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As of 5 PM Pacific time, entries for my laptop giveaway will be closed. The winner of the laptop will be announced on September 7th!  I can’t wait to see who it is!! The winner of my book giveaway, according to random.org is #60–Missy of Grasp the Love.  Missy is a long-time reader here,...
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My goal was simple: to spend no more than $100 at the fair for all 11 of us. Except I wanted the whole enchilada: admission, rides, and food. Could it be done? First expense: Admission We have 6 adults, 4 kids, and 1 free preschooler. (Letting preschoolers in free is strategic, I realized while...
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A couple of you mentioned you’d like to see the process of canning tomatoes. Since I had some to process anyway, yesterday I got the camera rolling again. Canning tomatoes the easy way from Mary Ostyn on Vimeo. —————————— In the comments on the grape jelly video, I showed some of the costs of...
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Two out of the last three Septembers, my family has done something called “30 Days of Nothing”.  You can check out the details by clicking the link in my sidebar, but basically we’ve spent a month experimenting with spending a little less money.  Seeing how far we could stretch our resources and what we...
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Every day people google ‘grape jelly‘ and end up here at the Owlhaven.  I thought I’d add a video of the process to show you just how easy it is! How to Make Grape Jelly from Mary Ostyn on Vimeo. – Related links Grape Jelly Apricot Jam Technorati Tags: canning, canning fruit, grape jelly,...
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These days there is a huge variety of choice when it comes to homeschool curriculum, with almost as many good options are their are homeschooling families.  Below I am going to list my favorite curriculum.   I hope you will add your own favorites in comments, below. MARY’S HOMESCHOOL FAVORITES MATH Grades K-3 — Alpha...
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I’m over at 5 Minutes for Parenting today, talking about empty spaces. Do you have any?
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Happy 23rd anniversary to my dear hubby! Whether in times of joy or times of challenge, life is always better with you by my side.
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