a new post.

This pic has nothing to do with anything, really.  This is Emperor Caspian on his favorite "throne", which just happens to be my jewelry armoire Matt got me for my birthday/Christmas a while back.  Whenever I go there to get out earrings or put away something, Caspian gives me quite the look, like I am in his way.  (He really *is* a nice cat, despite the disdainful looks he gives us fairly frequently)  :)

School is coming up quickly here.... the public schools start on August 8th, and we tend to start up about the same time.  This year, though, we will start a day later, since Matt is going to take a 4-day weekend that includes the 8th. :)  So I've been online quite a bit this week, ordering books for our Ambleside Online (literature-based) curriculum for all five kids, Apologia Science for the older two, and A Beka math and language arts for the younger three.

I was able to get 18 books in Kindle format, which cost a grand total of only 99 cents. :)  We can access those books on both our Kindle and iPod Touch at the same time, which is great, since David & Marissa were constantly having to juggle which one was reading a particular book at a given time.  No more of that now! :)

I will have to buy a few books on ebay and Amazon, plus borrow a few from the library, as we usually do.  But the Kindle is really helping a lot with saving money on books.  Well worth the $54 it cost us! :)

Marissa's ride last week, getting some tips from Sally, the owner of the horses.  (Notice Marissa's western boots?  The very same ones I wore when *I* was 14, bought with my babysitting money.)

For the past few weeks, Marissa has been riding horses with my sister-in-law Anita.  She has a friend that has horses and invited Marissa to come along on Wednesday mornings.  So every Tuesday night, Marissa stays at their house and rides bright & early the next day before it gets hot out.  She's loving it.  (I am slightly jealous, but I can deal with it...)

I'm working on a new painting for some friends up in the U.P.  It's a barter for a good discount toward some much-needed plumbing work on our house up there.  In a way, even though there will be no exchange of cash for this one, it *is* a paid commission.  Because without it, we would be paying a lot more for this plumbing work.  :)

Well, that's all for now.  I have to get the bread dough going so our bread will be ready in time for lunch.  Have a wonderful day! :)