Ripening On The Vine

Joseph's Story - Our New Baby Boy

2011-08-10T16:51:00.002-07:00

Wow guys! I thought when I came on to announce the birth of our son, it would be a real quick post with a pic of him and his weight, height, etc. and once we had settled into a routine we would post more pics, vids and maybe a short birth story.

Even though I've had some complications with this pregnancy, there was nothing to make me think that the events that occured over the last few days would have happened. Never in a million years did I think it would be a 10 day saga I would have to tell you about... amazing and as always, the hand of the Lord at work in our lives. So, it's a very long story... you have heard a lot of it from John via his posts and videos, but if you want the whole story, here it is... so grab your coffee cup, this might take you a while to read.

Before I start though, I want to say how humbled and blessed I am that so many of you have reached out to us through prayers, help watching our girls, meals, visiting me, encouraging John and just offering to help in any way that we have needed. I can't begin to tell you how much all of that means to me. All I can say is that we THE most amazing friends and family in the world and we love all of you so very much! God has blessed us beyond measure.

Well... this whole story started on Sunday, July 31. John and the girls and I went to West Valley Hospital for the standard non-stress tests that my doctor wanted to start doing on a bi-weekly basis. No big deal, just an hour or so each time to check on the baby and me and then we go home. I had this done during my last pregnancy and it was very routine. So I had no worries... just wanted to get it done so I could get home and rest because I was very tired that night.

After the nurse had trouble getting much movement showing from baby on the monitor she decided that I was very dehydrated. She said the doctor wanted me on an I.V. for fluids. Strange I thought since I had been drinking water all day. The monitor and ultrasound machine continued to show not much movement on the baby's part and it was showing high blood pressure readings on my part... higher than normal which for me were already high during this pregnancy. The doctor did not like this at all and said I could go home but was to come back in the morning. He was worried I would get pre-eclempsia (sudden VERY high blood pressure which can lead to seizure, stroke or even death in severe cases). We ended up spending 5 hours at the hospital that night.

The next morning we came back and I was admitted and hooked up to monotirs again. This time they gave me more fluids through I.V. as well as a medication called Magnesium Sulfate. If you don't know what that is (I didn't), it's a medication that lowers blood pressure... it can make you feel really sick too, with flu like symptoms. I was put on the Mag-Sulfate for all of Monday, all of Tuesday and into Wednesday.

John took the girls home and as you probably saw in his videos, he did an amazing job taking care of them as the doctors were monitoring me. I was willing to do whatever it took for our baby boy. The doctor said maybe he would admit me for the duration of the pregnancy. At that point I just prayed that God would make a way for our girls to be cared for while I rested in the hospital and their daddy went to work. I knew it would be ok, no matter what happened.

By Wednesday I was so out of it I couldn't even open my eyes. They were dried almost totally shut and I could not stay awake, I kept on drifting off into sleep no matter how hard I tried to stay awake. I had the chills and was dreaming very vivid dreams. A dear friend came to visit me and I didn't even realize she was there until the next day when I had a very slight memory of her there and asked John had she visited and he said yes she had. I felt horrible and was very scared because the doctor was so worried about me.

When he came in on Wednesday morning he was super concerned. He said all my bloodwork was way worse than the day before and he would have to do a C-Section. He said if he had sent me home the night before there is a very high chance I would have died and he was so glad that I had been cooperative in agreeing to come back to the hospital. He asked me if my husband could be there in an hour because that was when he was going to do the C-Section. He said there was no time to wait, this was the worst case of pre-eclempsia he had ever seen and he was concerned for my life at this point. I had no idea if John could be there that quick but I texted him asking if he could and God provided a another dear friend that offered to meet him at the hospital to sit with the girls while he came to the operating room.

Now, I know that a lot of people have C-Sections every day. I had even considered that there was a slight chance I might have to have one this time because I know during long labor high blood pressure can be an issue. But I had in no way prepared myself for this. Our baby was not due for 7 more weeks! I had not looked up C-Sections and read about them or even talked to many people who had had them. I had the basic idea of what was going to happen but my mind was not ready to acccept it and know that it was about to happen. How long would it take? What was the operating room like? What kind of anastesia would they use? Would our baby be ok? Could I die during this procedure? There was no time to ask and I became very upset. I was crying. Which caused me to get congested... which made me more scared because I was told this procedure was done flat on your back and of course when you can't breath you don't want to lie flat on your back. It took me a while to calm down, even with John there, I just could not get my mind focused because the Mag-Sulfate was so strong in my system I kept forgetting things and feeling confused mentally. I kept telling myself, just lean on the Lord, He will pull you through this.

The operating room freaked me out. It was so cold in there and bright white and sterile. My mind kept thinking of movies where people die during operations.. My anastesiologist, although very nice, had a very brusque attitude and was starting to annoy me. I kept telling John my concerns about not being able to breath. He also knows I am very claustrophobic in certain situations and this was certainly one of them. I needed him to know what I was thinking in case they had to put me totally out (which they said they would if I wasn't able to handle the partial anastesia and stay awake). Thankfully I had the most awesome nurse in the world and she was able to help me keep calm. I focused totally inward, praying and thinking about my baby boy.

Not too long after this our sweet Joseph entered the wrold. His cry was so strong that I gave a huge sigh of relief. I didn't know how I had/was faring but I didn't care, my baby was ok and that was all that mattered. John tried to show him to me but the angle that I was laying would not allow me to turn my head. He brought back the video cam a few minutes later so I could see Joseph. I felt satisfied that he was fine so I relaxed and let the doctor finish his work. Once I was in a recovery room, John explained to me that Joseph was going to be taken to a different hospital to be in the unit for premie babies. His lungs were a little weak and they wanted to give him the best chance for his health since he was born early. They brought him into my room so I could see him before they took him in the ambulance. I couldn't touch or hold him because they had him in this closed in contraption that was keeping him warm and safe. I was ok with this for some reason, I just wanted him to be ok. I didn't even cry at this point, I was just happy there were people that knew what to do to care for him and he was going to be safe. That all happened on Thursday, August 4th...

The next three days are pretty much a blur to me. I was put back on the Mag-Sulfate as well as Percoset for pain. After three days, we figured out that Mag-Sulfate, Morphine (during the operation) and Percoset are things that I do not react well to. I could not snap out of the stupor that those meds put me in. I kept forgetting things, could not keep my eyes open, my face felt numb, I was dizzy and and light headed and was very emotionally distraught and not recovering the way that they expeced me to. I was lethargic and had not made any progress towards being able to get out of bed or do anything for myself. I was taken off all of those meds and even though I had just had surgery to save my life and the life of our baby, I was put on only 700 mg. of Tylenol every 4 hours for my pain. I couldn't tollerate anything else. And between the incision healing, and some other issued that had developed while I was in the hospital, I was in some very serious pain. I had to handle it though without the strong pain meds, there was no other choice.

On Monday I was a lot better mentally. I was now able to focus my mind on recovering. I had no idea how I would go home though because I was hurting so much. I had a couple of nurses that didn't bring my meds on schedule which threw me into a complete pain cycle that seemed like it would not end. I couldn't sleep due to the pain and a lot of the needs I had could not be met by the nurses because they were very busy and understaffed on that particular day. I was at the point of total frustration and when John came to see me that night I just broke down. I wanted to get better and go home to prepare for my baby's homecoming. There was so much to do and I needed to be home to get well, not in the hospital! I did have some awesome visitors that day which did help cheer me up but all I wanted was to go home.

On Tueday morning at 6 am God sent me another super awesome nurse. She came in like a drill instruction with a plan for me to get discharged that evening. I wanted to laugh because I couldn't even go to the bathroom without using a walker at that point but I played along with her plan. Sure I told her my family can come here and help me walk down the hall later on (ha! yeah right! I can't even stand up right now I was thinking). So I called John and told him the plan and he said he would come by later that morning with the girls. I called the nurse every 4 hours asking for Tylenol and by the time John came I was still thinking there's no way they can send me home today. Thankfully and miraculiously I was wrong. Even though the pain was the worst I had even dealt with, God continued to give me the strength to push through it and by the evening the doctor came by and said I could go home. He gave me an order to take to Walgreens for a walker I could use at home, he gave me meds to take at home and he again told us how happy he was that I was willing to do what it took.

Although I had only slept one hour on Monday night, when I was released, around 5 pm yesterday, I was determined to go see Joseph. It was so very painful to even move but I had to see him. We didn't get to the hopsital where Joseph is until 7:30 pm... John found a wheel chair for me to ride in and we were on our way. It was 5 days later and I finally got to hold my baby boy! By that time of night our phones were dead so I could not take pictures, but tonight I will and tomorrow you all will be able to see him!

John did post a video of him when he was first born. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91cC7Etku38&feature=channel_video_title

I have to tell you our little son is so amazing! ... God's creation in action and wow I am amazed at his tiny perfection. I love newborns but wow, he is so small, I cradle his head in my palm and his forearm is the size of my pointer finger... his fingers are like whisps... so small and delicate. He has a head full of dark hair, just like his sister Alisha when she was born. He is a fiesty little one and he was instantly calmed when I held him, the nurse marveled at how his breathing rate slowed to the rate she wanted it to be when he was in my arms. He is like his big sister Kiah, he doesn't like his arms swaddled and tries to push them out. He's not fond of the paci and he tries very hard to keep his eyes open for as long as he can. He coos and gurgles at his daddy's voice and seems honestly upset when he hears the other babies cry in the nursery near him. He likes to stretch himself and prefers to sleep on his stomach. He is love personified. I adore him.

I guess that's about it for the story. It was a long road and now we turn out focus to visiting with Joseph as much as we can to help him on his road home... to me resting so I can recover to the point to caring for him when he arrives and to honoring God for giving us such a marvelous blessing as this. We are so not worthy yet we were chosen as his parents and we embrace this task with amazing joy.

We have been asked in recent days by several people if there is anything we need at this time. There is nothing specific as of today although we may need childcare in the days to come because the girls are not allowed in to see their brother at this point. We will be sure to call those of you who have offered as the need arises. Also, meals are a huge blessing to us right now because we are off to the hospital to see Joseph every day the we can and to some medical appointments I have in the days to come so cooking won't be much of an option. Our dear friend @Demetria Elms has set up a Food Tidings page for us for meals. Thank you Demetria!!

We love you all and thank you all again for the prayers, the help and the love you have shown us through this time. We cant wait for all of you to meet Joseph!

It's Been A While

2011-06-16T14:37:00.003-07:00

Seems like blogging for me comes in seasons. Sometimes I go for a long time feeling like I don't have much to say and then I get a sudden inspiration and feel like it's time to get back to it.

Life has been busy lately. Being pregnant has brought about many challenges this time around. We've taken quite an extended break from school and are just about to get back started up again in about 2 weeks. We're a little behind where I would like us to be, but sometimes in life God just has us be still and wait on Him and get our lives in order and that is what has been going on with us.

We recently found out that our baby to be is a boy! What an exciting time for us, our girls are thrilled to be having a brother and of course my husband is very happy that he won't be the only man in the house any more :)

While on our school break I have gotten into couponing. I'm sure you've all seen or at least heard of the show on TLC called Extreme Couponing. Well, that's what we are doing, but not on such an extreme level. I've been very blessed by some ladies at church that have been teaching me to use coupons more effectively and it's been such a blessing to our family. I'm going to add a couponing section to the left side bar towards the bottom so be sure to check it out if you are interested.

We have also had a lot going on with our business in the recent months. It is growing by leaps and bounds and again, we are very blessed. God is so good in all that He provides.

If any of you are on Facebook, feel free to add me as a friend. I tend to chat on there on and off through the week. I find it a great way to keep up with all the family and friends that I don't get to see very often. My badge is on the right sidebar, so hop on over and add me :)

I pray you have all been well. More posts to come very soon!

God's Favor

2011-02-11T15:29:00.003-07:00

It's always amazing to watch God move in our lives, and WOW, He has been MOVING since the last time I posted here.

We moved to a new home a couple of days after Christmas. The events that led up to that move showed us that God truly have us in a place of favor right now. We had no intention of moving but knew that God wanted us to relocate.

Everything fell into place just perfectly (with only a 3 week window of time to move and all the family sick with the flu besides me!)

We are now settling in and loving our new home. We have much more space and are so blessed that we will not be able to host guests more often and share Christ's love with them. This home is certainly not just a place for us, but a place to share!

Lots more wonderful things have been happening lately, but instead of listing them all, I'll share the best one. We are expecting!

Yes, our family is about to grow once again and in September we will have a new little one to share our lives. God is so good and we are so very blessed.

Hoping to blog more in the days and weeks to come to chronicle our journey as our new little one grows and arrives into the world.

Update On Us

2010-10-03T19:23:00.002-07:00

It's amazing how things always happen in God's timing. I had a lot of second thoughts on starting school extra early this year. We started the last week of July.

My husband had knee surgery (arthroscopic - both knees) a week and a half ago and we took two weeks off to care for him. Now that he is semi-mobile again it's time to get back to the books and we are still right on schedule.

So far the girls are loving the new books we chose for school this year. My 8 year old is not too fond of math at this time so I am going to try to find some fun math games on line that will help her enjoy it more. My 10 year old now LOVES math (she disliked it when she was 8 too). Our 6 year old is learning to read and we're so proud of her. She's had a lot of pauses in her reading instruction due to life happening along the way but she's still keeping up and doing great.

Since Daddy is off for the next couple of months it's going to be an awesome time for us to include him in some of our schooling. He always has wanted to participate more in our day to day school schedule but his work schedule prevents him from getting as involved as he'd like to. We are going to take advantage of this time as much as we can.

One Down, Lots To Go

2010-09-09T16:39:00.003-07:00

Making a little progress on our to-do list. I did all the school bookshelves today. I think they look great and I can think a lot more clearly now that I know where to find everything. Let's see how long we can keep them this way! On to the next project tomorrow.... :)

To Do List

2010-09-02T16:06:00.003-07:00

Ever have one of those days when it seems like there is just not enough of you to go around? That is what today was like. I have all 4 girls sick with colds today so you would think it would give me more time to focus on other things since we are not doing any school work today. But it was quite the opposite.

I walked around and felt almost overwhelmed looking at all the projects that I need to tackle. Most of them are long past due. So where do I start?

When I am in a situation like this, I like to make a list. Or should I say LISTS. Having a list of what needs to be done always motivates me and keeps me on track. Even if I have a hounded things to do, I feel accomplished if I have a list and get to one or two things each day. So, that being said, I have added me "To Do List" to the left sidebar here. I hope to get the majority of it done by the end of this month. My goal is to tackle one item (at least partially) each day.

Reading to Children

2010-09-01T14:14:00.003-07:00

One of the main parts of our homeschool day is reading. My girls love to read and to be read to. And I love to read to them. Reading is one of the best ways to develop language skills, both written and oral. The art of writing a sentence, telling a story and comprehending what is told all come from being read to from an early age. Here are some tips that I have picked up about reading to children that have really paid off for us.

Read at least two hours a day. I know that sounds like a lot, at least to me it did. I could not imagine spending that much time reading when we had so much more to do with our school work. However, now it often doesn't seem like enough. We always read at breakfast and lunch and if daddy is working late, we read a dinner as well.

Go above and beyond. I always choose books that are above my children's reading level. I don't pick books with popular characters like Dora and Elmo for read aloud. Those books do exist in our home but they are for one on one time when a child gets to pick a favorite book. When I read to the girls as a group, I always choose something that would be a bit of a challenge even to my oldest to read on her own.

Read it again. One of our favorite book series is Little House On The Prairie. My girls beg me to re-read those books over again and I always do. They learn something new each time.

Require them to listen. I make sure all my girls sit and listen while I read. They are allowed to color or work on a craft during this time if they are finished with their meal but they are not allowed to wander off or choose to skip listening.

Ask Questions. Each day I ask re-cap questions about what we read the day before. Often I just allow them to tell the story back to me without any specific questions.

Instill a love of reading. Once your child can read on his or her own, take them to the library and book store often. If you have a reluctant reader, don't start off with difficult or classic books they might not go for, let them choose what they enjoy and build from there. Have them tell you what they read or write what they recall in a book report.

Teach them to read aloud. Have your children read to you or to each other. Encourage reading aloud as much as your encourage them reading to themselves.

Incorporate other subjects. If reading seems to take up too much of your school day, incorporate other subjects into their reading. Instead of dry and boring text books, have them read "living books" about various times in history or about science topics they are studying. It is much easier for a child to recall information told in story form than bland statistics listed in a standard school text.

Reading is the true basis for education. If a child can read and has good comprehension, he or she can learn anything.

Homeschool Progress

2010-08-29T22:37:00.002-07:00

Our first month of school has passed by in a flash. So far things are going very well. We started off in review mode, using the same materials we has from last year and continuing on. I wasn't prepared to buy everything we needed at the start of this month, so I thought it would be good to pick up where we left off. This was a good idea. It really helped me see where the girls were at in math as well as get them back in the mode of school without the confusion of a bunch of new things that are not familiar.

Yesterday I finally ordered all the new books so those should be here in a few days. The girls are very excited and so am I. Our 10 year old is going to be getting into more formal geography lessons this year which she is really happy about. She loves maps and is very good at learning to find things and memorize them as well. Our 8 year old is especially happy to be learning cursive this year. Our 6 year old is really getting the hang of reading and is so proud of herself. And baby girl is quickly learning letters, colors, shapes and so much more. They all love school and I am so happy that they do. :)

I made a list of what we are studying this year in the left sidebar.

Our Daily Schedule - Revised

2010-08-10T16:50:00.001-07:00

This past school year we were very scheduled. It was necessary for various reasons, but honestly I find it more stressful to operate in such a structured way. It just doesn't work well. In my opinion, life doesn't fit into a "box".

This year we have chosen to go with a more natural schedule. So far it has been working very well and the kids and I are all more relaxed because of it.

We don't have a particular starting time in the morning. We have set goals for each day.

Unless we have a specific appointment I don't set an alarm in the morning. Sleep deprivation has been a big issue for me personally the past couple of years so sleep is high on my list of priorities. When I get at least 6 hours of good sleep the whole day is better for everyone.

Generally I am awake by 8:30. If the girls wake before I do they play or read until I am awake. Then we move in blocks.

Block 1 - Morning

- Wake up/Grooming

- Chores/dinner prep

- Breakfast

- Bible Study

- Table clean up

- Start school (2 subjects)

Block 2 - Afternoon

- lunch/read-aloud

- table clean up / quick house clean up

- play outside time

- back to school (2 more subjects)

Block 3 - Evening

- project, computer or TV time for kids (varies by day)

- baths/dress for bed

- dinner

- family time

Block 4 - Night

- kids prep for bed (brush teeth, get a cup of water, book, etc.)

- tuck kids in

- time with hubby

- my computer time

- bed time

Two things that I really need to work into the schedule somehow are sewing time and exercise. Those will be added in (somehow) in the weeks to come.

Back To Homeschool!

2010-08-09T16:44:00.003-07:00

It's that time of year again, time to get back to the books and learn some new things :) We started "back" to school last week and things are going great! We still have quite a bit of material to cover from the books we have from last year so we will be working on those for the next couple of months. Then it will be on to more new things.

At this point our main focus is.......

10 year old - work on handwriting, more focus on composition writing, computer skills.

8 year old - work on all math facts, handwriting practice

6 year old - mastery in reading and remembering all numbers to 100 by sight

3 year old - learn colors, numbers and letters by sight

We will be working on a much looser daily schedule this year but I am still scheduling in blocks. I'll post that schedule tomorrow.

Diet Update

2010-06-06T21:34:00.003-07:00

I have been making progress on my journey to better health. I am still striving to lose more weight but have been making great progress. 12 lbs. down and 20 to go. Praise God for His faithfulness, without Him I could not do this!

So, here's what I have been doing in an effort to lose weight....

* I quit eating sugar. Except for natural sugars like honey, agave or pure maple syrup. And I use those VERY sparingly.

*I cut down my food portions.

*I cut way back on bread. I rarely eat bread now, I used to eat it very often but now not so much.

* I quit eating packaged and processed foods and junk foods. I stick to whole foods, foods in their natural state as much as I can. Shop a lot at Sprouts, buy organic, etc.

*I gave up whole milk for almond milk. which has not only helped me lose weight but has also helped my allergies a lot! Dairy is really bad for any type of allergies.

*I don't eat any artificial foods (fat free, low fat, artificial sweetened, trrans fats, hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, etc.)

*For cooking I only use real butter or olive oil or coconut oil.

*I only drink water or herb tea. No sodas or sweet drinks. Wine on a very rare occasion. Almond milk. Coconut water.

*I only eat beef about once a month.

* I don't eat pork.

*I take Extra Virgin Coconut Oil daily. 1 Tbsp. in the morning in oatmeal or in a green smoothie. There are two excellent books on the benefits of coconut oil for weight loss and health in general. "Eat Fat, Lose Fat" by Sally Fallon and "The Coconut Oil Miracle" by Bruce Fife. Also, www.nourishingtraditions.com.

*More recently I have been trying to transition myself onto a "high raw" diet (50% or more raw foods on a daily basis). That, I think, has been the biggest contributing factor to my loss and especially my increased energy and overall well being. I found a lot of great info on-line about this kind of a diet/eating lifestyle. A good place to start is to Google Phillip McKlusky and Angela Stokes-Monarch.

*I've been drinking green smoothies for breakfast most days, which seem to keep me full till past lunch time. I can give you recipes if you are interested, they are awesome and easy and very filling.

*I have been working out 3 - 5 days a week, 30 minutes to an hour each time. Walking, doing the Gazelle Glider, workout DVDs,... This has really helped boost my metabolism.

*I drink a lot of water.

*I try to eat dinner before 6 pm.

*I don't take any prescription or over the counter medication unless absolutely necessary.

*I take a few supplements (Fish oil, Vitamin C, Bioflavinoinds, Probiotics, B-12)

*I eat three meals and two very light snacks (usually fruit or nuts and raisins or a few corn chips and salsa). For breakfast if I don't do the smoothie I will have a bowl of oatmeal with the coconut oil mixed in, lightly sweetened with honey and stir in some pecans, coconut and ground flax seed. Or an omelet with spinach, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and a little cheese topped with salsa. For lunch I do a salad with turkey or tuna or chicken and a little cheese and a few crackers on the side. Or maybe a raw soup or fruit salad or raw cereal. For dinner it varies but I try to stick to one serving of each item on an average sized plate (1/4 grain, 1/4 meat (chicken or turkey or bison or fish), 1/4 fruit and as many vegetables as I want) This portioning of the plate came from The Sonoma Diet and seems to work well.

Now, I do have to say I have not been perfect in sticking to this plan. I would say I eat this way about 85 - 90% of the time. There are days when we are super busy and eat out and I do the best I can on those days... or then there are the days when the hormonal cravings hit at certain times of the month and I give in and eat late at night or eat something sweet. But in general this is what I do and it has been working!

Our New Business - Finally! :)

2010-06-03T12:22:00.003-07:00

I have continued to mention a new business that my husband and I have been working on in my previous blog posts but am jut now getting time to explain :) Please excuse my tardiness in blogging, it's been a busy time here.

The new business is called Higher Vision Wellness. As of now we offer one primary product that has really helped us both in bettering our health. It is called Nopalea and you can read all about it on our brand new website and blog. We offer some other great products as well and more about those can be found here. We pray that God is going to allow us to continue to build up this business and offer more and more products that will help enhance the lives of others in bettering their health. Getting fit and healthy is a passion of ours... a new road we are embarking upon and we want to share all we have learned and found with others. I also share my own personal testimony by video on our new site. You can view that video here.

Aside from business, we are about to kick off a busy summer. We have a week long VBS program for the kids, a homeschool convention to attend, a new niece about to arrive into the world in August and many other things like planning the next school year, sewing projects... the list goes on! I am hoping to share lots of photos and news in the weeks to come.

Praying you are all having a blessed and safe summer!

In Christ,

Raw Foods Are Amazing!

2010-05-08T18:37:00.004-07:00

I've been doing a lot of reading up lately on the raw foods diet. What this means, in case you have not heard of it, is eating all of your foods raw. No cooked food at all. The healing that many people have experienced from this type of diet just amazes me. There are lots of sites and articles out there on the net, just hit up Google if you want to find out more.

That being said, I began to think I wanted to try this way of eating. As you can imagine, my kiddos were not amused at this suggestion. It's bad enough that mom has taken away most all the junk food around the house. And my second oldest daughter HATES most all fruits and veggies. My husband was on board mostly but not 100%. I was disappointed but not dissuaded. I decided to works towards a more raw way of eating on my own.

So, at this point I am about 50% raw in what I eat. I begin most days with a
green smoothie of some type, veggie juice or just a couple pieces of fruit. For a snacks I eat some type of nuts and dried fruit or some type of veggies. If I am in a hurry I will do salsa and corn chips or carrots with dip. For lunch or dinner a salad of some sort. The other meal will be mostly cooked and although some of it is cooked it will contain mainly veggies.

I can't begin to explain how much healthier I feel since I started eating this way. My energy levels are soaring and I actually crave vegetables which normally I have to remind myself to eat. I don't know that I will ever go 100% raw, just for convenience sake (not having to prepare two meals 3 times a day when I am the only raw foodie here) and also due to the high cost of produce. If we lived in a more garden friendly environment I could change my mind, but for now I will continue to eat a "high raw" diet.

Our new website should be up in about a week or so. More info on that to come soon. :)

2010-04-30T11:32:00.003-07:00

Can't believe how long it has been since I have posted! There has been a lot going on in our lives. We are finally getting caught up on school after a long winter of various illnesses. We are planning to continue school through the summer on a part time basis. We are also planning to move within the next couple of months. We have outgrown our house and are going to be moving to a larger one. We have also been working on a website for our new business. That should be up and running in a couple of weeks. So, lots in the works around here but it is all a good kind of business.

I'll be planning out our homeschooling curricula for next year during May. We usually start our school shopping in June or July. Next year will be a bit different because not only will I be helping my husband with our business but we will have a preschooler in the mix as well. I am going to try to find something that we can use that will allow me to teach all the girls together for most subjects. I have always wanted to try this method of teaching so I think it will be fun.

I will be starting a new blog after all. Not to replace this one but a new one that will be for our new business. I will add a link here for it as soon as it is up and running.

I hope all of you out there in blog land are doing well!

Blessings,

A Chance To Win!

2010-03-06T14:08:00.002-07:00

A sweet sister in Christ, DeNiece, is hosting a give away at her blog today. If you have a chance, drop by Organized Homemaking For Christ and enter. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Praising God

2010-02-25T22:08:00.002-07:00

Our 5 year old daughter was baptized this past Sunday. It was such a blessing, our children's pastor and my husband baptized her and it is just beautiful to see the happiness and love of the Lord in her shining eyes. God is so good! She has such a deep love for Christ. Her faith is so strong for one so young.

We also had a birthday party for our 8 year old this week. Her first party just for her :) She and her sisters and friends has a wonderful time.

To finish off the week, I caught a cold that the girls and my husband has last week. They have blessed me so much by taking care of everything around the house and allowing me to rest up. I feel much better tonight. About to go to bed and get a little more rest.

Green Goodness

2010-02-19T14:59:00.002-07:00

When I first heard of "green smoothies" my first thought was "Yuck!" I could not imagine putting spinach into a drink with bananas and honey. Then I finally got up my nerve to try one and I am so glad I did! Not only is this smoothie really good, it gives you so much energy. If you can't stand the sight of it, just close your eyes and take a sip. You'll think you just took a trip to your favorite smoothie bar for a tropical treat :0)

Michele's Favorite Green Smoothie

1/2 c. vanilla almond milk
1/2 c. cold water
1 large handful of baby spinach leaves (not frozen spinach)
1 frozen banana
1 c. frozen strawberries
1/2 c. frozen mango chunks
1 Tbsp. extra virgin coconut oil
1 Tbsp. honey

Put almond milk, water and spinach in blender. Blend until fairly well blended. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Drink immediately.

I'm Still Here :0)

2010-02-17T14:36:00.002-07:00

I have been in a blogging rut for a while now, hence the lack of posts. I thought I should at least poke my head in and let any readers I still have know that I am still alive, LOL! :0)

We have had a A LOT going on since the year began. Praise God all of it is good and He has been blessing us beyond measure.

We have a new church home. Actually, it is our original church home which God has lead us back to after many years. We are very happy to be back there as it has been obvious to us that is where God wants us to be.

Our 5 year old daughter is going to be baptized this Sunday. We are so blessed to see the work that God is doing in her life. She has such a love for Jesus, it is a blessing to see her grow in Him.

My husband and I have become involved in a new on-line business (more on that later on) which has also been a great blessing for us.

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been really focusing on our family's health lately. Due to various health conditions, I felt it was time that I really delved back into the world of healthy eating. We are not only aiming for weight loss but for general health and well being.

If you visit me here regularly, you will be seeing a lot more posts related to that topic. I felt that instead of starting a new blog I would keep posting here ... vary the topic as life's seasons change for us. After all, that is what life is all about... God growing us and changing us. :0)

Changes

2010-01-06T19:05:00.003-07:00

There are so many changes that are upon us right now. I haven't blogged much because I haven't had much new to say. I have been focused a lot on food lately, with trying to lose weight and trying to make healthy eating choices for my family. I feel led that maybe I should start posting on my old blog again but unsure of where to go with that. Maybe a new blog? I'm not sure. A bit confused right now... If I don't post much just know that I am still here, just taking a little break.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T12:23:00.004-07:00

It's been a wonderful start to 2010! Although we are only into this year by 4 days, each one has brought it's own special blessings.

Today we are back to school. The girls are excited to be back to our normal routine after a couple of very hectic months with lots of illnesses and other things that took out time away from learning. They got right back into the groove of things with out any problems and the day is going quite smoothly for us all.

My husband and I have been busy creating a family plan for the year that is really going to help us stay on track with organization, planning and school among other things. This is always our favorite time of year because it always feel so great to "start anew" with everything in our lives.

One of my goals for the year is to lose weight and keep it off. I tend to be able to easily drop 5 lbs or even 10 if I really work at it but after that I just level off and stop losing. I know that exercise is key so I am making a very big effort to work on getting in shape as well. Not such an easy thing for me as I am not naturally a very active person... I tend to love to do things that involve sitting like sewing or reading. So getting in shape will be a challenge, but well worth it I know! I lost 10 lbs. in November when I was sick and have kept that off so I am aiming for another 20 lbs. Candy is hosting a weight loss challenge on her blog so if you are on a weight loss journey too, drop by and join in. It's great to have partners when facing a challenge :)

Some of the other things I am hoping to accomplish this year are:

to finish up the girls quilts for their beds
to teach my older two girls to use the sewing machine
to read a couple of books on homeschooling that I have been wanting to read
to finish cleaning our our master bedroom closet and garage
to find a permanent place of service in our church
to stick to my daily Bible reading plan

Hope all of you are having a great start to your New Year!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-23T07:25:00.005-07:00

I'm so excited! My sweet husband got me a new camera for Christmas!

Now I can blog with pictures again! And video too, this camera takes great videos. I hope to have one to share soon. In the meantime, here is a photo of my 'lil girlies.

A Merry and BLESSED Christmas to you all! I pray you all enjoy celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior with your families!

Preparing for Christmas

2009-12-05T07:50:00.003-07:00

Wow, it sure has been a while since I blogged! Unfortunatly I spent the entire month of November sick. I won't go into the whole long story because I am just praising God that I feel very good today and am back to life as usual. I will say that my girls and husband have been so wonderful taking care of me and the house and all that needed doing here at home.

Today we are getting back to our furniture moving project! The bedrooms are at the point where we can begin moving the furniture today. The girls are so excited and so am I! This morning after breakfast we'll move the beds. Then after I wash and braid the girls hair (if my energy level is as high as I think it is, LOL!) we will then move the toy boxes and other things. This project might take another day or two to finish, but just getting it going again is a happy thing for us.

We will be getting some much needed school work done in the week ahead. Then we will start Christmas preperations. Since I was sick for such a long time, we won't be doing as many things as I had hoped this year, but we are just praising God that we will be together as a family and enjoy celebrating the Lord's birth together.

I hope everyone is enjoying a blessed holiday season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T17:59:00.002-07:00

We'll be taking it slow here for Thanksgiving day... I've been sick for the past 2 1/2 weeks and am still not 100% yet. I've been fighting off a sinus infection, cough and thrush and now am waiting to see if I have mono. Should know by Monday... praying and believing for healing and trying to rest as I was told to by my doctor. That's always hard with little ones around :)

We are so thankful for so many things... our lives, God's provision and mercy, our wonderful children, family and friends. There is just too much to name. I pray that everyone has a truly blessed Thanksgiving!

Psalm 19

2009-11-18T08:19:00.001-07:00

I was reading through Psalm 19 this morning and this past just touched me so deeply I wanted to share...

7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

Psalm 19: 7-11

Be blessed today!

Step Two Is Finished

2009-11-14T14:35:00.004-07:00

We finished step two of the big reorganizing project yesterday. The computer is now in the master bedroom. I was happy that I was able to get it all unplugged, moved and put back together without calling tech support. Usually when I move the computer to a new location the internet doesn't work when I am finished. Monday we will move the desk in here and I'll do the final round up unplugging and reconnection. Right now it's all set up on a card table.

The girls cleaned their room pretty well so it should not be a very big job to get all of their things moved. We really need to shampoo the carpets but that is going to have to wait till after the first of the year.

It's funny how just moving things around can make it feel like you have a brand new living space.

I'm now making a list of the things we will need to buy to fill in the new empty spaces left from reorganizing. A couple of table lamps, a couple of throw rugs, curtains, and a humidifier for the second girls room. Otherwise everything is set. I will get some pictures up when it's all done.

Overhauling The House

2009-11-11T17:47:00.002-07:00

We have been wanting to make some changes around our house for a while now. We have had our three older girls sharing a room (which is way too small for the three of them) and our two year old is rooming with us. This worked well when we first moved here and two year old was a year old and woke up a lot at night and the older girls were a little younger. But now they need more space and my husband and I need our room back! :0)

Our third bedroom is used as an office/guest room/play room but since the master bedroom is very large we have no problem moving our computer in there and letting the third room go to two of the girls while the other two share the girls current room. I have been procrastinating this change for a while because not only will it take me a few days to get it all done, I just couldn't figure out how I wanted arrange all the furniture.

Well, today I finally took the plunge and began to prepare for the big move. I had to clean out the master bedroom closet because not only was it really out of order, there are some things that I want to store in there and needed to make room. I also did a really good cleaning of the master bedroom (sorting/organizing/vacuuming, etc.) so I can move my gazelle glider, the computer desk AND my sewing table in there. (It's amazing how much space can be freed up when relocating a two year old).

My girls were such big helpers. They helped to sort a lot of things, helped me move some things out to our garage and whatever else I needed done. They had a great time and are so excited to have more bedroom space when this is all done.

Today we did the following...

cleaned out the master bedroom closet
cleaned out the built in shelving unit in our hallway
rearranged the bookshelf in the master bedroom
sorted out our "junk basket" that sits on the kitchen island (my 9 year old took the now empty basket and put it on a red bandana on the living room coffee table and now it holds our remotes, it looks so much more pretty there)
sorted a big pile of paperwork sitting on the hall shelving unit
took several items that were broken or not being used out to the garage
washed two loads of laundry (about to do two more before bed)
added some cute decorations to the master bedroom

We have a long way to go on this project but when it's all done I know we will be very happy with the results.

God has really been calling our family into ministry and hospitality is a big part of that. With a nice fresh feeling house we will be much better equiped to welcome visitors into out home.

Tomorrow I am going to take apart the computer and reassemble it on a temporary table in the master bedroom until my husband is off work and can help me move the desk. I would move it alone but it's a solid oak desk and I know I risk puling my back out if I try to do it alone. Then hopefully we can get the girls beds moved tomorrow as well.

It seems like most people seem to like to organize and clean in the spring but for me fall is the time of year to get things in order. :0)

Beautiful Day

2009-11-05T07:05:00.003-07:00

It's been a while since I was awake early enough to watch the sun rise but today I did. So beautiful. It made me think of this scripture...

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Have a blessed day!

Awesome new video

2009-11-03T21:14:00.002-07:00

From one of my favorite artists, Lecrae. Very cool!

LECRAE:: GO HARD from Adamson.TV on Vimeo.

Music Video for Lecrae's track "Go Hard" with Tedashii. We shot this in Queens, NY during their show at Christ Tabernacle.
RANSOM.tv

Praise God!

2009-11-02T22:04:00.003-07:00

Last night we got home late from a Bible Study at our pastor's home. I was laying down with a headache coming on when our 5 year old came in. She asked me what happens to our bodies when we die, do we turn to dust if we are buried and if we are not buried as well. I told her yes, but if we are Christians our spirits will go to heaven. She then asked me if she was a Christian. I went on to explain to her what it means to be a Christian (she has heard this explanation before but I tried to make it even more simple and on her level). I asked her if she believed that Jesus died for her sins and does she understand what sin is. She answered yes to both questions. I told her that if she prayed to ask Jesus to come into her heart and if she let Him know that she was sorry for her sins and wanted to accept His death for her sins then she would be a Christian. She asked me if I could help her to pray that. I said of course, and I let her in prayer to the Lord.

We are praising God for our baby girls salvation! God's Spirit is at work in our young ones lives and His saving grace is from them just as much as it is for us adults. I pray that God will bless her each and every day as she begins her walk with Christ.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Matthew 19:14

Lots gonig on...

2009-10-24T15:15:00.003-07:00

It's been a very busy past few days. I am trying so hard to keep the girls on schedule with school this year, as opposed to last year when we took way too many days off. Things are going well, we are only about two days behind where I would like us to be.

I've been doing a lot of fall cooking. I made a couple of sweet potato pies with my 9 year old. I also made baked apples, black bean soup and gingerbread cake. I love the tastes and smells of fall.

We did finally find a new home church, praise God! We are settling in and very happy.

I am still in the process of having a series of sleep studies done to figure out why I am not sleeping well. Praying that God will reveal what the problem is so I can get that under control and get back to my regular more energetic self.

Praying everyone is having a super blessed weekend!

This Is Just Beautiful!

2009-10-10T14:52:00.000-07:00

Updates and an Award!

2009-10-08T11:42:00.003-07:00

It has been quite a whirlwind around our place lately. I finally was able to get the 3 older girls coughs under control and getting better when my sweet husband and oldest daughter came down with a sinus/cold kind of thing. Now our two middle daughters have been having sore throats and have all but lost their voices. Only two year old and I have been well the entire time. There is light at the end of the tunnel but it was a long road :0) I'm just happy everyone is slowly getting better!

We are in the midst of lots of change around our house as well. My husband's job just cut off almost all of the overtime that is offered. We are going to have to tighten the budget a bit based on that fact. Although the chance to earn a little extra is always helpful, we are so happy that daddy will be at home more often. That in itself leads us to making some schedule changes as well as plans to do some things we have either been putting off or not able to do for lack of time.

One of the things on our agenda is to re-arrange some of our furnishings. We are finally going to turn our office/play room into a bedroom for our two oldest. That way two year old can leave our room and room in with her 5 year old sister. I've been making up some plans on how we can arrange things. The girls are very excited about this change since they will have more bedroom space to play and store their things.

Another big change we are facing is looking for a new home church. We have been on this search for some time now and we do see the end in sight. If you're reading this today please pray for us as we make this transition. God has big plans in store and we want only to follow His lead, not our own.

Finally, I was so blessed this morning to receive this award from Tina at Over In The Meadow.

Thanks so much Tina, your blog is always a blessing and inspiration to me!

Here are my replies to the question... "Share 7 things about yourself." Since I did a similar list for another award in a past post, I thought I would share some different fun facts here :0)

1. I love morning. I am a total morning person. Watching the sun rise gives me such a rush. I don't wake early enough to see it very often but I do love the morning.

2. My favorite leisure activity is cooking. Even though I spend plenty of time in the kitchen every day, I spend even more time there when I have free time and not much else to do.

3. I want to go to Italy. I'm not sure why, I don't have any family there or anything but it just seems like ti would be a beautiful place to visit!

4. I've been blogging for 4 years. Wow! It doesn't seem like it has been that long but it has.

5. I love tea. My girls and I always find excuses to have a tea party. Tea is comforting and reminds me of my mom.

6. Summer is my least favorite season. Probably because it is very hot where we live. I always dread summer and am happy when it comes to an end.

7. I love tropical things. Pineapples, warm breezes, the smell of the ocean... Ahhh! Tropical things make me relax. I want to decorate our home like an island resort, LOL!

I am supposed to nominate 7 people for this award. However, I would like to offer this award to all of my blog readers. You all bless me so much when you take the time to leave comments and encouragements. So if you are reading this today and you have a blog of your own, please take this award and leave me a comment to let me know that you stopped by!

May God Bless you all today,

Homemaking and Homeschool Freebies

2009-10-02T07:32:00.002-07:00

This link has some really cool downloads for use for the home and for homeschool.

Menu planner sheets, blank grocery sheets, handwriting paper, Scripture memory system, etc. Lots of goodies!

Enjoy!

Dinner - The Remix

2009-09-30T17:28:00.003-07:00

A couple of days ago, I made one of our favorite recipes - Sausage, Peppers and Onions. I usually serve this over linguine noodles or with penne pasta. However, my husband thought that smaller pasta would be great with this dish and he asked if I could use both Italian and smoked sausage. I was happy to oblige. However, what I didn't realize is that the smaller pasta soaked up a LOT more of the sauce so the dish was a bit dry. No one was really into it, especially the kids. I had a LOT of leftovers. Hum... I didn't want to waste all that food... what to do?

So tonight, I sliced up more sausage and added it to the dish. Then I put it all in my lasagna pan with some extra spaghetti sauce added. Then I topped it off with some Italian 5 cheese blend and lots of Parmesan and covered it and put it in the oven. Viola! A dish I know everyone will enjoy and I think we have enough for dinner tomorrow night as well. Good deal!

Homemade Sore Throat Remedy

2009-09-26T08:19:00.005-07:00

I posted a homemade cough remedy yesterday and wanted to add an update as to how to turn this cough remedy into a cold remedy.

My husband came home last night with a sore throat and said he felt bad and might even call off work for the next day. I asked if he's be willing to try a home remedy (although it tastes bad it might really help). He said sure and drank it down (with a slight frown, LOL).

I am happy to say this worked very well and he was feeling better within about 30 minutes after taking it. He's back to work today. He suffers from really bad sore throats when he gets them and normally I would expect him to stay home because he is so miserable.

I made this recipe up based on ingredients that I know work well for colds based on my own experience and information I found searching on-line for home remedies.

Homemade Sore Throat Remedy

1 cup boiling water
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into small pieces
juice of one lemon
1/4 cup raw honey (you should be able to find this at a health food store)
1/4 c. raw apple cider vinegar (I use BRAGG brand)
2 Tbsp. c. white grape juice
1 clove garlic, peeled and cut into pieces
1 tsp. Mexican oregano (found in small packets in Mexican foods grocery aisle)
a healthy dash of cayenne pepper powder

Boil water and add ginger, garlic and oregano. Allow to steep for 5 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. Add remaining ingredients and shake until well blended. Allow to sit a few minutes until all the bubbles settle. Give 1/4 cup as a does as needed for sore throat. Store in refrigerator.

Homemade Cough Remedy

2009-09-24T07:43:00.004-07:00

The cold season is upon us and three of my lovely little ladies have coughs. We've tried all kinds of cold/cough medicine and I had come to a point where I was running out of things to try and was considering taking them to the doctor. My 7 year old has been coughing for weeks now and instead of getting better she began to get worse again... with no other symptoms. She always tends towards lingering coughs when she has been sick.

I began to search on-line for natural cures for coughs. After a lot of reading I came up with this cough remedy that allowed all of my girls to sleep through the night last night without coughing. It is easy to make and two out of three enjoyed the taste as well :0)

Homemade Cough Remedy

1 cup water
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into small pieces
juice of one lemon
1/4 cup raw honey (you should be able to find this at a health food store)
3 Tbsp. raw apple cider vinegar (I use BRAGG brand)
1/4 c. white grape juice

Boil water and add ginger pieces. Allow to steep for 5 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. Add remaining ingredients and shake until well blended. Allow to sit a few minutes until all the bubbles settle. Give 2 Tbsp. as a does as needed for coughing. Store in refrigerator.

Menu Planning Monday #4

2009-09-20T22:37:00.001-07:00

It's been ages since I have posted our weekly menus. I always write them out on paper but rarely find time to sit and type them out.

One thing I had been wanting to do for some time now is to get a months worth of breakfast, lunch and dinner menus all written out with no repeats. I finally got that all done and that list is what I am posting today. This way I can have a master list of menus to work from when I plan out my usual two week menu plan. I can also use this master list to rotate meals so we don't keep preparing the same things over and over.

This is not an exhaustive list by any means. I have many, many more dinners that I could have added to this list but these are the most frugal as well as the simplest.

I like to make out menus but I also keep in mind that I will most likely mix and match the combinations of breakfasts, lunches and dinners based on how much time I will have to cook as well as what seems to be the best combination for that particular day (allowing for company, etc.)

Here are 4 weeks worth of menus...

Week 1

B: Muffins and fruit
L: Deli Wraps and fruit
D: Chili Mac with corn on the cob

B: Omelets and fruit
L: Sopita
D: Chicken Spaghetti and salad

B: Oatmeal with apples
L: Quiche and fruit
D: Italian turkey sausage with peppers and onions, penne pasta and broccoli

B: Buttermilk pancakes
L: Deli sandwiches and fruit
D: Pinto beans, collard greens, corn bread

B: Buttermilk biscuits and gravy, fruit
L: Homemade pizzas
D: Lentil stew and salad

B: Crepes with strawberries
L: Tuna pasta salad
D: Spaghetti and salad

B: Breakfast burritos
L: Homemade macaroni and cheese
D: Jerk Chicken, brown rice, broccoli

Week 2

B: English muffin sandwiches
L: Ramen noodles, fruit
D: Jambalaya, salad

B: "French Breakfast" (French breakfast muffins, scrambled eggs, sliced ham, fruit)
L: Bean burritos
D: Homemade "Beanie Weenie" in the crock pot, Rice

B: Waffles, fruit
L: Cheese tacos
D: Scalloped potatoes with ham, green beans

B: Granola with fruit and yogurt
L: Quesadillas
D: Ground beef stroganoff, noodles, green beans

B: Baked Oatmeal
L: Deli pasta salad, fruit
D: Potato and Corn Chowder, homemade rolls

B: French Toast
L: Baked Potatoes, fruit
D: Chili, rice

B: "Daddy's Day Off Big Breakfast" (Scrambled eggs, bacon, grits, toast, fried potatoes)
L: Nachos
D: Chicken sour cream enchiladas, refried beans

Week 3

B: "Big Mexican Breakfast" (Chorizo, scrambled eggs, tortillas, fried potatoes, refried beans)
L: Calzones
D: Roast Chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, mixed vegetables, rolls

B: Cream of wheat with fruit
L: Tuna sandwiches on toast, pickle
D: Chicken burritos, refried beans

B: Cold cereal
L: Empanadas
D: Meatloaf, roasted potatoes, peas

B: Breakfast casserole
L: Homemade chicken and rice soup, crackers
D: Chicken Pot Pie

B: Breakfast Sweet Rice
L: Pigs in a blanket, fruit
D: BBQ MEatballs, Mashed potatoes, peas

B: Baked French Toast
L: Grilled cheese sandwiches, pickles
D: Tostadas, refried beans, calebacitas

B: Apple Dutch Baby
L: Taquitos
D: Lasagna, salad

Week 4

B: Breakfast cookies, fruit
L: Bagel sandwiches, fruit
D: Beef Curry, California style veggies, rice

B: Breakfast bars
L: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
D: Deli rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, rolls

B: Johnnycakes, applesauce
L: Ham and cheese melts
D: Enchiladas, refried beans

B: Ham and potato hash
L: Pizza pasta
D: Shepherd's pie, salad

B: Breakfast pizza, fruit
L: Taco cups
D: Teriyaki chicken, soba noodles, Asian style veggies

B: Coffee cake, fruit
L: Pinwheels, pickles, fruit
D: Beef and broccoli, Asian style veggies, rice

B: Sausage pigs in a blanket
L: Chilaquilas, refried beans, fruit
D: Jamaican red beans and rice, salad

A Day In The Life Of Me

2009-09-18T19:26:00.004-07:00

Candy recently did a video post on what a day is like in her life and she invited others to participate as well. Unfortunately I don't own a video camera but I thought it would be fun to make written post on what our day is like, so here goes... :0)

Usually I am awakened twice each morning. First at about 3:30 am when my husband is getting ready for work. I don't wake up for the day as early as he does but I can't help waking up when he is preparing for work. After he leaves for work I go back to sleep until my 2 year old wakes me at around 6:30 or 7 am. Sometimes I wake up before she does but usually she is my clock, LOL! I have had some MAJOR problems sleeping for several months now (long story) which is why I tend to go to bed early and sleep in later than I would like. Prayerfully this problem will be solved very soon with some medical intervention (another long story LOL) and I will begin to wake up the same time my husband does, which is my intention.

Anyhow, I digress... :0)

Once awake I get myself and two year old dressed and ready for the day. If my other girls are still sleeping then I will do a quick email check and then start laundry, put away dishes from the dishwasher and then start breakfast. I will let the girls sleep no later than 8 am. I let two year old wake them up because she really likes to do that and they love it too. Once the girls are up I remind them to do their "morning list". When they are done with their list they are allowed to read or play until breakfast.

During breakfast we read from a Children's Bible story book or my Bible. Right now we are reading from the Rod and Staff book called Bible Stories To Read. My two oldest girls have a Devotion book they are working through right now as well as a Scripture memory system and a Bible Study book for homeschool ... as well as an AWANA class they go to so most of the Bible stories are fairly simple for them (but they still enjoy them). After we read our Bible Study we then read a chapter or two from our current Read Aloud book. Right now we are reading On The Banks Of Plumb Creek.

After breakfast we clear the table and start our chores. Usually the girls will fold and put away a basket of laundry or vacuum one room each. Chores vary from day to day depending on what needs to be done. I start a new laundry load and wash dishes and do any dinner prep that is needed. Then we have a 10 minute break. At this time I check email again because that is how my husband and I usually communicate during the day. If I have any important phone calls to make this usually when I make them.

After this break we start school. This is the most hectic part of the day because often the girls just don't want to work on school work yet and are restless. Also, my two year old is still not able to sit still and quiet for very long so there are plenty of interruptions and distractions for the other girls as they try to concentrate on their work. But we work through as much as can during this time. I aim for us to get at least two subjects finished during this morning block of school. Once we finish lessons for the morning it is usually time for lunch. During lunch we will read another chapter from our read-aloud or sometimes we will call my mom or sister and chat with the speaker phone on so all the girls can talk as well. My sister's little boy is just starting to talk so the girls love to talk to him on the phone and hear him say their names and babble his cute little non-sense words.

After lunch the girls have another short break while I get 2 year old down for a nap. They often go outside and play at this time. I also start a new load of laundry at this time. I do my best to take a basket of laundry with me as I move from task to task throughout the day so I can fold throughout the day but sometimes the clean things will pile up and we will do a big folding session in the morning and put things away. It really all depends on the day and what we need to get done.

After this we have our afternoon school session. This is when I give spelling tests, help the girls with lessons they don't understand and work on learning to read with my 5 year old. Once the girls finish all their lessons for the day they do a quick clean up of books, supplies and toys then they have some free play time. 5 and 7 year old usually take out things to play house or doll house and 9 year old usually opts to read a favorite book. Weather permitting they go outdoors at this time. This is when I take a break, blog, rest or do some other relaxing activity for a few minutes to refresh before the evening.

After a quick break I start a new load of laundry and work on food prep. I get dinner going and make preparations for the next day if any are needed. I might also work on a grocery list or menus for the next week. Once this is done, I sit and watch the kids play while I grade their school work for the day.

Once 2 year old is awake, I get the girls to clean up from play time and get bath time started. After bath time we might watch a DVD or eat dinner (if my husband is going to be extra late getting home from work). Once Daddy is home we either eat with him (if it's an early night) or just spend with with him if he's late and it's close to bed time.

Then it's bed time for the girls and my husband and I spend a few minutes together before he has to get to sleep. I then finish up any things that need to be done before I go to sleep, such as packing my husband's lunch for the next day and getting in some quiet Bible reading and prayer time. I try to get to bed by 9 pm to get enough rest.

Now this is what our average "work day" looks like (unless we have to grocery shop or do a run to the library or something like that). On days my husband is off work things vary from day to day. We usually do all our shopping and errands together as a family so each day off is unique.

Hope you enjoyed reading about our day! :0)

Beautiful Testimony

2009-09-12T11:33:00.002-07:00

Found this via Youtube today. It is just a beautiful story. Enjoy!

Childrens Abilities

2009-09-11T16:07:00.002-07:00

I get funny looks from people when I tell them that my girls are able to take over all of the household duties when I am sick. Many people don't think that a 9, 7 and 5 year old can manage a home for a couple of days, including taking care of a younger sister. I tell them that it is possible and my children are proof.

Do my children have some special abilities that other don't? Absolutely not! I just try to teach them things whether they (or I) think they will be able to accomplish them or not. If they are able to do what I am teaching then that is great! A new skill has been learned. If they are unable, I tell them they CAN do it, it will just take some time, patience and practice to get it just right. And we keep right on working on that particular skill until they master it.

Here are some examples of things I have taught my girls to do.

All my girls began to learn to sew at age 4. I love to do hand sewing and a curious child will always want to try something new if they are watching. So I offer a small rectangle of fabric, folded in half, and a threaded needle. I am sure to explain that it will hurt if they prick their finger but not to give up, just to be more careful. I then show them how to take stitches (my hands over theirs). Once they get the idea, I let them try on their own. After a while, I go back to my own project (sitting right by them) and am available to undo any wrong stitches or mistaken knots them make. Soon they have it all stitched around with a small opening left that I instructed them to leave. Then together we turn the pillow right side out and stuff it and the child closes the hole with a few more stitches. Not only has the child learned a new skill but her favorite doll has a new pillow. A love for sewing has begun! I have no need to coax them to practice, they always ask on their own!

Cooking is a smilier task that I start very young. My two year old helps put ingredients into the bowl when I bake and always lines the muffin pans with paper liners when we make muffins or cupcakes. She stirs with my hand over hers and I always lift her to see what's cooking on the stove. By the time the girls are 5 or 6, they can easily assemble a crock pot lasagna or similar dish, as long as I brown the meat and open the jar of sauce. Wow, it gives them a good feeling to tell Daddy that they made dinner that night. And it helps me A LOT when I am sick, I know all I need is to have my husband brown some beef and let the girls put the meal together and they have fun doing it and feel a great sense of accomplishment.

At two years old I also start children as laundry helpers. I let them put clothes into the machine and dryer along with me. I let them fold and put away wash clothes and their own clothes. Neatness in folding can be learned along the way, I just want them to get the basic idea of how the job goes and that it can be fun! At 6 years old they know how to run the washer and dryer and can easily do a load of laundry on their own.

My 5 year old started helping me with dressing and caring for 2 year old when she was 4. She could change a wet diaper and help 2 year old into her clothes easily. My 7 year old and 9 year old can easily bathe their two year old sister, help her brush teeth and help her to bed, complete with a good night story read to her.

It really is amazing the abilities that children posses. It's easy to do things for your children without realizing how much they are able to do on their own. Teaching children basic life skills at a young age not only boosts their confidence, it can be an invaluable help to parents when they need help from their children during times when life gets very busy or parents get sick and must stay in bed to recuperate. Children's abilities are often far greater than we realize and it is a blessing to the entire family to take advantage of teaching them as much as we can as soon as they are able to learn a skill.

Curriculum Review: Rod And Staff Art

2009-09-10T11:51:00.003-07:00

Fitting art projects into our school day has often been a challenge. Time constraints often have us pushing art off for other things. I really do think art is important for children to learn. Often the girls other subjects have projects that are artistic so thankfully they have had many chances to work with their artistic abilities. This year, however, I really wanted to find something that would be fun for them but help them hone their skills as well.

The curriculum we are using this year is from Rod and Staff and it is called Art With A Purpose. Each grade has it's own "Artpac". Each Artpac contains a list of each project with instructions for the teacher to guide the student. There are also photocopied pages for just about every project that are consumable. The sheets are loose-leaf so a two-pocket folder is helpful in keeping it in order.

There are several things I like about this curriculum.

It is very inexpensive. Each Artpac is around $8. There are enough lessons to do one each week for an entire school year.

It is practical. Most of the supplies are things that any homeschool family will already have on hand and if you do need to buy anything it is usually simple and inexpensive. Many of the projects only use pencil and paper or crayons, construction paper and scissors. The lessons teach simple principles that can be applied to various projects.

With most projects, children can work independently. There is always something pretty and decorative or useful to show for their efforts.

My children enjoy this art curriculum so much! They are always eager to work on their projects.

In the past we have tried so many different things for art and usually we either put it aside because we don't have all the supplies or can't find them at a local store or the projects are so time consuming that we just don't have time to do them every week.

If you are looking for a simple way to do art in your homeschool I would highly suggest giving Art With A Purpose a try!

Team Work and Attitudes

2009-09-05T16:24:00.004-07:00

Getting children to do ALL of their chores in a timely manner and with a good attitude can be challenging. My girls have some days where they are really into their jobs and others where it can be like pulling teeth to get them going. Children's attitudes can make the difference between a fun and pleasant day getting jobs done and an excruciatingly tiring day trying to force them to do what they need to do.

There are a couple of things that I really find that helps with keeping everyone focused on what we need to do on a daily basis, whether it be chores, school or getting ready to go out for a day of family fun. The right approach always seems to make a world of difference!

Start of with a "meeting" - I always have everyone sit down and explain exactly what is going to happen and what we need to do in order for that to happen. Outline your expectations for each child. If it is a cleaning day I explain that our goal is a clean house and I have a list ready of tasks we need to do. If we are preparing to go on a day trip, I have a list ready as well and explain that we can't leave until we accomplish the list first. I answer any questions and also delegate each task accordingly. If I expect team work I put an older child in charge of a younger one. I also go over what is expected as far as behavior. Children like to know what is expected of them ahead of time.

Work TOGETHER - If we have a lot to do, it would make sense to send each person in a different direction to get several things done at once. That actually does not work well. If I take that approach I will often find things not finished later on or find children playing instead of doing an assigned task. That is why we work together all in the same room on each task until it is done.

Offer a treat - This might sound like bribery (LOL!) but really it works well. Today we had a HUGE job ahead as we had several large cleaning jobs to get done around the house. Jobs like this can get boring for children over a long day but I find that if I offer a treat they keep on task much better. Today it was a simple thing. I said that I would buy a box of popsicles for everyone if the girls did a good job of helping. Sometimes I will offer to read a favorite book. Other times we will watch a family movie when we are all done. It doesn't have to be something you buy, just something you know your children will enjoy as a reward for a job well done.

Stay Focused - Try to eliminate phone calls or other distractions until all work is done. If your children see you focused on what you are doing, they are more likely to stay focused as well.

Make It Fun!- Play a cleaning game or dance to music while you work. Take breaks when needed, have snacks ready and enjoy your time together.

I find that in general, keeping my children close by me, in the same room, on a daily basis is what helps them to keep the best attitude and be the most willing to work on what they need to do. Whether it be school or chores or cleaning up behind themselves, if I am near by them they work together much better. Sending everyone off in a different direction just causes division and does not promote working together. Children learn to work together and work well by working together and seeing their parents working well on any task they do.

A Great Teaching Opportunity

2009-08-26T10:58:00.004-07:00

Today was a prime opportunity to take the morning off from school for a practical lesson on idols, spending our time wisely and setting priorities.

Now, let me say, I am not talking about the kinds of idols that compete for your attention on TV nor the ones that were made of wood and worshiped by civilizations of old. No, I am talking about the things of this modern age which take our focus away from the things of God.

Idols cam come in the form of anything from too much TV or computer time, too much emphasis on sports or in our case, too much STUFF!

This morning I was looking around the house realizing that not only were behind on some much needed daily cleaning tasks, we also were beginning to suffer from a case of "stuff-itis". A.K.A. clutter and junk that needed tossing. I made a note to myself to tackle this mess over the next several days but my main objective today was to get the girls bedroom done and get them in the proper mindset to be on board with me on this cleaning mission.

I began by telling them that the mess in their room was not acceptable. Our oldest two are very good at cleaning and really know better than to shove things under the bed or in the closet instead of tossing them or putting them away (which is what I found today). I reminded them of what then need to do when they do clean up. I went on to explain that if we own to many things or fail to toss our trash out, we are creating an idol for ourselves because we will be spending way too much time on managing our mess than on the things of God. I also told them that my job as their mom is to train them how to manage their things and we then went on to start the cleaning project together.

I accepted no arguments on why they wanted to keep any particular item. I decided what to keep and what to toss. They quickly were on board with me and happily tossing things that were honestly just trash and needed to go.

The room is now looking much better and the girls are happy that they now won't be wasting their time on sorting and managing all the things we threw away.

My husband and I area also planning to have a family meeting with the girls this weekend. We are going to discuss these things in more depth as well as setting some new guidelines on the things we will be keeping or bringing into our home. We really purpose to keep "things" to a minimum around here as to have a better learning environment and more time on our hands to serve others and spend our time on things that honor God.

Shephearding Our Children's Hearts

2009-08-22T11:16:00.005-07:00

Where are your children's hearts? Are they with the things of God or are they focused on the things of the world?

I notice a lot of people don't really concern themselves on certain attitudes that their children have. They brush things off as being "just how kids act" or say that "they just don't understand". So often I see children in stores or other public places throwing fits to get their way. The parents of these children do very little to stop the fit, they often times seem to just give up or ignore the behavior. This is a dangerous things to do. Children understand much more than we give them credit for and they are able to be taught and trained from birth.

Today I had to tell my girls that due to Daddy's work schedule we will miss church AND their AWANA class this week. We will still have a devotion time as a family but they will not be able to participate in their two very favorite activities for the week. This is something they of course look forward to all week.

Now, some people might expect some pouting and whining when having to make such an announcement. From very little ones they might expect crying. Maybe a tantrum?

That is not what we expect nor is that what happened. All four of my girls nodded politely when I told them and went back to playing smiling and happy.

How is it that their behaviour was not what seems to be "the norm"? Honestly it is because we make it a point to guide our children to the mindset of God, to seek after His kingdom and to cherish what he cherishes. My children understand that Daddy's job is a blessing for our family. They know that at this particular time in life, two days of overtime is a HUGE blessing to us and will help our family a great deal. They know that God is above all, then their family, then their friends and others. They have been taught to take joy in life when they see God's hand at work blessing us and allowing us to bless others.

Proverbs 22:6 says "Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it"

As Christian parents we need to be sure that we are holding our children to a high standard just as our Father in heaven holds us to such a standard. Never assume a child is too young to understand. Teach them concepts that are above their understanding and continue to teach those things, reinforcing them, until they do understand them.

Also, remember that younger children will try to imitate the behaviors of the older children. Encourage your older children to display behavior that will encourage and train your younger children.

Homeschool Wisdom

2009-08-21T07:55:00.001-07:00

I saw this on another blog this morning and thought it was worth sharing...

Homeschool Update

2009-08-15T22:48:00.004-07:00

We are about to start week three of homeschool and I'm very excited! This is the first year that we have began so early. Normally it has been September or October before we really got things under way, for one reason or another. So far things are going well.

This year I bought separate schedule books for my 7 and 9 year old. I plan to fill in one month at a time and each day they can see what assignments they will be working on. They really like this. I list all of their workbook assignments, science experiments and art projects as well as suggested activities sch as learning to type, working on craft projects or cooking.

I can see that our biggest challenge for my 9 year old is going to be the Language Arts program that I chose. It is harder than what she is used to. I think this is a good thing because she enjoys being challenged and it is really helping her learn how to really study. She's always been a very bright student and not had to put too much effort in as far as studying things goes.

My 7 year old has really blossomed as a student. She works very independently now. Many times I set aside time to sit with her and work on school, she has already taken it upon herself to do certain pages on her own and has done very well. Her biggest struggle right now is math because some of it seems boring to her, although it really is drill work that is reinforcing her memory of facts.

Our 5 year old is loving being a "school girl" this year. She loves working on school whether it be listening to me ready, reading with me, practicing her handwriting or doing a math workbook page. Her drawing skills are really blooming and I think her biggest challenge is going to be having patience while I work with her sisters and she has to wait for her turn to have my undivided attention.

2 year old is just "being two". She is at a stage of challenging us on everything and testing her limits and boundaries. So there has been a lot of training going on with her in the area of behavior and self control. She loves to sit and color or play with blocks when we have school time.

2 year old is also VERY ready to potty train and I am hoping to get her started this week or next. She is not at all afraid of the big toilet and loves to try to use it any chance she gets. I guess we have started unofficially... I am just nervous about officially starting because one thing I am not good at is potty training. I am praying that God give me extraordinary patience to push through and help he succeed. If anyone has any great potty training tips I would love to hear them, especially night time training!

Tomorrow we will be having a family devotion time instead of church because three of the girls have colds and need to stay home to rest.

Life is very busy right now but full of so many blessings!

Work

2009-08-08T08:57:00.008-07:00

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes... Romans 1:16

Our family lives in a fairly conservative area with lots of other homeschooling families around. Many moms stay home. Generally people understand that having mom stay home is a normal thing to do, not some strange, alien idea that makes no sense to their secular mindset. However, I still often encounter people that look at me strangely or often times in awe when I explain that yes, I do have four children and yes we do homeschool. They say things like "You have a BIG family" or "Oh, I could NEVER to that" or "Oh, bless your heart, you must be so tired!".

Huh????

Why would anyone stand in awe of me for doing what God has commanded me to do? Since when is hard work that bears amazing fruit something to be shocked about?

Ephesians 6:4 says...

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

And by the way... why do so many people think that 4 children is a BIG family (and what's wrong with having a BIG family anyhow)?

Psalm 127:3 says...

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

God has given us a duty to raise and train our children. God has entrusted their lives to us and we are to nurture and grow them. I personally don't think that sending them off to a government school is fulfilling that mandate.

Here are some misconceptions that many people (yes, even other Christians!) hold about homeschooling and my response to them...

Your children will not be socialized - My children are much more social that most children I know. They are not afraid to socialize with anyone, not matter their age. They can hold an intelligent conversation with any person and they take great phone messages as well. They love people and socialize quite normally.

I could never do that, it's too hard! - Wrong! Listen, I am NOT a trained school teacher. I am not even a GREAT teacher. There are many methods, curricula, books, forums, etc. available to any person wanting to homeschool their child. If you can do enough research to decide which cell phone company to choose, which car to buy or which neighborhood to move to, then you certainly can find a way to homeschool your child that will suit both your personalities and help them learn to their optimum level.

Don't you want your children to be "salt and light" to the world - Yes! Of course I do! And they have plenty of opportunity to be just that without us sending them out into the world when they are not yet fully mature in their faith. We give our children every opportunity to witness to to others and when they are adults and have been properly taught in their faith they will certainly have even more opportunity to be salt and light.

I wish I could AFFORD to stay home and teach my kids but we need my income - I beg to differ. There are many ways to cut corners and live on less. Often times the choices we make determine how much money we require to live. I personally know many families that make less money than we do and have more children and still "afford" to homeschool. The Internet is a wealth of information on how to save money in every area of life.

No, homeschooling is not always easy but unfortunately our society is often so very enamoured with what is easy or what makes life more enjoyable or fun. Self serving ideals reign supreme and selflessness is unheard of. What happened to laying our lives down for Christ? What happened to putting others before ourselves? It is rarely done any more, at least not without whining and complaining and a "poor me" attitude. To honor God is to crucify our flesh and do what is best for others, especially the children that God entrusted to our care.

Trying to prove to others (especially working mothers) that we as homeschool mothers "work"... this is not something that I try to do. Whether your work shows any fruit in your life or the lives of others will reveal the true value of your work.

If I leave my home to go to a job so that we can afford more THINGS which sending my kids to a public institution every day then those THINGS that I am working for have become my idol. They are more important that my children. I am blessed with an able bodied husband that is more than able to go out and earn a living to support our family (as God would have him do as the head of our home) so there is no reason for me to go out and work so that we can afford to have the American Dream while someone else educates my children.

Here are a few more verses regarding teaching your children...

Isaiah 54:13 And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.

Jeremiah 10:2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Who I Am

2009-08-03T11:43:00.003-07:00

Candy did a really neat post today called "This Is Who I Am" and asked others to participate as well, so I thought I would add my version of "Who I Am" today. If you have a blog and haven't posted today, why not participate as well! If you do leave me your link in a comment so I can visit!

OK, Let's see...

I am God's child. Made in His image, saved by the blood of His Son, redeemed by faith and sanctified by His amazing and Holy grace. I love Him above all else.

I am am a non-denominational Christian in my doctrinal beliefs. I believe God has given us liberty as His children and although I have attended churches of various denominations over the years, I hold to none 100%, only to the Bible, the truth of God's word.

I am a growing Christian, seeking to learn and grow in God's word. As I continue to read the Bible I learn so much more each time I read, God's Word is so alive and dynamic, it always fills my soul.

I am always praying that God use me in any way He see fit to further His kingdom. Whatever he has for me to do I am willing and ready.

I am a wife of an amazing husband, totally dedicated and still so much in love after 10 happy years.

I am a mom that is in love with her babies and very protective of their lives and hearts.

I am a serious person. I do love to smile, laugh and joke (and I do so often) but in general I take things seriously and ponder them deeply.

I am a lover of all things culinary. Cooking is not just a hobby of mine, it is a passion and I have to keep myself in check otherwise I would spend all day in the kitchen and get absolutely nothing else done.

I am a music lover. Especially Christian hip-hop which has a special place in my heart. However, I also love old hymns, popular worship songs, instrumental music and so much more. Music always brings me joy.

I am a quilter. I have made hand-made quilts for more than half my life and every time I make one I love making them even more.

I am a homebody. I love to be at home, doing things at home, just enjoying our home. Home is comfortable, safe and warm... always.

I am a list maker and planner. I am always making lists, they can be found all over our house and in my purse. If I don't have a list I am lost.

I am concerned about the health of myself and my family which is why I love to make healthy foods from scratch and encourage us all to get outdoors for fresh air and exercise.

I am a bibliophile. I adore books and have to restrain myself as to not spend too much money on them.

I am a a person who wishes to garden. I wish so much for a garden but have not yet had the opportunity to start one. One day... one day... :0) I do grow herbs in pots and mini roses as well.

I am a lover of people. I make friends easily and love to meet new people. It is a joy yo be able to share with people that love that God has shared with me through Christ.

oh... and here are a few things I am not...

I am NOT a good dancer. I love music with a passion but dancing... uh... NO!

I am not patient. I am much more patient than I used to be and God is working with me on my patience but naturally, I am not patient.

I am not perfect! I will be the first one to say that I have my faults and they are many, but praise God He is working with me on them and I am making improvements.

Websites For Homeschoolers

2009-07-31T10:47:00.004-07:00

Here are some websites we really enjoy using in our daily homeschool journey...

Math Speed Drills

Starfall (Learn To Read)

Learn To Type For Kids

PBS Kids Electric Company (Phonics)

Spelling City

Preschool and Toddler Crafts

Multiplication Games

On-Line Spelling Bee

Lapbooking!

2009-07-30T12:17:00.003-07:00

I have really wanting to get some more creative ideas going for the girls for homeschool. My personality is such that I tend towards workbooks and lots of reading, without a a lot of artistic projects. Of course, kids (especially girls) love to work with all sorts of colorful things and lace and beads, etc. So this year I vowed to come up with some more creative ways to learn.

After a lot of research and advice from other homeschooling moms, I decided to try lapbooking. If you have never heard of lapbooking, check out this link. There are lots of free resources all over the web including lots of tutorials on youtube and other video based websites.

Today we made our first lapbook and the girls LOVED it. I chose to teach them about the Full Armour of God (Ephesians 6:10 - 18) and it was the perfect topic for a lapbook. I got the basic idea for the project here and added a little of my own ideas to round it out.

I still don't have a digital camera so I can't show any pics at this time but when we do get a new camera I will be sure to upload some and continue to show pics of furure lapbook projects.

I am planning to make lapbooks to help my girls with their math facts as well as grammar rules. We also may do mini-lapbooks for each of the 50 united states.

Getting Ready To Start School

2009-07-27T08:32:00.002-07:00

The summer seems to have passed by in a flash and next week we will be back to full time school again. It has been such a blessing to be able to take time off this year and regroup. We do so every year but for some reason this year, the time was much more appreciated.

I had posted our homeschool plans a few months ago but have since made some changes. After looking at our budget and our time each day I felt it better to go with some different publishers for various subjects which would allow my older girls to work more independently on some subjects while I work with reading and math with my soon-to-be 5 year old.

That being said, I posted the new plan in the left sidebar. The daily schedule and chores will stay the same.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Homeschool Convention 2009

2009-07-20T07:50:00.003-07:00

We were blessed to be able to attend out states annual homeschool convention over Friday and Saturday. It was a lot of fun and there was so much to see, check out and to learn. We met up with a lot of old friends as well which was a true blessing.

This year our keynote speaker was Dr. Voddie Baucham. If you have never heard Dr. Baucham speak, check out this video. Dr. Baucham also has a website with lots more info and videos.

Saturday Morning Chit Chat

2009-07-11T11:39:00.002-07:00

I'm so proud of my girls! They have helped me keep the house clean all week so now today we are going to relax, do hair and watch a movie together. I'm not sure what the movie will be yet but they have quite a collection of DVD's so I'm sure it will be something fun :0)

For dinner I am planning to make homemade noodles and ground beef stroganoff. Maybe a salad too if I can find some lettuce in the fridge.

Tomorrow VBS starts so the girls are extra excited today.

My parents will be here on Thursday for a visit. They are staying until Sunday and going to our homeschool convention with us, so that will be fun too.

I just started reading a book called "The Metabolic Typing Diet". I'm really excited to see how the principals in this particular book will help us in our continued quest towards good health and eating.

Well, I have a stinky 2 year old here so I had better go for today.

Praying everyone's weekend is blessed!

Making progress!

2009-07-07T11:37:00.003-07:00

All is going well here as we begin our "prep week". I am so excited to get going with a new year of homeschool so I thought all the shelves and boxes and things should reflect our anticipation :0) They sure were a mess!

We got a great start today and got one entire book shelf cleaned off and organized. I also cleaned off and am almost finished organizing the "teacher desk".

I am about 2/3 of the way done with my list of books and supplies we will be needing to buy. I have had to make some changes to our plans since my last post so I will post our new plans soon. I am going to buy a lot less at the start of this year and add more as we need it. I went WAY overboard last year and we still have things we didn't get to finish up.

We did a major sorting of everyones clothes last week and now just about everything is washed and folded or hung up. It feels so nice to have things more in order.

Yesterday I made up a batch of homemade laundry soap. My husband happened to be home and he was amazed that I was MAKING laundry soap. LOL! I explained to him how much money it is saving us and how little is needed. He had never noticed this new kind of soap in our laundry room because we still have about 1/2 a bottle of liquid detergent left whenever he does a load he just grabs that.

Yesterday I also made up a huge pot of refried beans. We had burritos last night and will have them again tonight (my family could eat burritos for every meal and be happy, LOL). Last this week I am going to make up some meatballs for the freezer.

I was going to do some baking today but the temperature is supposed to top 110 so I think that will wait till tomorrow morning when it's a bit cooler.

I pray you are all having an enjoyable day!

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-03T09:05:00.004-07:00

I was just looking at my "To-Do" list here in the left sidebar and realized how fast the summer is passing by! We intended to start back to school on a full schedule as of the second week of August. I really need to get moving if I am going to get all my items finished in time!

Today we are making preparations for July 4th. There will be a fireworks display in the next town over from us so we will be attending that. Since my husband has to work tomorrow we will be getting dinner ready while he is at work. We don't have a grill at this time so I will be doing an indoor version of cookout food :0) Hot dogs, a potato casserole in the crock pot as well as potato salad, veggies and some cookies and ice cream. The girls are excited, they didn't get to see any fireworks last year so this year is just that much more exciting!

Today I have a bunch of little items to tend to like a few phone calls to make, laundry to fold and a little research on some homeschool items I am considering purchasing for next year.

Next week we will be spending most of our time in preparation for the week to follow. The third week of July brings VBS for the girls, a music concert we have been long awaiting to attend, our annual homeschool convention and a visit from my parents. It will be a busy and exciting week!

I probably won't be blogging a lot in the days to come but I will be back as soon as life settles back down a bit.

Praying everyone has a blessed and safe 4th of July!

Listen to the Bible

2009-06-27T08:47:00.002-07:00

I was getting a little discouraged lately because I was feeling like I was so hungry for the Word of God but I just couldn't find enough time to read the Bible. The early morning was the best time but now that it's summer my 2 year old is up with the sun and the evening time is not so good because I am just so tired I can't focus very well. I was wishing that I could read at times like when the girls are occupied and I am washing dishes but dishes and reading don't go so well together. So what to do I wondered.

I was then blessed to find this site. Here you can download the Bible in MP3 format. Some versions like the KJV offer you the entire Bible for free in MP3 format and others like the NKJV offer the New Testament for free and the entire Bible for a fee.

What a blessing this has been to me Now when the girls are playing or otherwise occupied and I have chores to do, I can fill myself with the Word of God at the same time.

If you'd like more time in the Word check this out! If you don't own an MP3 player you can pick one up with enough capacity to hold the Bible download for about $30 at Wal-Mart. If your budget is a little larger than that, you can always buy a pre-loaded MP3 player with the Bible already on it. These type of players cost about $80 but they have more advanced search features. This one is on my Christmas wish list :0)

A Fun Summer Giveaway

2009-06-26T07:54:00.003-07:00

If you haven't already visited today, take a trip over to DeNiece's blog. She is hosting a fun summer giveaway today with a really nice prize.

I'll be back in blog land tomorrow, lots to do today!

Blessings,

What are you doing today?

2009-06-25T09:55:00.003-07:00

Whenever I post about what I am doing on any given day I always wonder what other people are up to on that same day. So tell me everyone, what ARE you doing today? :0)

Today I have one big project to tackle. I am going to sort our clothing and take out all the things that done fit the girls any more any all the things that hubby and I have been hanging onto that either don't fit or are worn out. I'm doing the same for the linen closet. Then all the drawers and closets will be organized when we put everything back.

This morning I put a roast in the crock pot for dinner and started some yams baking in a smaller crock pot. I'll use those for muffins later on this week. Later on I'm going to start a batch of yogurt in the tiny crock pot. (Yes, I know I have a LOT of crock pots, LOL!)

The girls are playing Speed Stacks in the front room and 2 yo is filling any and every things she can find with water from the water cooler and pouring it all over the floor. I often wonder why someone doesn't invent a lock for those coolers to prevent little ones from flooding the floor. Hummm... maybe I should invent one! :0)

Father's Day and feeling better

2009-06-22T23:30:00.004-07:00

We had a wonderful Father's Day yesterday. After the girls gave Daddy his gifts and after eating breakfast, we spent the morning at church then had lunch together. We spent the evening with some dear friends and had a blessed time of worship and prayer as well as talking and catching up.

I had the massage therapy appointment after church while my husband spent time with the girls. The massage helped me so much, I had a wonderful therapist and she said I had two very large knots in my upper back which was probably the reason I was in such pain and that it lasted so long. Today I was just praising God because I was able to get down on the floor with the girls with no pain for the first time in years and I was able to bend over to pick things up without pain which never normally happens for me. My neck and back feel totally normal and I am just so thankful.

Thanks for everyone that was praying for me, God heard your prayers!

A New Day and an Award!

2009-06-20T07:29:00.004-07:00

My sweet husband took the day off work yesterday to take me to the doctor. I wasn't really up to driving and managing the little ones in the waiting room because I was in too much pain. So it was a huge blessing to have him come along with me.

The doctor said that I have a lot of tension in my back and neck muscles which is causing the pain I am experiencing. Tomorrow I have an appointment for a deep tissue massage which I am praying will help me feel much better. So after church it's off to the massage office then home to spend a relaxing evening celebrating Father's Day.

I woke up this morning praising for for this new day. The weather has been BEAUTIFUL here for the last several weeks. Normally at this time of year it is in the 100's already and edging up to the 110's. Not so this year! The girls have been able to go outside often and I am so thankful for that. The summer is not usually the most fun time for outdoor activities where we live.

My sweet husband leaves early for work and he let me sleep in because he knew I wasn't feeling well. I am thankful for that as well because sleep is certainly necessary for good health. I was able to get up and make some bread dough this morning and make the girls breakfast as well. Then my lovely young ladies took over for lunch as I began to braid 7 yo's hair with my heating pad in tow.

I was also so blessed this morning by my sweet sister in Christ, DeNiece. She awarded me with this lovely blog award.

Thanks so much DeNiece, your blog is such a blessing to me and I am honored that you chose me for this award.

As I read on DeNiece's blog, the "rules" for this award are that you list 7 things that you love, link back to the person that gave you the award and pass the award on to 7 other bloggers. So here is my list of what I love and who I would like to bless with this award.

I love...

1. Above all I love God. He is my salvation, my strength, my healer, my provider and my comfort in all things.

2. I love my husband. I am eternally thankful that God has allowed me to share my life with him.

3. I love my children. They are precious little gifts and it is a joy to watch them grow and learn.

4. I love my family and friends. My parents, sister, in-laws, aunts, uncles, cousins, all of my friends etc. I am blessed with a big and loving family and loving friends and for all of them I am thankful.

5. I love it when it rains! Especially in the summer. The fierce thunder and lightning coupled with the cool drizzle of falling rain is God's power incarnate.

6. I love freshly baked bread. Any type, if it's warm from the oven and topped with butter. Mmmm!

7. I love blogging. Getting to know others and being edified by them and encouraging them is such a blessing.

I would like to pass this award on to the following bloggers that have truly blessed me...

1. Bethany at Happy To Be Called "Mommy"

2. Crystal at Homemaking Homesteader

3. Linda at Homeschooling 6

4. Erika at Tummy Treasure

5. Sharon at Keeper of The Home

6. Donetta at A Life Uncommon

7. Dawn from On A Quest For Plain Living

Praying you all have a beautiful and blessed weekend!

When Mommy Is Sick

2009-06-18T17:04:00.002-07:00

I've been sick for several days now. Not the runny nose, coughing kind of sick. Actually I pulled a muscle or a nerve (or something) in my upper back. I have been trying to take it easy but it's hard to do when the days are busy and full. Tomorrow I will finally see the doctor because it will be almost a week since this started and I'm still in quite a bit of pain and feeling very fatigued.

I'm sure any mother knows, it's tough around the house when mom is sick. Yesterday I had a bad flare up of pain right around my 2 year old's nap time. I asked my 9 year old to help her get into the crib for her nap as I lay down on the sofa with a heating pad. I explained to 2 yo that mommy is not feeling well and her sister would help her to bed for a nap. She seemed fine with this at first but the crying began as soon as 9 yo left her room. It took us about 15 or 20 minutes to get her down for a nap with me calling out to her from across the house to quiet down and take her nap and I would see her when she woke up.

Even though times like this can be trying, it is a great opportunity for learning and training your children. My 7 and 9 year old have taken over most chores the past three days. I have been very tiredand achy so after just an hour or so of housework I am spent and have had to lie down with my heating pad. The big girls took over with no problem and had a great attitude too. My 4 yo enjoyed playing "baby-sitter" when 2 yo was awake and felt like such a big girl watching and playing with her baby sister. My 9 yo was so happy when I had one pretty good day and went out shopping for groceries. I told her that even though I was fairly ok, I would need a helper to lift things and put large things under the cart. She was a huge help! Daddy watched the youger three girls and reported that they had been extremely well behaved when we got home.

I also believe that when mom is sick it really teaches children to learn how to serve others. Parents naturally serve their children all day but children don't always get a chance to really serve their parents, especially when they are young. When my girls see their daddy helping me when I am unable to do something or when I ask them to help and compliment them when they do a good job or have a good attitude, it really helps them to learn to have a servant's heart.

Prayerfully, I will be just fine after tomorrow's consult with my doctor but in the meanwhile it gives me such peace and joy to see the love of Christ shine through my children.

This Really Touched Me

2009-06-18T09:23:00.001-07:00

Prepare to shed a tear as you watch this, it's only about 5 minutes long but it really hits home about how we in the western world take our blessings for granted.

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

Hair Day

2009-06-13T09:17:00.001-07:00

It's "Hair Day" today and I'm about to wash, comb, brush and braid four heads of beautiful hair. Although I love my girls beautiful hair, I will be honest... I don't enjoy doing their hair. It is very challenging for me and can really try my patience.

My own hair is not as curly nor as thick as theirs so styling their hair has been a learning experience for me. I can easily wash, condition and air dry my hair and it looks just fine but not so with my girls. They must have their hair in braids, plaits or twists or it will get very tangled and be impossible to manage. Not to mention that each of them has a different texture to their hair so it requires different treatment. I once received a comment on this blog asking why I don't style my girls hair. That actually hurt my feelings because I spend TONS of time each week on the girls hair and I really try to make it look nice. We spend almost all day Saturday on hair.

What I do each and every Saturday is wash each girls hair. My 9 year old washes her own hair. If I wash their hair more often it will become very dry and break easily. I wash and deep condition then apply some sort of hair oil Usually I use a product called Hair Pudding which my good friend Tanisha makes. Here is a link to her site. She and her family some great products! Sometimes I use Alberto VO5 (the oil in the small tube). I am also planning to buy some products that I found which I think will work well for my 9 year old and myself and possible my 4 year old. It is from a company called Mixed Chicks. It is kind of pricey but if it works then it will be well worth it!

Once I wash, condition and oil their hair I usually do 9 year old and 4 year old first. Their hair is has the loosest curls so I usually give them each two braids or plaits. Sometimes I get more fancy with 4 year old and give her several plaits on each side so she can pull them back into a pony tail. This usually lasts for about 2 or 3 days. Then I re-do them. Rarely I make 4 year old puffs. She loves her puffs but they don't last and her hair gets more tangled when I do it this way. She's got her puffs on the photo in the sidebar. They are loose puffs because her curls are so loose.

I do 2 year old after that. Her hair is so short it's fairly easy to do at this point. I like to keep her in two braids but if she's restless I just make her two puffs which can be easily re-done daily.

7 year old has the thickest and coarsest hair so it takes much longer. Her hair is very delicate and falls out or breaks off easily. I have to be very gentle with her combing and section it off into small portions to get it nice and tangle free. I then put it into many small two-strand twists all over which she can pull back into pony tails or I put it into 4 or 6 braids on each side which she can also pull back. This usually lasts 4 to 6 days then I re-do it. Her hair takes about 2 to three hours from start to finish. The re-do only takes about 45 minutes because it's already nice and smooth from being in braids or twists already. Most days I just un-do any braids or twists that look "fluffy" and re-do those and leave the rest alone.

I have been reading up a lot about multi-racial hair care and I am going to be buying a spray bottle so I can give them an all over spraying with an oil (olive oil) and water mixture every day to retain more moisture in their hair.

Does anyone else have children with very curly or multi-racial hair? I'd love to hear about your hair routine!

Honey Wheat Bread

2009-06-10T13:59:00.002-07:00

I made two loaves of this bread today and it was amazing! I used the "medium" recipe but doubled it so it would make two loaves. I used buttermilk in place of the milk, added two tablespoons of wheat gluten flour. I used two packages of rapid-rise yeast and made it in my kitchen aid mixer. This one is a keeper!

I also made my first batch of dough using a sourdough starter that I began last week. It only took 4 days for the starter to ripen and be ready for use. The dough is slowly rising as we speak. I plan to let it rise until around bed time then divide it in two and shape it and cover it well on greased cookie sheets then bake it first thing tomorrow morning. I made my starter with King Arthur White Whole Wheat flour which is my absolute favorite flour for any baked goods, even pancakes, cakes or biscuits!

It's been a productive day, now I am off to make a grocery list for my shopping trip this weekend.

Have a blessed evening!

Making Use Of The Summer Months

2009-06-09T08:52:00.004-07:00

Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

Titus 2: 3-5

I belong to a few different email loops and local homeschool groups. It's so wonderful to have like minded people to fellowship with and to share ideas with. Over the past couple of weeks most of these groups have been winding down for the summer as many take the time to take a much needed vacation or embark upon projects other than the normal school related grind.

I was kind of surprised, however, to hear several people saying that they would like to know who would like to participate in different activities on a daily basis this summer to "get out of the house" because they don't like to "sit around all summer." HUH??? :0(

Don't get me wrong, I am not one for idle time either. I don't enjoy just sitting around my house either doing nothing. But there is SO MUCH to do at home that I can't imagine being bored. For my family once or twice a week is plenty of time to get out of the house. The rest of the time we spend doing activities at home.

So what IS there to do during the summer? Well, whether you homeschool your children or they attend school away from there is much to be done at home during the summer. Here are a few ideas...

Gardening - depending on where you live, it's not too late to start some plants for the summer. What about a vegetable garden? That is not only a nice fun activity for you and your children, but it's healthy to go outdoors and get some sun every day. The fruits of your labor will also help supplement your family's grocery budget.

Sewing - it's a great time to make some nice decorative items for your home or some clothing for yourself and your children. Older children can also be taught to sew. Even boys should know how to mend or sew on buttons!

Cooking - stock up your freezer! Take the time to make a recipe you have been wanting to try. If you don't like to cook or don't' know how, it's a great time to learn or practice your skills. Baking is a great all day activity for children, they love to make things that are good to easy. If you have a garden, use the end of the summer to do some canning or freezing of your summer bounty.

Organizing - sort and organize your closets, drawers, shelves, etc. You'll feel like your home is brand new. If you find a lot of items that are still good that you don't use any more, have a yard sale or start an Ebay store.

Clean - if you didn't get a chance to deep clean your home in the spring, now is the perfect time. Give everything a good scrubbing and get your kids to help.

Read - Take a weekly trip to the library or order some favorites from an on-line book seller. Read books that you have been wanting to read and haven't had time for or better yet read out loud to your children from a well loved classic. When you finish the book have the kids make up dress up and act out part of the story.

Play a game - break out those dusty board games and have some game time each day. Your children will thank you :0)

Exercise - put on some fun music and get moving as a family. This is great to do early in the day so that the little ones will have a nice sound nap in the afternoon.

Practice hospitality - have friends over for the day. Have lunch together and enjoy a visit. Have friends over for dinner on the weekends. Host a tea party for your children and their friends. Have an ice cream social. Have a BBQ. Invite out of town friends or relatives to visit with you for a few days this summer.

Swim - if you are blessed with a backyard swimming pool take the time to use it. Better yet, host a pool party.

Plan for school - if you are a homeschooling mom, now is the time to order your items for the next school year and make a daily school schedule. Plan your activities and field trips. Do your on-line research. Ask your kids what they would like to study next year. If your kids go to a traditional school, start planning what supplies and clothing you will need to get them for the next school year.

Write a letter or make a phone call - get in touch with friends and family members that you haven't spoken to in a while. Encourage your children to do the same.

Charity work - see if there is any way you can serve your church or your community from home. Make baby blankets or baby hats for a local woman's shelter or Right To Life organization. Pack up canned goods or other items for a local food bank or other charity. Make hand made blankets or quilts for a local homeless shelter.

Do some crafting - if you have a craft that you enjoy spend time working on it. If you make a lot of hand made items, consider starting an Etsy store.

Watch a movie - It's pretty hard to find a good, quality movie any more but there are still some out there! Instead of going to the movie theater, make a nice cozy pile of blankets on the floor in your living room, pop some popcorn and watch a movie as a family. Not only will this save you a lot of money at the theater, it is much more realizing for younger children to enjoy a movie at home where they can doze off if they get sleepy.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. There is so much to be done at home. When you do go out for grocery shopping, errands or just for some away from home fun, make good use of your time so that you can be at home the majority of the time. Spending too much time away from home can cause exhausted kids, frustrated mothers, undone chores and too much money spent. Remember that God calls mothers to be keepers at home and we should take pride and joy in our calling. Let's honor God in all we do this summer!

Homemade Laundry Detergent Update

2009-06-08T09:00:00.001-07:00

I made the homemade laundry detergent today. It works great! I did a little more research and found out that since we have hard water there were a couple more ingredients that I needed to add

Here is the final recipe I came up with after further research after my last post.

Homemade Powdered Laundry Detergent

1 cup Borax
1 cup Arm and Hammer baking soda
1 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
1/3 cup of Oxy Clean (I used a generic brand, not the high priced name brand stuff)
One bar of Zote or Fels Naptha soap (grated then processed in a food processor - or you could use a box grater for this)

Mix everything very well then put it into a storage container. Use 1 to 2 Tbsp. per load.

(Updated to add, I now always use only 1 Tbsp. per load or 1 1/2 Tbsp. for a highly soiled load. I use the Zote soap now, as it seems to work better.)

For my first load which was a very large load of very dirty white clothes I used 3 Tbsp. of this mix along with about 3/4 c. of bleach. I washed with hot water on a 12 minute cycle and they clothes came out wonderful.

I was a bit skeptical at first because not only did 3 Tbsp. seem like a tiny amount of detergent, I was worried that I would not be able to tolerate this detergent. I am highly allergic to perfumed soaps and the Fels Naptha has a strong scent. Normally I buy Arm and Hammer Dye and Perfume free detergent or ALL FREE detergent because they have no scent and clean our clothes very well.

This homemade detergent worked better than our normal brands. Everything smelled fresh, nothing needed to be rewashed which is sometimes the case with the store brand stuff. There was no trace of a scent on the washed clothes. They smelled fresh and clean but not perfumed.

I think the ingredients (container included cost about $10 and I have plenty of everything left except for the Fels Naptha bar, which was under $2. I can make several more batches of this if I buy more soap bars. The batch I made should probably wash about 40 loads.

If you want to save some money on your laundry I highly suggest giving this recipe a try!

We are blessed, we are blessed!

2009-06-06T17:28:00.001-07:00

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."

Lamentations 3:22-24

God is so amazing, he never ceases to put me in awe. I guess that is not surprising, LOL! I just wanted to share about how much God has blessed us as a family as of late.

I mentioned a few weeks ago about how my husband had hurt his leg and was off work for a while. It was only about a week or week and a half that he was off but it took a nice sized bite out of his check. This wasn't really good because we had just bought a vehicle and had that additional payment to make. The loss of pay put us behind on several things and instead of being ahead of the game we were in a position of struggling on figuring out how to balance everything in time.

We had a moment or two of stress, but then just turned it all over to the Lord. He is after all above all, especially our finances. We chose to tithe as always and even chose to stick with eating our new healthier diet instead of cutting our food budget back in order to make ends meet. We feel that after all, if we are not healthy they we can't function properly because then we don't feel well physically.

Now, fast forward a little bit to today. Not only did my husband get the extra days of overtime that he wanted to make a little extra cash to catch everything up, he also found out that he will be receiving a check that we did not even know was coming AND he is getting a bonus check from work! Is the Lord not good? :0) Not only are we back on track, we are ahead and will have extra to add to savings.

Praise God for his provision and His goodness!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

2009-06-05T17:18:00.004-07:00

Ive seen recipes all over the internet for homemade laundry detergent and have wanted to give it a try myself for some time now. Every time I looked for the ingredients I needed, my grocery store only had one or two of them but never all three at once. However, today I finally came across all three so I picked them up as well as a container to store the soap once I make it.

There are a lot of recipes out there, some call for water and others only the dry ingredients. I think the dry will work best for us as far as the space we have as well as the tools needed to make it. I am posting the recipe I found that I like best here but as I try this and make changes if needed, I will post updates as to how it works and how well I like it.

If it works out well it should save us about $25 a month! Sounds good to me :0)

Homemade Laundry Detergent

1/2 cup borax
1/2 cup washing soda
1 cup grated soap flakes (Fels Naptha, Zote, Ivory or similar soap bar- approximately 1/2 of one bar is one cup of flakes).

Stir to combine. Use 2-3 tablespoons per regular load of laundry.

Enjoying The Day

2009-06-04T10:50:00.006-07:00

Yesterday was so productive that today is going to be nice and relaxing. We just finished up breakfast a little while ago and the dishes are either washed or soaking (for the ones that decided to be stubborn, LOL). I have ground beef thawing for Shepherd's Pie for dinner and lunch will be leftovers from last night's dinner.

The yogurt in the crock pot turned out wonderful! We had it for breakfast this morning. I was so thankful to find a recipe that worked the first time with no tweaking. I have that recipe posted on my crock pot blog now in case anyone else is interested. Thanks again Candy (and DeNiece) for the video blog posts last week that inspired me to give it a try!

I had a phone call to make this morning and a few things I wanted to look up on-line in preparation for next years homeschool plans. As I do that, the girls are reading and listening to a favorite CD. My two year old is happily sitting with her big sister listening to stories read to her.

All the girls are signed up for our library's summer reading program. They have to either read or listen to 24 books over the summer and they win prizes for doing so. My 7 year old finished her books in the first 3 days! She did a combination of reading to herself and to her sisters to earn credit for prizes. She is still reading daily, all of them start their day with a book or their Bible or both. It is such a blessing to have children that love to read. My husband and I both love books as well!

This afternoon we are going to work on some craft projects. I made a culotte skirt for 7 year old and a skirt for 4 year old and both need to be hemmed so they can wear them to church on Sunday. I will then cut out skirts for myself and my 9 year old and a jumper for baby girl. My 9 year old bought a craft kit to make a mobile for the girls room so she will work on that. 7 year old is going to cut out a dress for her doll. I'm sure my 5 year old will want to do the same so the two of them will work on the doll dresses. Baby girl will be napping at this time so she will be safely out of the way of all pins and needles and such that she so loves to touch when no one is looking :0)

I guess that is all I have to say for today. 7 year old just came in and asked if she could make "cheesecake grahams" for a snack so I need to give her a hand with the honey bottle which just happens to pour out way too fast! If you like cheesecake, you would love these snacks and your kids will love making them!

Cheesecake Grahams

Graham Crackers
Cream Cheese
Honey
Cinnamon

Spread graham crackers with cream cheese. Drizzle with honey them sprinkle with cinnamon. Great with a cup of tea!

Busy Day In The Kitchen!

2009-06-02T13:28:00.004-07:00

This is one of those days that I wish my carera hadn't died on me because I sure would have lots of great photos to share :0)

I woke up super early this morning and decided to surprise my still sleeping girls with a breakfast pizza. What I did was make up some biscuit dough and rolled it out onto a cookie sheet. I then baked it for 5 minutes. I then topped it with scrambled eggs, grated cheese and crumbled turkey bacon. I then baked it for 5 more minutes and it was done. The girls loved this and it was filling enough for leftovers. When I make this again I will add some country gravy as a sort of sauce so it will be more moist. What I am planning to do this weekend is to make the dough and roll it out onto the pan and prepare the gravy on Saturday night, then store those in the fridge. Then I will scramble up the eggs and cook the bacon on Sunday morning for a very quick breakfast before we head off to church. I plan to make two so I can make one of them with tomatoes, bell peppers, onions and spinach on top as well. My husband will love that but the girls would run and hide :0)

I spent all morning in the kitchen getting a lot of good things going for the rest of the week. Eating healthy is so good for us but it also keeps me in the kitchen a lot. It's a good thing I love being in the kitchen. :)

Tonight I am going to roast a chicken so this morning I took a nice roasting chicken, cleaned and rinsed it, sprinkled it inside and out with seasonings and lemon juice then tucked it nicely into a ziploc bag with some extra virgin olive oil to marinade before roasting. We'll have that tonight with mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans. Yum!

I also have 4 loaves of homemade bread rising in the kitchen right now. It's a recipe I found on a package of Red Star yeast called Classic Country bread. My family loves it so I make it often. Here is that recipe.

Classic Country Bread

1 1/2 c. water
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1/3 c. molasses
2 1/4 tsp salt
2/3 c. oatmeal (I used Bob's Red Mill 5 Grain Cereal)
1 1/3 c. whole wheat flour
2 1/2 c. bread flour
2 tsp. quick rise or bread machine yeast

Put all ingredients in bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Set on "dough" cycle. When dough is ready, split into two equal pieces and form into loaves. Please each loaf into a greased bread pan. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise for 45 minutes. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks and allow to cool before slicing. Makes 2 loaves.

This morning I also started a batch of homemade buttermilk from a recipe I found while reading through Candy's blog. She actually did a video tutorial on this recipe and several other last week which is what prompted me to give it a try. We love buttermilk for biscuits, pancakes, coffee cake and lots of other good things so this is really going to be good to try.

Tonight I am going to make homemade yogurt. I make this often in my little Salton Yogurt Maker . Candy gave a tutorial on how to make yogurt in the crock pot so I will be using both methods tonight. If the crock pot version works well I will use it regularly because as much as I love my Salton, it doesn't make very much and my family adores yogurt.

Finally I am about to go make up some pie crust for quiche later in the week as well as empanada dough that I will use for both savory and sweet empanada snacks for the freezer.

Praying your day has been a blessed one!

My Testimony

2009-05-31T09:43:00.002-07:00

I have been wanting to share my testimony for some time now so here it is... It's kind of long so I hope you have your cup of coffee and a comfy chair ready and I hope that reading this will bless you! :0)

God has been a part of my life as long as I can remember. When I was a little girl, as far back as I can recall, I always prayed before bed and always knew that God was watching over me. I could feel His presence. My mom taught me to pray and I don't remember one night in my entire life that I didn't end the day talking to the Lord before falling asleep.

I was raised in a Catholic family and went to a Catholic school. God was part of my daily life. When I was in the 8th grade, just like most Catholic kids, I began to take classes at school so that I could be confirmed. What that means (in case you don't know) is taking a sort of "oath" which says you yourself choose to be a member of the Catholic church. It is like confirming your baptism which in the Catholic church happens as a baby.

When I began to take these classes my mind became full of questions. Some of the things I was learning and had learned over the years began to make me wonder if Catholicism was the way God wanted me to go in my life. I wondered where I could find the truth about these things. Since my church and school did not advocate reading the Bible I didn't realize that the answers I sought were right within my reach. I didn't think I wanted to be confirmed, but since my parents wanted me to I did. I was 12 years old and knew that I should obey my parents.

All throughout high school I often wished I would visit a different kind of church. I knew that there were other denominations out there but had no idea why they were different from Catholic or what their churches were like. I knew my parents would not approve of me going to any other kind of church so I gave up the idea. I continued to focus on what my goal at the time was. To graduate high school, get a college scholarship and get a "big bad job" making LOTS of money.

I got that scholarship and went on to college. But it was a whole different world from the small Catholic high school that I attended. It was so large and so many different kinds of people and it felt awfully cold and impersonal. Making friends was very difficult for me and I spent the majority of my time alone and lonely. I didn't feel that this was the place that I was supposed to be but I knew what my parents expected and what I had worked so hard for so I continued on my journey. And God continued to call me.

On day my sister and I were shopping at the mall and we met two girls who we found out went to the same college I was attending. After chatting a while we exchanged phone numbers. I thought it was so nice to meet some NICE people and was looking forward to getting to know them better and hopefully become friends.

I got in touch with one of the girls and she invited me to meet with them for a Bible study. I thought that sounded interesting and agreed. When we met they began to show me Bible passages that said that we need to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. I really didn't understand how that was different from believing in God so I thanked them but didn't make any sort of commitment based on what they had told me. The continued to call me but my parents thought they were some sort of "religious freaks" and suggested I stay away from them. With all the stress and confusion in my life at the time, I decided to forget about these new girls and just kept on with my life as it was. But God kept on calling me...

After one year of college, I was completely stressed out but still determined to keep my scholarship. A lot was going on in my life aside from school, such as moving to a new home with my family twice and losing my grandfather. It was a tough year. My health was starting to suffer but I ignored it and pressed on towards my goal. Little did I know that God had other plans for me.

At the end of my first year of college I was beginning to prepare for final exams. It was a typical day. My parents were at work, my sister still in high school and I was at home preparing to study. I made my usual cup of coffee (after drinking a can of Pepsi) and was toasting some bread for breakfast. My hardest class was Economics and my grade on the final would mean the difference between me keeping the scholarship of losing it. If I lost it that would mean the end of college for me, at least for a while, until I could find a job and save up money to go back.

I remember that morning so vividly, walking to the toaster to get my toast and all of a sudden my head began to spin and my heart began to pound. It was the scariest thing that had ever happened to me. I felt faint and had no idea what was happening to me. I had a similar episode once before while at school but nothing like this and I was really scared. I called my dad at work and then called 911. I was convinced I was having a heart attack. I had no idea what was going on was a severe panic attack. I had never heard of such a thing and it would be at least 6 months before anyone realized what was going on with me.

No doctors, not the emergency room doctors not my own physician could find anything wrong with me. Yet these episodes kept coming on me daily until a friend of my parents suggest that this could be a psychological issue and that I was having panic attacks. In the meanwhile I became house bound. I was agoraphobic. I missed my exams, lost my scholarship, quit school, lost most all my friends and sunk into an agonizing fatigue and deep depression. I felt like my life was over and no one could help me. I went to a few different counselors and psychologists but the little relief I received would come and go. I was put on medications and tried many kinds of vitamins, amino acids, diet changes, etc. to no avail. I felt stuck and hopeless.

My life had been so bound up in my achievements that I didn't know how to survive as me. Just myself, who I am as a person, not thinking about what I could achieve or who I could compete with. I felt horrible about myself and felt I had let everyone down but I was determined to overcome my situation and return to normal life.

I read all the books I could find on panic attacks, depression and nutrition and slowly I began to feel better, but the panic attacks still came, and usually at the most unexpected and worst moments like when I was driving or in a room full of people. It was frustrating and made me feel more depressed.

One day I picked up a book I had received when I graduated from high school. It was given to me by a family friend and it was a Bible promise book. I began to look up subjects like depression and faith and healing and found so many scriptures to show what God promises us related to those issues. My hope began to return and my faith began to increase. My mom one day told me to "give it all to God" and I began to realized what that meant and began to live it out as I healed.

After a year, I returned to a smaller community college to continue my studies. This is where I met my husband. The thing that really drew me to him was his outgoing personality and he talked about God all the time. My spirit was so hungry for the Lord but I didn't even realize it. I would sit and listen to him talk about God in awe, soaking up all I could of his knowledge of God's Word. I bought myself a Study Bible with lots of footnotes and maps and other things that helped me to study, learn and connect with the Word of God. I began to grow even more and to feel normal again and strong.

I began to realize that although the Catholic church has many people that love the Lord, there is also a lot there that has been added to the Bible. Lots of church doctrine, some of which I have learned was created to "keep church members in line". I didn't want any part of all of that because I knew that God said that nothing should be added unto His Word (Deuteronomy 4:2, Deuteronomy 12:32, Proverbs 30:5-6), I really began again to wish for a church to attend that focused on the Bible and nothing else.

After my husband and I started dating he invited me to visit his church. I was so excited and jumped at the chance. The church he went to was non-denominational and focused entirely on the Bible, the pure Word of God and nothing else. It was there that I learned the truth of Scripture and accepted Jesus sacrifice for me on the cross. I began not only to know the He died for me on the cross but to live for Him as my Lord and Savior. I completely turned my life over to the Lord and have never turned back.

I'm not going to lie and say I have not had any struggles since then. As anyone I have had my ups and downs in life, but I have a peace in my heart that in indescribable. No matter what happens I am content to allow God to lead my life and I no longer strive towards my goals as a human but strive for His goals as my Lord and Creator.

If you don't know Christ as your personal Savior, now is a great time to turn your life over to Him and ask Him into your heart and into your life. Often times life can throw us very hard struggles but the Lord wants us to turn to Him to heal us, to help us grow and to offer us a life with Him eternally if we only accept the sacrifice of His Son.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

Love this song

2009-05-23T14:28:00.003-07:00

I just love this song... thought I'd share :0)

Listening, Waiting and Living For Him

2009-05-21T13:11:00.003-07:00

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9

It's amazing how clearly God speaks when He talks to us in our daily lives.

For the past three weeks or so the girls and I have been just chugging along around here, keeping up with chores, taking care of my husband as he healed for an injured knee and returned to work, and trying to keep up with school... all at the same time. The days have been very busy and often tiring but of course we continue on because things have to get done. Through all of this, I kept hearing God's voice in the back of my mind, that I needed to take a break. I don't mean a break, as in physical rest, I mean a break as in a chance to mentally regroup. I kept ignoring God's voice, thinking that as soon as the end of May arrived we could shelf the school books for a while and take a little time off. God continued to speak to me. And finally I listened. After discussing this with my husband, I announced to the girls last week that we were done with school until August. Unfinished books and all, I put everything aside.

Since then I have been taking time each morning to pray. Sometimes I read from the Bible, other times I just focus on the Lord in thanksgiving and praise, in prayer and just in awe of His awesome power and love. I take my time and listen for His voice.

These past days we have spent "taking care of home". Getting rid of clutter, making plans as a family, spending time with friends and just decompressing.

I think it's so easy to get into the "flow of the world". Just because the world does things a certain way I often feel that I have to as well. School is from August to May. Wake up time is at 6 am. Lunch is at noon. Too often I fall into this and in the haste of it all I miss God's voice. He has so much for us and often we need to obey. Time has been scheduled on man's clock, not God's. Often He wants us to stop everything jut because it is His will.

In just the span of almost two weeks not only do the girls and I feel more refreshed but I am starting to have a new vision for the next school year. We, as a family, also have new visions for our future, as far as how God is leading us to work for His kingdom. All of these wonderful happening all because I chose to listen to God. To cut MY plans short and to just sit back and listen to Him. So we are now taking our time about things and are not putting ourselves on a strict schedule.

My husband and I are just praising Him right now and waiting on Him to see where he is leading. We are making plans but waiting on Him to lead us where He will.

Praying for our Children

2009-05-20T16:55:00.004-07:00

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

I'm sure all Christian pray for the future. Most things we pray for have something to do with the future. Asking the Lord's blessings, for His provision or for healing all relate to our hope for the future and our faith in Him. Especially when it comes to our children.

One thing I always pray for is my girls future husbands. I believe in my heart, by faith, that the Lord has a husband for each of them to spend their lives with, to love, cherish and to enjoy their lives with and make a family with. But when I pray about this, I don't pray as I know a lot of people do. I don't just say Father, please bless my daughters with a "good husband". Not that there is anything wrong with a prayer like this. Let me explain...

When I say I believe that my girls each have a husband that awaits them, I don't just see their husbands as adults, at the age they will be when they get married. I can visualize them as they are right now... young boys, around the same age as my girls, facing similar challenges growing up. And I pray for those young boys. I pray for their safety, their health, their daily challenges of life. I think of their parents and I pray for them too. Pray that they will be given wisdom to raise their sons. That their family will be blessed.

I try to always remember that true faith isn't just hoping that something will happen but it is being certain of what is going to happen.

Going Green

2009-05-11T12:40:00.001-07:00

My oldest daughter recently read me a quote from the back of a bottle of Vitamin Water. It said something like, "If 30 is the new 20 then green is the new black". LOL! I thought that was cute (although the girls were looking at me with funny faces because they didn't have a clue what that means). :0) I thought about it for a while, and I guess it's true. Green does seem to be "the new black" lately. All of a sudden it's become really trendy to "go green".

The funny thing is, I have always leaned towards green living. Don't get me wrong, we aren't totally "green" in all that we do. But I really do think twice about what we use and buy as far as how it will effect not only our health but the environment as well. I think it all started for me back in Jr. High when we learned in a science class about things we could do to help the plant, like recycling and reusing.

That being said, I really want to instill those values in my children. Here's a few things we do to try to care for the earth and the environment.

Buy in bulk - one of our favorite grocery stores is Sprouts. One of my favorite things about them is that they have these large bins where you can get things like flour, oats, nuts, raisins, rice, etc. I store these kinds of things in plastic storage bags or canisters or mason jars. I try to buy as many things as I can in bulk to avoid unnecessary waste as well as save money.

Use reusable grocery store bags - It seems like all the store now have those shopping bags that are reusable now. I LOVE them and we have quite a collection now. I find they hold more weight than paper or plastic bags and they are good for other uses too like taking a picnic to the park or taking along a few of the girls books or toys for a long waiting room session.

Recycle - our town recently started a recycling program. I am really grateful for this! I find that we average one kitchen bag of trash every day and a half kitchen bag of recyclables. Knowing that we are throwing out less has really made an impact on our girls and they always ask me if something can be recycled before they toss it out.

Reuse - there are so many thing we throw out every day that can be reused! I save a lot of the glass or plastic containers we buy food or drinks in to store leftovers or homemade things. Old newspapers are used to cover the table or floor for art projects then recycled. Clothing is passed down or re-made into a quilt or other useful item. There are so many ways you can reuse things! A great resource I found on how to reuse items in your home is The Complete Tightwad Gazette. I love that book!

Buy cleaning products that are earth friendly or use all-natural cleaning products - I like to use all natural things for cleaning. Some great things you can use that you probably already have are white vinegar and lemon juice and baking soda. A lot of companies are selling earth friendly products now as well.

Buy products from sustainable sources - items like buying bamboo flooring for your home, bamboo cutting boards for your kitchen, using rain water for your gardening, using solar energy and the like are all great ways to use sustainable products which take less of a drain on the earth's natural resources.

Buy organic - not only are organic food better for your body, they are also better for the earth. Growing food without harmful chemicals keeps the soil cleaner and insures healthier food which insures healthier people.

Go paperless - If you're like me, you don't like to see a pile of bills laying around on your counter or desk. That is just one of the reasons to go to a paperless billing system. Most companies offer email billing for your monthly expenses and you can pay via debit card, check or even set up an automatic bill pay. This saves your time and saves lots and lots of trees!

These are just a few ways to introduce green living into your household. For lots more great ideas here are a few websites that I really enjoy.

Earth Easy
Earth911
The Green Guide

Awesome Mom

2009-05-10T23:31:00.000-07:00

I received this from a good friend today and instead of passing it on via email I thought I'd post it here instead. This is touching and if you're reading this and you're a mom, I think you are awesome too! :0)

Awesome Mom

Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not
my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of
having my heart outside my body..
I didn't know how special it could feel
to feed a hungry baby..
I didn't know that bond
between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom .

Send this to someone who you think is an awesome Mom.

May you always be overwhelmed by the Grace of God rather than by the cares of life

Praying you have a blessed Mother's Day!

New Homeschool Daily Schedule

2009-05-09T12:07:00.000-07:00

Here are my revised schedules and charts...

MORNING AND BEDTIME LISTS FOR THE GIRLS

Morning List

Rise and shine!
Make your bed
Put on glasses (9 year old)
Brush teeth
Get washed up and dressed
Put away your PJ’s
Put your Pull-Ups in the trash (7 and 4 year old)
Put any dirty clothes in the laundry room
Take your water cups to the kitchen
Straighten your room
Straighten your bathroom
Turn off your nightlight

Bedtime List

Brush your teeth
Turn on your night light
Put on PJ’s and Pull-Ups
Put dirty laundry in the laundry room
Get 2 dolls or stuffed animals and a book
Get a cup of water
Use the potty
Kiss everyone good night
Say your prayers
Get in bed, under your covers
8 pm is time for lights out and go to sleep!

DAILY BLOCK SCHEDULE

Morning Block (6 am - 10 am)

--Me--

Wash Up/Brush Teeth/Dress/etc.
Prayer/Bible/Devotion Time
Clean Up 2 year old/Dress her
Wake Kids
Make Bed
Start a load of laundry
Start a load of dishes
Make breakfast
Eat Breakfast/oral Bible Lesson or read-aloud while we eat
Table Clean Up
Dinner/Food prep
Chores (varies by day, see chore chart)

--9 year old--

Morning List (see morning list)
Quiet Reading Time (Bible Devotion)
Breakfast
Table Chores
Daily Chores (varies by day, see chore chart)
if done with chores early then start school work

--7 year old--

Morning List (see morning list)
Quiet Reading Time (Bible Devotion)
Breakfast
Table Chores
Daily Chores (varies by day, see chore chart)
if done with chores early then start school work

--4 year old--

Morning List (see morning list)
Quiet Reading Time (Bible Devotion) - with an elder sister
Breakfast
Table Chores
Daily Chores (varies by day, see chore chart)

--2 year old--

Wake up/get washed up/dressed
Baby Bible (look at or read to by a sister)
play time
breakfast
"Quiet sitting training" during Bible Study or read-aloud

Morning School Block 10 am - noon

--Me --

Help kids with lessons

9 year old - Bible, Math, Language Arts, quiet reading
7 year old - Bible, Math, Language Arts, quiet reading
4 year old - play with 2 year old, color, blocks, Sunshine Market, books, play kitchen, baby dolls, doll house, etc.
2 year old - play with 4 year old, color, blocks, Sunshine Market, books, play kitchen, baby dolls, doll house, etc.

Lunch - noon- 2pm

me - make lunch, eat lunch/read-aloud during lunch
kids - free time while I make lunch, eat, listen to read aloud during lunch

Afternoon Block - 2 pm - 5 pm

---Me---

Help kids with lessons
Change laundry load
Blog/email/make grocery list/sort a box/rest/phone calls/sew/etc.
Make dinner if needed or warm up leftovers, make side dish for crock pot meal

---9, 7 and 4 year old---
History, Science, Art, Etc.
finish up any un-done chores
play time

---2 year old---
nap

Evening Block - 5 pm - 7 pm

--Me--

Make dinner
Wash a load of dishes
Change laundry load
Eat dinner
Table/kitchen chores
Bathe little ones
Talk time with husband when he arrives home from work
family time

---9 year old---
shower
dress for bed
eat dinner
table chores
play time/story time/Daddy time/family time
bedtime list (see bedtime list)

---7 year old---
shower
dress for bed
eat dinner
table chores
play time/story time/Daddy time/family time
bedtime list (see bedtime list)

---4 year old---
bath
dress for bed
eat dinner
table chores
play time/story time/Daddy time/family time
bedtime list (see bedtime list)

---2 year old---
bath
dress for bed
eat dinner
play time/story time/Daddy time/family time
bedtime list (see bedtime list)

Night Time Block 7 pm - 9 pm

--me--

change laundry load
put two year old to bed
shower/prepare for bed
prep for next school day/check papers
make husband's lunch for work for next day
time with husband
in bed by 9 pm

---all children---
go to bed

CHILDREN'S CHORES

9 year old

(Daily) - help fold and put away laundry (30 minutes)
- help clear table
- if needed - help with dishes or with 2 year old

(Weekly or as needed) - Clean girls bathroom

7 year old

(Daily) - help fold and put away laundry (30 minutes)
- help clear table
- if needed - help with emptying trash or with 2 year old

(Weekly or as needed) - Vacuum front room and hallway

4 year old

(Daily) - get Daddy's clothes for work and lay them out for him with a fresh towel

(Weekly or as needed) - Vacuum dining area

I'm still working on a daily list for each child. I am going to combine all the applicable portions of each of the above into a separate sheet for 9, 7 and 4 year old and print them out for them to have... probably tape them up in the girls bedroom or our hallway.

I found some great scripture verses to print here.

I might have to tweak this a little more but we will see how it works this week.

Revamping Our Homeschool Daily Schedule

2009-05-08T11:34:00.003-07:00

I think for me the hardest thing to do is to get back on schedule after an interruption.

My husband is back at work as of yesterday (praise God he was allowed to return to his full duties). I realized right away that not only had we gotten way off track with school, chores, etc., but our schedule needs an overhaul! The way we were doing things is not working well any more.

So, today my goal is to revise the schedule so that things flow a little better around here and we get more done each day and I spend less time delegating activities and more time on the necessities.

My first goal is to get new copies of my girls Morning and Bedtime lists printed out. I had these hanging in their room and 2 year old was able to reach them so they are now lost. Those needed to be re-done anyhow. I am also going to make each child a daily plan and print that out so they can view it at a glance so there's no question as to what they need to be doing at any given time. 7 and 9 year old can read theirs on their own but I will probably add some cute icons or something for 4 year old. 2 year old is along for the ride with me so she doesn't need a chart :0)

After I get those charts done, I am going to revise our block schedule.

Finally, I found this neat list of "House Rules" on the Duggar Family website and I am going to print that out and hang that up too. We recently put up a neat little wall of pictures the kids drew for a lesson on The Fruits of The Spirit and that project really seemed to help them remember the scripture as well and instilling in them the meaning of it so I think this will be a good visual for them as well which I am hoping will help out some with all the little arguments that pop up during the day. I'm also hoping to find some more scriptures with pictures on-line that I can hang up around the house. My girls are very visual learners so I know this will help them to remember and apply the scriptures to their daily lives.

I'll be posting the new schedule, etc. tomorrow. Praying your day is blessed!

Practicing Patience and Realizing Blessings

2009-05-05T00:39:00.004-07:00

It's been a long week for us. The last time I posted was when my husband hurt his leg last week. Since then it has lots of errands, several doctors appointments and lots of waiting and wondering. We still don't know when he is going to be able to return to work or if surgery will be necessary. Tomorrow is his final follow up with an orthopedist before deciding which route will be the best to take so that he can be able to return to work. In the meantime, his allotment of off time is slowly dwindling and we are having to really practice our patience.

Even though things have been busy and a little stressful, God really has been showing us how to have more patience. Patience with waiting on the doctors... patience with waiting for healing... patience with each other (as we have been very tired because of long days) and most of all patience with waiting on God's answer to our prayers for healing.

Romans 8:25 says "But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it."

Really, our faith is what causes us to be able to have the type of patience that allows us to rest and be peaceful no matter how long we have to wait on God's reply to our prayers.

Today was also a reminder to us of God's tremendous blessings in our lives. We were just talking about how much we take for granted every day. Our family, friends, health, jobs and the like seem as if they have always been there and always will be. But, really, those things are so fragile and are precious blessings, not to be taken for granted. We know that no matter what happens, the Lord will see us through but often times it takes a time like this to remind us of those blessings as well God's great grace and mercy and love and especially His provision for His children.

Techie Troubles and a Prayer Request

2009-04-26T22:57:00.004-07:00

This has been kind of a crazy week for us computer wise. Our computer got a virus last week so it has been in the shop all week. We were so blessed that a friend loaned us a laptop to use in the meantime until we pick ours up this week. Meanwhile, I packed my camera to take along with us in our diaper bag today and my 2 year old's sippy cup leaked all over the camera case. Needless to say, the camera no longer works! It will probably be a while before I'm able to get another. But again, praise God, before I got this camera I gave my 7 year old my old one and she I can borrow it any time (thank you baby!).

My husband injured his leg at work this week (a re-injury to be exact). Please keep him in prayer for a quick recovery, his job requires him to walk a lot and climb stairs daily.

Hope y'all had a blessed Sunday!

Big Batch Italian Meatballs

2009-04-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

I love to make up big batches of meatballs and freeze them. They are great for a quick spaghetti dinner, to put into BBQ sauce in the crock pot for lunch or in Italian sauce for sub sandwiches or to serve over polenta. We also like them over rice with gravy with green beans on the side. This is a recipe I adapted from The Joy of Cooking, it is so good! You can mix and match these meatballs with just about anything and you can change the spices up to suite your tastes. If you are making a casserole that calls for ground beef, you can thaw a few of these and break them up and viola! you have a great meat filling for your casserole. Whatever you do, don't skip the lemon juice, it takes them over the top! Not only are these good but it's a very frugal recipe because you can make 3 - 4 meals for 6 people with this one recipe.

Big Batch Italian Meatballs

4 lb. ground beef
4 cloves garlic
2 cup chopped parsley (or 3 Tbsp. dried parsley)
2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
3 medium onions
3 stalks celery
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
juice of half a lemon
1/2 cup tablespoons tomato paste
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons oregano
olive oil

In a food processor, process onions, garlic and celery until very well minced and liquidy. Drain the liquid, set aside.

In a large bowl, add ground beef, processed vegetables, parsley, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, vinegar, lemon juice, tomato paste, salt, pepper and oregano. Mix well with your hands or use a stand mixer to blend.

Pinch off small amounts of meat (about 2 or 3 Tbsp.) with your fingers and form into balls. Brown in olive oil in batches in a skillet then put on a cookie sheet or shallow baking pan. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes at 375 degrees. Drain on paper towels. Serve or add to gravy or pasta sauce then serve. Or allow to cool and freeze in meal size portions in Ziploc bags.

Reheat in oven, microwave or crock pot. No need to thaw before reheating!

Too cute!!

2009-04-24T17:09:00.000-07:00

My baby girl just loves her hair! Just listen to her sing with her daddy about her hair do...

Weight Loss Helps

2009-04-22T15:22:00.002-07:00

As I said before, when we first decided as a family to start eating healthy, weight loss was not one of my main goals. Sure, it would be great if some of my old clothes would fit again, but most of all I wanted to FEEL healthy.

Now that we are a few months into our plan, I am starting to realize that weight loss might just be the key to our goal. I have lost 12 lbs. since we started and I am amazed at the difference in how I feel. I sleep better (which is a huge deal for me), have less allergy problems and I have a lot more energy. I used to always doze off in the afternoons during my kids play time, not I am up and around doing any and everything that needs to be done. Talk about being more productive!

About two weeks ago (at the 10 lbs. lost mark) I realized that I was still down 10 lbs. after a few weeks and was not losing any more. I made a couple changes which already has me down two more pounds.

First of all, I (once again) added Extra Virgin Coconut Oil to my daily eating plan. I used to eat this every day but once I ran out, I honestly just forgot about buying it again. I didn't realize how much better it makes me feel when I take this until I stopped.

I use the coconut oil like butter on toast or pancakes at breakfast or mix it into a smoothie or stir it into hot tea. It gives me this amazingly satisfied and full feeling and I have no hunger again until lunch. I try to take about 2 Tbsp. a day but the optimum amount is supposed to be 3 Tbsp. (from what I read). I give this to my 9 year old too which really helps with the tummy problems she experiences. It tastes great! You can also use it in place of butter or oil in cooking or baking and it is shelf stable for months so no need to worry about refrigeration. If you haven't tried this I would highly suggest reading more about it and giving it a try.

The second thing I have done is to add exercise back into my weekly schedule. Right now, as I get my muscles back into shape, I am exercising 3 times a week, but I plan to make it a daily habit once my legs stop aching so much. I use a Gazelle Glider or go walking with the girls.

Finally, I have kept a very sharp eye on my portion size and drink lots of water. Eating less really does make a difference for me and more water seems to stave off my hunger longer as well. My goal is to lose another 28 lbs. I've put a ticker up in the left sidebar here to keep accountable to that goal.

Training Up A Child

2009-04-21T13:04:00.002-07:00

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

Today I thought it would be a good idea to take a break from the books and do some real life skills training. It's amazing how much we try to "teach" our kids through books, etc. but often they can forget these lessons. Actual "training" can fall by the way-side when life gets busy and we just want to get things done. Don't get me wrong, books are very important. But I often think of all the things I had to learn as an adult that I wish I would have been trained to do as a child.

Today along with a few book related activities for school (Bible study, phonics, handwriting and science reading), we did some practical things. My oldest two girls baked a batch of cookies. That was a great lesson in math as well as planning and cleaning up after yourself. We also began a project of making aprons for the girls. Not only did this include math but also use of what you have (we used scrap fabric), research ( I found the pattern on-line), patience (sewing takes a while, no instant results here) and creativity (choosing and matching fabrics, etc.). Later on we are going to make some meatballs for dinner as well as a bunch to freeze. What better way to teach planning ahead, frugality and cooking?

What kinds of things do you do to train your children? I would love to hear!

Homeschool Planning

2009-04-20T07:30:00.000-07:00

This is the time of year when my husband usually asks me for a list of the items I'd like to buy for the next homeschool year so we can plan accordingly with our finances. So I have been browsing catalogs and making lists for the past couple of weeks. Although I may change my mind on a couple of items once we attend our state homeschool convention in a couple months, I pretty much have a finished list of what I would like to do this fall.

Since we will have our soon-to-be 5 year old who will be formally doing school, I had to do some serious consideration on how we will work her into our schedule. Right now, she does preschool in a very relaxed way, usually when she wants to and when time allows. However, she is now learning to read so I want to work with her daily in a more scheduled manner. I plan to buy several books for her this year with the knowledge that we probably won't get through them all but it will give her some variety and choice on a daily basis as not to become bored with what she is doing. I also needed to incorporate some items to keep our two year old busy while we work and found some great learning toys that I know she will enjoy.

Here's what I am planning to use for the upcoming school year, along with several books for read-aloud and several more for independent reading. We will be working on finishing up Sonlight Science 1 with all the girls and if we get that done we will order Sonlight Science 2 later in the school year.

Homeschool Plan For 2009/2010 School Year

9 year old

7 year old

5 year old

2 year old

I think this is a nice mixture of curricula for the ages we are working with, especially the things from My Father's World which allow multiple ages to be taught together.

Love This Song!

2009-04-16T21:27:00.000-07:00

What kind of music do you like to listen to? For me, anything with lyrics that honor the Lord are a favorite. I'm partial to praise music, Christian hip-hop and Gospel... really anything upbeat and joyous. This is a great song. The lyrics inspire me and we love to listen to the whole CD when we are cleaning house.

Jesus Is On My Coffee Table

2009-04-15T18:42:00.004-07:00

Tonight as we were getting ready to eat dinner, my two year old began to ask if she could pray. "Pray, pray?" she said. I said, sure you can pray for the meal too, go ahead. After she prayed my 9 year old asked if I thought that 2 year old really knew who God is. I said I wasn't sure but I felt that she probably did in her heart. When 2 year old heard this, she ran to our front room and began to say "God, God" and was pointing at the coffee table. 7 year old ran in there and asked her if God was on the coffee table? 2 year old said "Yes! Jesus!", with a big smile. Did she really see Jesus or really think He was there? I guess there's no way to really know...

This cute little scenario really got me thinking. What if Jesus really WAS sitting in the next room on my coffee table. What if He was right there listening and watching, in person. I mean, we, as Christians, know that God is always there with us in Spirit, but how would it feel if we could see Him... reach out to Him, see His expressions towards what we are doing... what if we could hear His voice, reach out and touch Him...? How would we conduct ourselves differently if He were physically there in our home every day? And how would our thought life be different? Of course God can always hear our thoughts too.

As I go about my daily routine, from now on, I know that I won't forget this exchange between my children. I know I will check myself on how I am thinking and how I am acting towards my family or anyone else in my home. From now on, I will always remember that Jesus is in the next room... on my coffee table... and I want Him to smile as He sees and hears us go about our day.

A Tour Of Our Home

2009-04-13T15:20:00.018-07:00

I was visiting Candy's blog today and had so much fun seeing all the blog posts, photo slide shows and videos from ladies sharing tours of their homes. Candy asked that if anyone wanted to do a home tour that they send her a link of a tour to their home. So, that is what this post is all about. Thanks Candy for allowing us into your home and organizing all the posts for all to enjoy!

Since my family is visiting us from out of town this coming weekend, and two of the girls are sick today, I had planned to do a good cleaning today. A prefect day to shoot some pics of our lovely home! So here is the tour, I hope you enjoy visiting with me at home today. :0)

Here is our front entry way. This is exactly what you would see if you came to visit me today, as soon as I open the door this little cutie would be right there to greet you. She just loves having company.

As you entered my front room you would see a couple more cutie pies (both sick) resting on the sofas.
There is one additional sofa so you can sit down and visit with us and relax.

Here is our TV, hutch and a play kitchen set area . Not quite my idea of good decorating but it's functional this way so we like it :0)

The next stop is the kitchen.

I am still working on the dishes so a few are awaiting me, soaking in and right beside the sink. I will get those done later on when we are done with the rest of the house cleaning.

We've got a great little island in the kitchen which is a perfect place to prepare salads and work on cookie baking.

On the other side of the island is my sewing nook. Lots of projects in the works!

This is our dining and homeschool area.

It has a nice little sofa and chair for the kids to sit and read.

Here is my helper for the day, she's doing a great job helping Mama clean!

OK, now down the hall way.

Here's the laundry room.

And this is our office/guest room.

Here is the girls bathroom.

And the girls bedroom.

Now on down the hall again to the master bedroom.

This is also our 2 year old's room (until we get a bunk bed for the big girls and make room for her in their room).

And finally our master bathroom.

I hope you enjoyed visiting with us today, we loved having you!

Easter Blessings!

2009-04-11T15:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our 2 year old's birthday AND our 10th wedding anniversary. A beautiful day with lots of happy memories shared and made.

My mom sent a package with some beautiful dresses she made the girls for Easter. They are so adorable! They can't wait to wear them to church tomorrow.

I pray you all have a blessed and joyous Easter as we celebrate our Risen King and Saviour. Praise God for His Son and all the blessings He rains down upon us every day.

Quilts!

2009-04-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

I love to make handmade quilts! I have been making them since I was 16 years old... I've probably made about 20 total and I always have several in various stages of completion.

Right now I am working on matching quilts for my girls beds. They are patchwork squares of various bright solids and patterns. I can't wait to get them finished. Here's a picture of one of the quilt tops which I just finished.

All the quilts match except for a few unique squares here and there. The photos really doesn't do this quilt top justice, the colors are all so vivid and the patterns so cute up close. When these tops are done I plan to back them with bright colored calicoes and yarn tie them with embroidery floss or a very shiny yard with little buttons or other pretty charms on several of the ties. I will bind them with blanket binding because I think that will make them sturdier and last longer. I'm hoping to have them done by fall.

I have several more quilt projects I am working on at the moment and a couple I have finished as well. I will post some pics soon, they are all so pretty.

I'm sure it will take me YEARS to finish all these projects since I do a lot of the work by hand, but quilting is so much fun I just can't help starting up many, many projects at once.

Just thought I would share one of my favorite hobbies with you today :0)

Great Website For Once A Month Cooking

2009-04-03T09:53:00.002-07:00

Since we started our healthy eating plan, I really have been in the kitchen more often doing prep work, mostly for salads, home baked breads and healthier condiments. I have been trying a sort of "cook once, eat twice" kind of style of cooking as to always have meals on hand in the freezer. Life is always so much easier when dinner is in the freezer! :0)

I wish I could do a once a month cooking kind of day but we just don't have the freezer space. If you want to get your freezer stocked up, here is an AWESOME website that I found that has lots of ideas. They are not all the most healthy, but you can glean a lot just in the way of ideas on how to cook a lot of food at once to save yourself time in the long run. Then just adapt them to what you and your family eat. Here's the site - The Erratic Homemaker.

House Cleaning Thoughts

2009-04-01T11:50:00.004-07:00

Today is a big chore day for us so I thought I would take some time to share my thoughts on the subject with you...

A clean house can be one of those elusive things in the life of a homeschool family. On one hand, when you are at home, it's easier to get things done than if you are out and about all day. But, on the other hand, when you are at home most of the time, more messes can happen more quickly than you have time to keep up with. So what do you do? Here are some things that help us keep things in control and get them back in order when they get out of control. A clean and neat home always helps us get more done in less time and gives us more time to have fun!

Keep things simple. We try to keep our meals, the kids toys, the clothing we own and all else very simple. Clutter can be your biggest enemy when you need an organized environment. Take some time each day to toss things you don't need, donate items that are still useful or if you have LOTS to get rid of, why not bless your family with a little extra cash and have a yard sale or sell some things on Ebay or Craigslist?

Be Realistic. I don't aim for a perfect home. Sure, I would love a picture prefect, magazine style home every day but that is just not practical when we are here working on school art projects, baking bread and chasing an almost two year old from things to thing all day. I try to focus on what matters most like making sure the kitchen stays clean, our clothes are clean, the bathroom is presentable in case we have visitors, etc.

Make It Fun! We make up all sorts of games when we clean and the girls love it, it makes them want to help instead of procrastinating all of their chores. We always get done quicker when we play a game. Music is also good. We like to play one of our favirite CD's and sing along as we clean. It makes the time pass much faster.

Delegate. We have designated chores for each child. My husband and I also have certain chores that we each do during any given week. During times when I am sick or things are more busy than usual my husband always chips in on the day to day chores as well and the girls do a little extra as well. Ask your husband and children for extra help if you need it, I know mine are always happy to help me!

Keep a positive attitude. Daily chores can feel like drudgery if you don't have the right attitude. We like to think of our home as a blessing from God and also everything in it. We strive to remember that God expects us to respect the blessings he bestows upon us and we should be joyful in taking care of them as well as taking care to have a joyful attitude in serving others as well.

Praying your day is a blessed one...

Our Healthy Eating Plan

2009-03-10T13:44:00.003-07:00

I got a couple of comments last week (which I have not replied to as of yet - sorry!) :0) about our new healthy eating plan, asking what we are specifically doing to eat more healthy. I have been planning to blog about this for some time now but it has been put off until today. Finally, a few spare moments to share with you what we are doing.

I'll start by saying that this has nothing to do with wanting to lose weight, although that is a nice side effect of how we have started to eat! This plan all stems from my desire for better overall health (I suffer a lot from sinus/allergy problems not to mention trouble sleeping and a few other things). It is also due to some problems my husband has, namely acid reflux. Lastly we aspire to eat better due to some food allergies we found out that our oldest daughter has which led to symptoms of colitis. We knew that based on all of this, that it was time to make some changes.

We never did eat BADLY, really. Just your average American diet. Maybe even better because I do like to get those veggies in there and I have always been health conscious as far as picking and choosing certain kinds of foods and ingredients that I feel are best for us and trying to buy organic whenever possible. But we have found that was not enough and we had to be extremely picky on what we eat for the sake of the health of our family.

To begin, the main plan we are using right now is The Sonoma Diet and The Sonoma Diet Cookbook. This plan works really well to help you get rid of sugar cravings and also helps you to lose weight if you want to. You don't have to exercise but of course it does help if you are after weight loss. After reading those two books I also read through The Maker's Diet and Eat Fat, Lose Fat as well as Nourishing Traditions. I've also been scouring the web for info and have read a lot about coconut products which we have added to our diet. You can read more on this here.

Basically, I have combined what I feel to be the best advice of the above three books with the Sonoma Diet stuff to fit within a few guidelines (our budget, what we like to eat and to address and specific health concerns we have). The basic idea is to balance your meals.

Breakfast consists of half protein and half whole grains (if we eat hot or cold cereal) or 25% whole grains and 75% protein if we eat say, eggs or meat. Lunch and dinner are broken down into 25% increments (25% veggies, 25% fruit, 25% whole grains and 25% protein or dairy. Sugar is not included at all the first 10 days of the diet, not even fruit and after that it is severely limited and has to be something like honey or Sucanat or molasses. Refined products like white sugar, white rice and white flour are not allowed not are pre-packaged, convenience type foods. Thanks goodness I like to cook because I spend A LOT of time cooking now, even more than before which was already a lot! :0) I may just have to go back to food blogging again, LOL! We've tried to go 100% organic as well. I'll share some recipes soon, I have been coming up with new ones like crazy to keep some variety in our diet.

So far it's all going really well. Around day 8 of the first phase (which is 10 days total) my husband had only had a problem with reflux maybe once. I'd lost about 12 lbs. (without exercise!) and I am now sleeping better with less allergy problems. I'm also not snacking late at night like I used to because honestly I am not hungry. This is great because I am really bad about late night snacking! My husband has lost a lot, his clothes are loose but he's not tracking his weight so we're not sure of how much he's lost.

I also picked up a couple books and DVD's by Jordan Rubin (Perfect Weight America book plus accompanying DVDs and The Vitamin Code) that Sprouts had for FREE if you buy one of his Garden Of Life products. We needed coconut oil anyhow and I always buy the Garden of Life brand anyhow so this was an awesome deal. If they still have those to offer, go pick them up they have some great info. (just try to look past how much he is trying to get you to buy all of his products on the DVDs and you will see he's got some good info there no matter what brand of products you purchase). :0)

Finally, we are incorporating into this plan my oldest daughter's food allergies. She is on a 90 day plan which avoids foods that she reacted to in a food allergy blood test. There are some pretty common foods she has reacted to so it has been a challenge to incorporate her plan into the diet as well. She can't have potatoes (white, sweet, yams, etc), peppers, citrus, eggs, cows milk or tomatoes... some of our favorite foods! Once the 90 days are up we are going to try to wean her back onto those foods again.

So, that is the long and short of it for now. I will try to post some updates soon.

Romans Bible Study: Update

2009-03-10T13:20:00.002-07:00

I do apologize to anyone that has been following me in the reading of the Book Of Romans. I had such intentions to continue it at a steady pace, but sometimes life can get hectic... I'm sure you all understand :0)

I am passionate about reading and studying Romans right now, but I honestly have to say that I am not going to be able to keep up this on-line log of my studies. My computer time is too limited to work on my study the way I have been (taking notes here on the blog as I study via E-Sword). I am back to the old fashioned method - my Bible and a pen and paper - which is probably the best method anyhow!

So, if you have been following, I want to offer you an excellent resource for studying through Romans. It is located here.

I'll be back here as soon as I can with the healthy eating plan info.. I'm so glad y'all are interested in learning more! :0)

Friday at last!

2009-02-20T21:16:00.003-07:00

I can't believe it's Friday again, the past two weeks have flown by. Our oldest daughter got sick on my birthday (Feb. 7th) and it has been a long haul since then. After one trip to Urgent Care and three trips to the pediatrician we found out she had strep throat and mono at the same time. We finally had to take her to the emergency room for an injection of antibiotics and praise God she is getting well. It was a scary time because she seemed to get worse each day for about a week and a half, it really had us worried. We were up with her for several night fighting off fever, coughing, chills, etc. As I watch her recover from this illness I am just so amazed at how gracious God is. Our children are so precious and often times that is really made clear when they get sick.

Next week we will be back to schooling. I've got some information to share about a new healthy eating plan our family has been following that has been a true blessing as well as a new Bible study post to put up. God's will, those will come soon.

Have a blessed weekend!

Jesus Loves Me

2009-02-06T13:42:00.002-07:00

Our one year old is so sweet! I always sing Jesus Loves me to her before naps and before bed at night. Last night at bed she began to sing along as always and I realized she had created her own lyrics. She even remembered them today at nap time.

"Jesus will help me. Bible, Bible. Daddy, Daddy, me."

Too cute. :0)

Calzones

2009-01-28T16:16:00.004-07:00

The next few days are going to be kind of busy. My parents might come visit this weekend plus my husband will be off on Saturday which is very rare. So, today I thought I'd make something for lunch that would last a few days. We had some leftover sauce, cheese and pepperoni from the last time we made pizzas so I thought calzones would be fun to make. We ended up with enough for lunch today plus two more lunches and two focaccia breads. Not bad for one afternoon of work. I think it took two hours total and that was with little ones under foot and coaching homeschool assignments from the kitchen at the same time. I've used this pizza crust recipe for a long time and we love it.

Pizza Crust

1 cup warm water
small squeeze of honey
1 package dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour

Stir hot water, sugar and dry yeast until blended. Add oil, salt and flour. (I use a food processor). Stir until mixture forms a soft ball. Let rest 30 minutes. Roll out or stretch to desired thickness then place on a pizza stone or cookie sheet. Top with your favorite pizza sauce and toppings. Bake 500 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

I usually use my Kitchen Aid and make a quadruple batch of dough. For calzones, I just pinch off baseball ball sized pieces, roll them into circles and add sauce, cheese and pepperoni to the very center. Then just fold over and fold the bottom of the dough half-circle over the top and pinch shut. I cook them at 500 degrees for 7 minutes each on a pizza stone .

For the focaccia I cook the same as a pizza, only just top it with a little extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkle of dried and/or fresh herbs, a little bit of mozzarella cheese and some thinly sliced red onion. Delicious!

Now tomorrow I'm going to work on a couple days worth of dinner and hopefully get the girls hair washed and braided. I cut my own hair and it feels so light now, it's great! It was almost to the middle of my back but now it is shoulder length and feels much more healthy. Split ends are not fun, especially on long curly hair. I will try to get my 6 year old (the budding photographer) to take a picture so I can add it to the blog soon.

Hope you're having a blessed day! I will be starting back up the Romans Bible Study next time, sorry it has taken me so long!

Pretty Things For The Little Girls

2009-01-22T15:58:00.006-07:00

I'll be honest, decorating is not one of my strong points. I want to have a nicely decorated home but I guess I am just a minimalist at heart and like things simple and kind of plain. My girls, however, are not this way. They want ruffles and flowers and all the pretty girly things that they love. And who could blame them? Every store we enter seems to sell things cuter than the one before. So many choices!

Ever since we moved into this house, I have put off decorating their bedroom. I just could not find anything that seemed just right. I am making quilts for the girls and I wanted something to vibe off of the nice bright colors I am using.

My mom, on the other hand, is a decorator extraordinaire and she always knows just the thing to buy! She bought some plain frames and painted them along with a little sign that says "LOVE". All I had to do was go on-line and fine some pretty pictures to print out to fill the frames. Instant art! The girls love everything and we will be hanging it all up this weekend.

Now if I could just find time to finish those quilts! :0)

Catching Up...

2009-01-16T19:05:00.000-07:00

Just getting caught up on things around the house today and thought I would post a picture of a new "blankie" I made for my one year old. I have a set of Provo Craft Knifty Knitters and thought I would use one to make a sort of patch work blanket for our daughter's crib. I like how it turned out except the part where the panels are stitched together shows more than I would like. But baby girl loves it and that is all that matters. It has sort of a cute country sort of charm ;0) Baby girls calls is "Me me". Next project will be matching patchwork quilts for all 4 girls. That should take some time but will be much more fun because quilting is my passion!

New Years Day

2009-01-01T14:36:00.002-07:00

It's been quite a hectic past three weeks but we are finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. After my husband being sick for a week, then me being sick for a week and a half and all of our children going on the end of a week of sickness as of today, we are all starting to feel much better. It turns out we all had strept throat. Now with antibiotics and rest (and lots of soup!), we're getting back to normal. (If you lived here you'd know this is true because you can now hear lots of little arguments popping up between siblings, LOL!). Praise God for His healing!

I'm really looking forward to this new year. I always love the start of a new year, it gives me such a feeling of a new start and new things to come and new blessings just around the corner.

Unlike a lot of people that like to sit back and relax on New Years Day, I am quite the opposite. I have always been this way. This is my favorite day of the year to clean! I have been like this since I was a teenager. A New Year makes me want to feel like life itself is new, and what better way to achieve this feeling than a clean house.

Today I tackled my kitchen and my girls bedroom. It feels so good to see things nice and fresh looking and gives us a blank canvas to start our year. Tomorrow I plan to wash and braid my girls hair and sort out some boxes. Then Saturday I will tackle all the laundry that has accumulated while we were sick.

I pray everyone is having a blessed, enjoyable and relaxing New Years Day and that your new year will be filled with blessings to numerous to count!