Friday Fave Five 6/18/2010

Okay, today is my first ever Friday Fave Five.  I saw this idea on a blog I follow on Saturday and could hardly wait until today to start!

Fave Five for Friday, June 18, 2010

• Open swim at the YMCA. Today was so unbearably hot that the kids and I couldn't even walk down to the boat landing to swim. When dh got home from work I loaded the kids in the car and drove to the local YMCA for a two-hour open swim. B10 and J7 are very confidant in the pool and A5 and I have fun playing in the shallow end. She usually sits on an unused step and tosses a rubber ball or pool toy for me to "fetch." I don't mind playing labrador retriever to her tadpole because her giggle is infectious! To celebrate her starting swimming lessons tomorrow Daddy ordered her this adorable bear from the Bear Family Gifts website.

 

Take a few seconds to look around the site if you click on over, these are made by a wonderful Christian woman who hand makes every outfit except accessories like goggles and sunglasses

• Farmer's Market on Saturday morning. We have an AMAZING local market in Skowhegan and this year we have a children's garden growing. We are located at the Somerset Grist Mill, formerly the town jail. This was a fabulous re-purposing of a historic building in our town.  There is almost always live entertainment, yummy samples at every booth, free coffee from Somerset Coffee Roasters (the only place I buy coffee anymore!), delectable breads, local goat's milk cheeses, hand blended herbal teas, the most sniff-a-rific and tasty-ful handmade soaps and lip balms from A Page 'N Thyme farm in Anson-I am hooked on Lavendar...it is so soothing and relaxing. I also love the citrus and mint balms when I need a kick of energy or my allergies are causing my nose to be stuffy.

• Local libraries! I just got a card for our new library. While I've had a card for our local library, it is pretty far and I don't utilize much of anything "in town;" "local" being relative, it is 12 miles one way to the local library. The library in the next big town is only 5 miles one way but charges $30 annually for a card and there is a two book at a time limit for out-of-towners. Needless to say I only did that for one year and didn't take advantage of it much. Our new town library is the Guilford Public Library. Guilford residents pay an additional $10 a year in their taxes to utilize the library free; those who live in the surrounding towns pay $20 a year. BUT there are reduced fee programs for families like us, and all kids who either reside in (that means homeschooled) and/or attend school in SAD 4 can use the library for free. We received a scholarship to the local YMCA and thus we are eligible for the Loan to Learn program they offer meaning we can get a free family card. 

• Satellite high-speed internet.  I will be getting Wild Blue installed in July at our new house. At this point it is more of a glorified campground than a homestead but we have received permission to deconstruct and salvage the house we live in now and use the materials to build our new place. This is going to save us a few thousand dollars and guarantee us a house by August. We are doing the big move on July 4th weekend. 

• Finally, FlyLady Marla Cilley. If you have a tough time keeping your home picked up for whatever reason: some of us had those childhoods where our weekends were not our own...you know, Saturday morning all the other kids were out playing ball and what not and YOU were inside cleaning house...all day...because nothing was ever right the first time. Or your mom had some type of issue that made her inable to clean house herself and you took on the responsibility early in life. Marla helps us overcome these issues with Baby Steps. I have been a FlyBaby for five years and if you follow her routines and guidelines you can overcome CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) and FLY (Finally Love Yourself). Her website, www.flylady.net has a ton of resources and there are so many people that donate their time to help us out. Check her out if you have ever found yourself in your pajamas, at 4:00 in the afternoon, staring at a fridge full of "science projects" and inedibles with no idea what to cook for dinner, in an hour, for those aliens from Planet Mayhem that have been asking "What's for dinner?" since ten minutes after you put the lunch dishes in the sink...where they joined the breakfast dishes...and the dishes from dinner...two days ago...along with the in-between dishes...you get the picture! 

Well, there is my Friday Fave Five... I will definitely be doing this weekly! Thanks to Susanne at Living to tell the Story for hosting this idea and webring!