time you come to the site?  Or just let it play. 
Or do you listen, only to find it bothersome to have to scroll later to find it and hit mute!
Opinions, please.  =)

ETA:  It even got to annoying me!  If I'm working on my blog, and have it open in 2 tabs so I can reference something, it has 2 players going on different songs!
So it is set to play ONLY if you click Play.  =)

Apologia Science Question of the Week

Apologia Science Question of the Week.
Kids ages 13-18 can submit answers and win prizes. Each contest runs 12 weeks, and the one(s) with the most correct answers win.
New questions come out each week.
A new contest should begin in a week or two. (not sure of the dates on the site)
But go see what the current question is like anyway! They're hard, I tell ya!
← Posting link in side bar for future reference.  Look under "Links for Kids and Teens". 

More Molly! =)

Molly the Owl is back w/ more owlets!  =)
Live feed of barn owls in a nest box in San Marcos, California.  Scroll down to mute the second camera if you need to.  It appears that it has some advertising as well as live feed.

← old pic (from March), tucking her eggs under her.

My post of eaglets and of Molly from back in March.