Simple Things: Neat things to do and I found some saving ideas

For some reason this month is a super busy one! Among all the October festivities we managed to make it to the "Junga" show at the college with the homeschool group. That was pretty cool!

Junga ~ Chinese Acrobats

SAVINGS!!!

Okay, on another note. I was at the store "JcPenny" and like all other stores they have practically everything on sale. Especially the summer stuff. I picked up a few cute t-shirts for only $3 ... yes you heard it right $3. But the only problem was ............. I don't need any short sleeves right now. So, I wanted to do the layer effect and wear a t-shirt under them but the necks were scoop necks and it looked very strange. So, I went to JoAnns and bought knit fabric for $2 a yard (which was enough for 2 shirts) and I made a pattern from another long sleeve and made my own long sleeves and attached them. They came out so cute! Here are the before and after pictures.

Have you ever thought of the expense of laundry detergent? If you have ever watched the TV show "the duggar family" it is a family with 18 children and are amazing with their saving ways. This week they showed them making homemade laundry detergent and I looked it up and found out that the "Queen of Clean" has a similar recipe and that it's a "green" product (so safe and good for the earth and cheap). Anyway, I am going to try to make it myself in the next couple of weeks and it will last me over 1 year and save me over $100 per year. YIPPEE! I'll keep you posted on that.

Another saving tip............... we have a gas water heater in the garage. And I noticed that the flame is on a lot to heat all that water. So, we now have the flame turned way down to "warm" always. If we need hot water we go out and turn it on "high" and in 10 minutes there is enough hot water to run the dishwasher or take a shower. Then of course we turn it off again. That has saved a lot on our gas bill. We have been doing this for almost a year now and have seen the savings. Love it! Why have a flame burning for no reason?

So the fun has started with Girl Scouts too! The girls got thier GS uniforms. They love them! Shae's picture didn't come out to well.

AWANA's had crazy hair day and we all went out for that one. Lots of silly pony tails and bows.

And we finally completed our "People of the Past" lap book. This is way more fun than reading a paragraph in out of a book. We studied Betsy Ross, Christopher Columbus, Daniel Boone, George Washington and Ben Franklin and learned about the Liberty Bell, and the Declaration of Independence. I am learning all over again! It is amazing to see the girls like to hear about these people when put in a interesting format. They truely love to learn. And just about anything. I have learned about the importance of teaching and the children learning during our homeschooling experience. They are so smart, so fun, and make my teaching enjoyable. Most importantly I have learned what is important to stress at certain ages. And what can be stressed more at a later age. Kayla is learning cursive and loves it and has memorized half of the multiplication table and of course reads at a fourth grade level. Shae is continuing to read well and loves math. She is very interested in Science and bugs too.