Five Quick Things

1.  Little Girls. I'm not sure this next picture needs much explanation.

2.  Wholly Holey.  Last week when the weather was so nice, I saw this. 

I guess this tree is multi-purpose for birds-- a place to live and a woodpecker buffet.

3.  New Blog.  Afterthoughts isn't actually a new blog, but it is a new-to-me blog. It is a homeschool-y blog. I think it's a keeper for me. I haven't actually listened to any of the podcasts she does because I never have quiet time to listen to podcasts, but the posts are helpful and link to other things I sometimes like wasting time reading.

4.  Favorite Blog.  The Frugal Girl is my favorite blog. Hands down. She shares frugal tips. She shares recipes. She shares hilarious pictures of clothes she tries on. And she posts several times a week. She makes money from her blog, but she's not overly commercial (which is the problem I have with most blogs that are constantly pushing things). 

5.  My Daughter's Blog.  I don't let my children do a lot online, but my oldest daughter begged for a blog so that she could share her love of nature. (I steal some of her pictures sometimes.) She doesn't get to post often, but she wrapped up winter in her latest post on A Nature Girl's World.

New Wheels

After much consideration, price-checking, emailing, and weeping and gnashing of teeth (by a child who didn't want to give it up), we sold our old car. I bought our 1998 Civic fresh out of college so I would have a reliable car to get to my first teaching job. And reliable it was. Until it wasn't quite as reliable. It's not that it didn't work, but lately it was a lot of nickel and dime fixes. And then it was a little bit more than nickel and dime things.

The good old days-- the Civic holding shirts of kids working outside

So the decision was made. We have our van (the whole family vehicle) and our Suburban (the vehicle to haul things), but we felt we needed something that got more than 18 miles per gallon.

We bought a Subaru Outback.

Shiny and new

Ooooh!

Aaaah!

The only problem so far for me (which actually hasn't been a problem for me since I haven't yet filled it up) is that the gas tank is on the right side of the car. I've never had a vehicle with the gas on the right side. I guess I'll get used to it.

Wrong side

I guess the new car smell makes up for it. Here's to hoping this car holds up at least as long as the last one!

Spring!

Now, you might all be thinking, "She does this same post every year-- crocuses, robins-- how boring!" But there is something different for me this time-- a homeschooling freebie!

Anyway, three days ago, I felt spring in my bones, so I took a walk outside with my camera to dig through the leaves to see if the crocuses were up. And they were so close to being open, but I didn't think I could count this as the official spring indicator.

See? Not quite open yet.

Well, the next day, the children found another sign of spring and hollered for me to grab the camera.

Do you see them?

Maybe this one is a little better?

Yes, Robin Redbreast graced us with his presence, and so did all of his friends. That's pretty much the official beginning of spring in my mind, right there. But, I cannot ignore my crocuses, so I took a walk to the backyard again. Et voila!

Definitely official

My husband gathered the troops to re-make one of our raised beds. It is now smaller and taller, and sand the masons left in a pile is in it because this is our attempt to improve the soil for planting garlic later this year. I want to grow enough to make a braid. Or two.

All ready for planting

And while it is officially spring in my bones and my heart, a peek at Sideling Hill reminds me that winter might not be through with us yet.

If you look closely, you can just see the ice still on the south side of the cut.

Now, for my first freebie.

Education.com reached out to me to offer a freebie to post on my blog. That was several weeks ago, but when I saw the worksheet, I knew I had to wait for my flowers because it is a spring word search (and answers). I hope you like these, and if you have difficulty accessing them, let me know because this is the first time I've done such an endeavor.

Spring Word Search

Spring Word Search Answer Key

Thank you to Education.com for providing this fun addition to my little blog. They asked that I post the following, and I'm happy to do so; I know lots of homeschoolers (and other educators) benefit from the site. 

Learning opportunities are in full bloom with this spring-themed word search. Kids will have lots of fun hunting for words while they reinforce their spelling, vocabulary and word recognition skills. Even more fun learning resources are just a click away at Education.com!

Back to Jody's words-- I would also say this word search is one of those quick and easy activities that a mom who is homeschooling many sometimes needs to keep some busy while others need a little extra help. Enjoy!