Complete Old Time Radio D-Day Broadcasts

From my inbox today:

"June 6 is the 68th anniversary of D-Day--the invasion of Normandy by Allied forces in World War II. OTRCAT.com has two "complete broadcast day" collections available:

* D-Day Complete Broadcast Day 1944 (CBS)[$4.50]
* D-Day Complete Broadcast Day 1944 (NBC)[$4.50]

Buy both of these in the special bundle savings and save 25% this week!

A fascinating listen, you'll hear exactly what listeners heard on D-Day including filler and rare radio programs. On D-Day 1944, radio programs such as Bob Hope, Fibber McGee and Molly and more are interrupted with news bulletins updating listeners to the progress of the allied invasion.  President Roosevelt leads the nation in prayer in for our nation's soldiers.

D-Day Broadcast Articles
Enjoy the D-Day article by author Eric Beheim which is a detailed account of the broadcasts this fateful day.

Also read about a fellow old time radio listener who was in the Army in 1944 and participated in the invasion that day. Lee contributed this insightful article on his memories and role in the invasion on D-Day."

Click here, to listen to free and paid old time radio at OTR Cat.

Stagnating and Slipping Back

I remember in 2001, when I first began homeschooling my son, he was kindergarten age, and we were setting out on one income. Despite this significant change to our household spending money, we were able to enjoy a vacation every year, and take inexpensive plane trips to see friends and family. We enjoyed low property taxes, decent food prices, inexpensive utilities and services, low out of pocket insurance costs and premiums, and a dinner at a restaurant twice a month.We earn more now,  and yet we can no longer swing those special vacations, we almost never eat out, and our food budget has become a juggling act. Our real estate taxes more than doubled with bloated housing values, and the city services and utilities have all gotten more expensive. My out of pocket expenses for medical testing and diagnostics has greatly increased. Insurance premiums are hefty, but you pay it, because you need it with the increased medical charges.

The drain on our money has been gradual; it didn't just happen during the recent recession. I haven't looked at the numbers, but I could swear we are worse off, as far as disposable income, than when we started a one income family in 2001! We are blessed to have employment and a roof over our heads, but even that isn't guaranteed these days. One smart thing we did was to pay off our mortage in about ten years. We plan to live in our current home forever, so it was worth it for us. We'd be struggling if we had a mortage on top of everything else. We'd do it, but it would be just scrapping by.

I pray something will change soon for all the families in America. I'm not bitter, and I love my life. It is the simple things in life that are important, but if we are struggling, what about people who earn less, or haven't the time to do extreme household budgeting? It takes a good amount of time and research to live frugally, and if you are working to keep your head above water, you don't have time or the energy to look for ways to cut corners. Many people are resorting to second jobs to get by. So much for time with your family.


I look back at our disposable income in 2001, and I think we were spoiled; it was nice while it lasted. It's amazing how quickly the new normal becomes an accepted part of life.

Now that my husband and I was in our forties, we are planning retirement and thinking we'll really need to save every bit we can now, to survive in the future.

My advice is to live way below your means, and sock away as much as you can for the future. Be careful about purchasing a house, as the market prices for homes are still bloated in many areas of the country. You don't want to purchase a home that will devalue. Get out of debt, and stay that way. Cut corners and make it a way of life to cut expenses in every area of your life. Cutting back small percentages here and there all add up to big savings. Personally, I think personal wealth will continue to decrease before it gets better. Our current economic state is still lousy. Our country has big debt, below-average GDP growth. and slow job growth.  When we have an upswing in the economy, and we will because these things are cyclical,  that will be the time to kick your savings into high gear.  Save, save, save, or the prospect of eating dog food in retirement might not be too far fetched.

Summer Homeschool Plans

I'm homeschooling my six year old year-round, so I'll continue to post homeschool items for early learning throughout the summer. She's now enjoying Bob Books and Christian Light Education's first grade learning to read program. We also use story telling via art and words. Much of it is her drawing pictures of her stories, and me helping her to incorporate the words she has learned. Weekly trips to the library are anticipated with joy. They have children's computers, a play area, and all the books and videos she could ever want. Inevitably, there are little girls there for her to play with and share the learning computers. The girls always seem to want to "help" each other and work the Reader Rabbit games together, giggling and just falling into the flow of working together. The library is the best of both worlds - free of charge and free unstructured time in a wholesome environment.

 My teenage son is entering high school next school year! How fast time has gone. He has been homeschooled since kindergarten, and now does self study homeschool(Christian Light Education[CLE] workbooks, "Light Units"), which is the way he learns best. He prefers this style over all others, and is a happy clam when he can self direct and met his goals successfully. With all the self help books and internet tutorials, he does very well when we hit a rough patch of learning. During the summer, he'll continue to read classics and Newbery Medal award books. There's a good biography section for young people at our library, so we've pulled a few books from this category throughout the year as well. I like the way our library puts these books, the award winning books and biographies, aside in their own special section, so that I don't have to go searching for them off a list.

My son will be working toward an academic degree via CLE Homeschool Plus, and then he wants to enroll in CollegePlus for his college degree. He has no idea, as of yet, which degree path he'll choose.

Our city parks and recreation department has a few nature classes and swim classes for which we'll be signing up. We've got a beach nearby and the city pool to enjoy. Hopefully, we'll be able to get up to the mountains for hiking again this summer. I've got to get some varicose veins operated on, so it all depends on how fast I recover.

What are your plans?

Printable Vintage Cut and Paste

Source: books.google.com via Alexandra on Pinterest

Vintage Printable Early Learning Math Sheet

I found these over at Google Books(free). To print, click on the source, then right click on the image. Early learning printable - 1920 number chart "The figures may be used by laying sticks or other counting material in groups containing the same number as those on the cards. Sticks may be laid to show a different combination in each group. Two combinations can be made for 4: 2 and 2; 3 and 1. Four combinations can be made for 8: 7 and 1; 6 and 2; 5 and 3; 4 and 4"

Source: books.google.com via Alexandra on Pinterest

Memorial Day:Children's Book and Activity Ideas

Source: notwiddletwaddle.com via Bethany on Pinterest

Mushrooms of America: Edible and Poisonous(Free E-book)

  Some mushrooms from my garden. :)

Title    Mushrooms of America: Edible and Poisonous
Editor    Julius Auboineau Palmer
Publisher    L. Prang & Co., 1885
See here for reading online and/or free download

Red Clover Tea Recipe

Recipe:

  1 cup red clover blossoms
   2 tablespoons mint (spearmint or peppermint)
   4 cups water
   Honey, to sweeten (or use sugar)

Read rest here.

Spring Garden Progress

Every year I try different vegetables in my small side garden, but predictably the same ones thrive: cucumbers, green peppers, carrots, onions, and mints. Still, I enjoy experimenting. I tried beans again, but they usually shrivel away by summer. They are doing it again, shriveling in a different part of the garden. I'm trying potatoes again in a mulchy unused part of the garden next to a fence. I throw a lot of garden refuse there, so they may thrive in the decomposing bits. We'll see how these do.

Staving Off Homeschool Burn-out

See pages 8-9.

Open publication - Free publishing -

Dress a Llama

Source: blogher.com via Heidi on Pinterest

This pin cushion made with a plastic animal is so clever. I couldn't have this at my home because it would be a lure for busy little fingers, but I really like the idea of making authentic folk costumes for plastic animals. This one with ribbons and pom-poms looks fairly easy to make as an extension for a study of Latin American mountain animals. A decorated elephant would be fun for a study of India. Maybe dress up a camel for North African or Middle East studies. They put interesting patterns with dye on camels in Pakistan(and India), and have colorful packs, rugs and bridles.

Source: photography.nationalgeographic.com via Alexandra on Pinterest

Source: likies.tumblr.com via Alexandra on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Alexandra on Pinterest

My Favorite No Fuss No Liner Hookless Shower Curtain

My Hookless 71-by-74-Inch Fabric Shower Curtain, White hangs on a standard rod with flexible plastic rings which pop on and off the rod easily, and requires no liner. It stays fairly clean; however, we live in a very humid area, so I do have to wash it in bleach for minor mildew on the bottom about once every 4 months.I added another rod in the shower to throw it over for better drying, up and away from the tub sides which has really helped.

Anyway, I won't buy any other curtain now. I love not having to change a liner, and these come off the rod so easily for cleaning. I can do it with one hand. They are machine washable and last a long time. I've had a white hookless shower curtain for the past five years. We stayed at a Residence Inn hotel recently, and they had the exact same shower curtain.

Keeping Our Small Unfiltered Above Ground Pool Clean

I finally found an above ground pool cleaner which is simple to use and efficiently cleans all the debris off the bottom of our small pool. This Pool and Spa Vacuum attaches to a garden hose which produces a vacuum when the water is turned on and draws the debris into a mesh bag. You guide it across the bottom of the pool with a long pole(included). The mesh is small enough to catch objects the size of finely crushed stone gravel(our patio material). It can skim off the top as well, but I use a net from the dollar store to quickly clean off floating debris. Our pool is very small, so this was a simple solution.

 I've been using a small pool sanitizer from wallyworld, and change about a third of the water with every use. It stays pretty clean this way. In order to avoid dirty feet in the pool, we added synthetic grass outdoor mats/rugs along the path to the back door. We've had these stored outside for three years, and they are still showing very little wear. They sweep clean and can be hosed down.

We've got a lot of mosquitoes in the summer, so we have a netted enclosure around the pool. This helps keep debris from falling in the pool. If the mosquitoes were not a problem, we'd have purchased a pool cover.

Happy Mother's Day

Source: lchwelcome.org via lily0201 on Pinterest

Free Printable First Grade Phonics Reading Sheets

Magic Spoon reading! What a fun idea. The printable sheets are here.

Source: fromkindergartenwithlove.blogspot.com via Queen's on Pinterest

Alternative Lawn: Old Fashioned Clover Lawn

Two old fashioned alternatives to turf grass lawns:
 White Clover Seed and  Red Clover Seed
 I am trying this in our backyard where we have bald patches due to moderate tree cover. I'm also going to overseed the front lawn with the pretty red clover. Clover lawns are self fertilizing in that they add nitrogen back into the soil.Clover is notoriously hard to kill. It will be very drought resistant and tough under foot. The wildlife will love it for its sweet taste and flowers.

Source: earthturf.com via Alexandra on Pinterest

Saving Money with Discounted Gift Cards

I've been using discounted gift cards to purchase items at stores I frequent for at least a year now. The savings have been really good. Not only am I getting gift cards at below value, I am combining(stacking) these savings with click-through rebate(cash back) sites, coupons, and sales.

Here are some gift card sites that I've used without any problems:

ABC Gift Cards
Gift Card Rescue
Plastic Jungle
Card Pool

The savings vary throughout the year. I've gotten anywhere from 2%(Walmart) off to 40%(AMC theaters) off. It's worth it to keep checking back for the good deals. The values generally vary as well, so if you want a small or high value card, they'll be able to accommodate you.  If the percentage is high, I go for the high value gift cards. It saves me money in the long run, and is a better rate than I'd earn sitting in the bank. The gift cards have no expiration date per law.

Here(Cash Back Chart) is a compilation of rebate(cash back) click-through sites by savings level organized by store. This is so helpful! Simply look up your store and choose the highest savings rate.

Retail Me Not is one of the better coupon code sites. Check here and Google for coupon codes to stack savings.

One of the easiest stores to apply this stacking method is Payless Shoes. They are always offering specials(like BOGO), have generous coupon codes online,  and offer free site to store delivery. The gift cards are usually deeply discounted, and the cash back sites have a decent cash back rate. You can triple stack savings with current sales and take a nice chunk off your final price.