Live a Meaningful Life

The excitement leading up to the "first" day of school was all in the air.  SO much so, I finally agreed at 7:30 a.m. to get started!! (Unfortunately the early start will not last long--in a few days it will be, "Can we wait 10 more minutes?") Anyway, we went into the "classroom" which had been locked for a little redesigning.  If you are new to homeschooling--please don't fret reading this.  You do not need a classroom to homeschool--just a couch/chair, a corner, a bed--get the point--space does not matter!  John Gannon wanted a classroom and at 3--his brother was all too excited to move in the room with him so we could create one! So right now, it just works for us.  This summer, we decided that when we learn we want to be able to: create, discover, investigate, laugh, celebrate, love, design, imagine, and dream.  This year, if we find ourselves engaged in something that really doesn't allow us to do those things, we are gonna assess and s...

Many years ago when Johnny and I made a commitment to get out of debt and never return we had to make some lifestyle adjustments!  They were indeed lifestyle adjustments, because years later, we still tend to carry some of those habits.  For example--our solar dryer--works wonders! If you hear the "real" dryer working--that thing runs less than 10 cycles a year! Next...we have cut our air conditioning on less than 5 times this calendar year.  Our source of a breeze... I have laughed a lot seeing a similar picture on Facebook, and it say "Remember this?"  Remember it? We still do it!  The result--our bodies obviously have adjusted. If we go somewhere and the temp is below 75--we are cold!  If it is below 70--I am pretty much freezing!  I guess we will have to leave the windows up when it starts getting colder so we can adjust to the colder weather as well!  My point--we have a tendency to live frugally!  Most of the time, that works ...

So, here we are...all packed up for our last long trip of the summer.  This is how we roll when we will be camping for an extended period. We started our trip in Atlanta for a Six Flags stop. You all know we travel on the cheap--how can a Six Flags trip be cheap? John Gannon earned free tickets for me and him through their Read to Succeed Program. I used Coke Reward Points to get Johnny's ticket--so that left us paying for a discounted ticket for Jackson and the $20 parking fee! Here are the boys--awaiting a day filled with fun and adventure...right? First of all-this picture was an adventure for a Jackson. He is afraid of large costumed creatures! After this one, he was done with that for a while.  Right after this picture John Gannon and Johnny headed to a large thrill ride while Jackson and I were off to the kiddie rides. As for Jackson and I, we were living it up, going from ride to ride.  Johnny and JG on the other hand...after riding about 3 or 4 r...