Woodwater Farmhouse

I am willing to bet that most of my readers and followers are not aware of the significance of February 28th.  For that I am grateful.   If you did know that today is Rare Disease Day , that means you or someone close to you might have a rare disease.   We are aware of it in our home.  My BFF has a child with a very rare syndrome.   It's a challenging life but BLESSED life for our little buddy, Owen.   He has a rare disease called  Cardio Facio Cutaneous or CFC for short . It is so rare in fact that researchers estimate that 200-300 people worldwide have this condition. This is a picture of Owen, Molly and myself on one of our camping adventures.  He is our smallest camper yet!   One thing you can do to help our little buddy, Owen, is sign up for Amazon Smile and pick the Cardio Facio Cutaneous as your special charity. Each time you make a purchase on Amazon, a small amount will be donat...

#winterblues #joinmehere #sandinourtoes

Last Friday we celebrated Valentine's Day with some treats and lots of lovin'!  The children all received books from my hubby and myself along with some sweetheart SweetTarts.  We also feasted on some mini valentine cakes.  Like so much of the US our snow is out of control.  Not only can the children not play in it because they lose their boots from step 1 into it (so deep) but our wildlife is finding it a challenge to find food and drudge thru the snow..  Our library class this week was themed around being positive and loving each other.  The children had a nice time as always.   I ask that you pray for me today, pray for a safe travel as I fly out of NYC this afternoon and go south to see my father.  My father will be called HOME soon to be with so many others including his younger sister and brother.  It's a time for reflection, sharing stories and praying.  Pray that my husband and children will be kept saf...

#determination #threelegs #highsnow

Can I just say, I love Pinterest!  I find so many awesome resources, craft ideas, home ideas, printables and inspiration on Pinterest.  I came across this one this morning from My Joy Filled Life .   Do you have any of these?  The Homeschool Mom's Bible intrigues  me!  SOURCE I wish I made more time to read for person enjoyment.  One of my 2014 Goals is to finally FINISH a book. I am great the start, but fall short to ever finish.  I just find that I am so tired and want to spend some time with the hubby at night, that reading takes a back seat again.   I have to MAKE the time.  Other homeschooling moms do it, why can't I?    Stay tuned to see if I can ever finish a book..... This post may contain affiliate or sponsor links. You can see our full disclosure policy at the bottom of this blog page.

Happy Valentine's Day! I pray everyone is safe and how power restored from the winter storms.  We received about 16 inches give or take.  It's so pretty and we respect how it humbles us.  Hoping hubby gets out with the children and skis!  Linking up with Mary over at Homegrown Learners for Collage Friday! Last weekend my cousin and her family, my older son and his soon to be wife came over for a Celebration. It was 31 years ago (on 2/9) that my life changed.  That is the day of my 1st surgery on my head that eventually lead to the diagnosis of cancer.  My life is BETTER because of it and I am who I am because of it!  Thank you God for choosing that path for me.  We have been reading all about Russia, Russian Folk and Fairy tales. The art in these books is breathtaking. The talent, the way in which they are written and illustrated - WOW. I have so enjoyed our evenings before bed reading with the children.  We s...

Part of my organizational plan for 2014 is getting the children more involved with the chores around the house.  They will usually perform a task if asked (a million times) . However, I really feel that the girls need to be held more accountable when it comes to helping out.  Zachary has his weekly chores that he performs also.  Today I am sharing a new "tool" that we are using at home.  These personalized Chore Charts and reward stickers are from a company called Schoolstickers.com.   Schoolstickers.com has a variety of reward stickers, charts and other organization and reward tools for teachers.  These chore charts come in packages of 8. I decided in order to get more "mileage" out of the charts, I laminated them in the hopes of using them the entire year and not just discarding after a week. I love that you can order them with the children's name on them.  They quality of the paper is more of a cardstock and the colors are vibrant. ...

Today is an exciting day! A day that I have wanted to tell you all about for a while now!   I am so proud and happy to announce the Mom Mentor Program and my role in it with Graham Blanchard .  You might remember Graham Blanchard as one of My Favorite Things from my big giveaway in December.   Let me tell you a little about Graham Blanchard in their own words: The ability to learn and read are God-given gifts that awaken the mind, open the heart, and nourish the soul.  Graham Blanchard holds core Christian beliefs, informing all the works we create: We believe  in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe  that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, entirely trustworthy, and the final authority for all of faith and life. We believe  that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who became man and that while on earth, he was both fully man and fully God. We believe  that...

It's Friday and another few snow storms have hit our part of the country this week.  We love the snow!   We just don't love shoveling it!   (our snowblower belt broke this week so hubby and I had to shovel 14 inches by hand and we have a LONG driveway!)   Eric has taken the kids skiing several times over the last week, getting the most out of our season passes.  Last weekend, for Superbowl, we had a few families over to watch the game. It was relaxing and fun! We were able to start some serious fun crafting for Valentine's this week.   Our I LOVE YOU in sign language cards turned out great! We also made these Butterflies out of hearts.  The children all started a new gymnastics class this week at our local gym which is only 2 miles from our home!  After class we usually stop by the local pet store and visit with the animals.  You can see that our Sammie (purple coat) is holding a baby mouse. The eyes were not...

I t's February and we are a wintry mess again here in NY!  Casserole cooking is on the brain and so is saving at the grocery store.  If you missed my February challenge, please check it all out  HERE. Today I am sharing two recipe ideas that really help me stretch my food budget.  Each week I buy 1 package of organic chicken. Usually boneless, skinless thighs. It runs me about $ 7.50 for a package and there are usually 5 thighs in there.  I am able to stretch that chicken into two full meals plus 2 leftover lunches for the hubby!  NOTE: We use organic ingredients whenever we can.  Meal 1: Creamy Tomato and Chicken Pasta - original recipe found HERE. If you clicked on the recipe link you will see that the original recipe called for spinach and penne pasta. I substituted cut up chicken thighs (2 of them) instead of the spinach (did not have any) and whole wheat elbow macaroni.  This recipe...

I am sharing with you the way, after 25 years of doing the food shopping for my family , finally have it DOWN to a science!   Menu planning, saving, not many coupons (gasp) and little to no stockpiling.   Little background: our family lives on a "one check a month system". My husband gets paid on the 15th of every month and that's it (been this way for over 13 years) . Talk about having to budget your money wisely!   That's twelve paychecks a year.  HOWEVER, I budget my "food" money allocation on a weekly basis.  I have tried it all...cutting coupons, laying out all the ads, driving to three different stores, food money envelope system and so on...aren't you tired just thinking about it all?  I am!  But not anymore.  I finally figured out the PLAN!  The first part of the PLAN is to HAVE A PLAN!    THE PLAN should include:  Set a budget - if you are weekly, bi-weekly or monthly you need a budget! ...