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Monday, May 26, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Homeschool Review
Kim over at Mercy Days is doing a homeschool review. If you've posted a review of your homeschool year, go on over and link up. Or you can see what she did and read what others have as well.
Here's what our year looked like.
Bible: We went through Nancy Ganz's book "Genesis" from her Herein is Love series. We started out the year having Emily listen in too, but it proved to be more a time for training to sit still and quietly than a time to learn about God's word. So we changed things around and now read "Genesis" during nap time and read a smaller more little kid friendly book with Emily. Some of our favorites with her are "The Big Picture Story Bible" and "Leading Little Ones to God". The big kids and I love Nancy Ganz's series and will be going on to "Exodus" in the next week.
Math: We stuck with Saxon this year. Amy is just about finished with book 3. Evan is close to finishing book 6/5. I think I've gotten too lax on the drills and this has made math quite a bit harder for both of them. We never really got into a good pattern for when to do math. Last year Emily was still taking a morning nap and that was math time. This year, we tried having math during her afternoon nap, but the kids were too tired out. So we switched it to the morning, but it was harder to balance all three kid's needs. So we ended up dropping some of the drill work that we've done in the past. Oh, well.
Next year, Evan is going to try Teaching Textbooks for math. He is just having too hard of a time with Saxon. I'm hoping to do some flashcard drills this summer to brush up on the speed factor. I think Amy will stick with Saxon because we already own it and Teaching Textbooks doesn't start until the 5th grade. If it goes well for Evan we'll order it for her as well.
Grammar: Evan finished up the grammar book we bought last year from Rod and Staff called Building Diligently. It was a very through grammar and writing book so rather than rush him last year, we took it a bit slower, and finished it up this year. Next year we're going to try Easy Grammar on Fishmama's suggestion.
By far, my favorite grammar book has been the First Language Lessons series by Jessie Wise. Evan still chants all the helping verbs. I didn't know that they had more than just the first book at the beginning of the year, so Amy went through English for the Thoughtful Child. I had bought it the first year we homeschooled for Evan do in first grade. It wasn't right for him, but I saved it and Amy really enjoyed it. Not as through as the First Language series, but a nice book to practice writing and grammar as well as penmanship.
But I was so excited to see that Jessie Wise is continuing the FLL series! So we ordered the 3rd grade book and Amy is working through it now. We'll probably do a bit in the summer so she doesn't lose ground, and then just keep with it next year and move on to the 4th grade book when she finishes.
Spelling: After doing 2 years of the Phonetic Zoo and still not finishing! I decided to move to a different program for Evan. He worked through a little book called Apples to Apples. It's just one page a day to reinforce spelling rules. He likes it, it only takes about 10 - 15 minutes a day so we're happy. The fact that he still is a horrible speller has more to do with my genetics than any homeschool curriculum. I was in honors English all the way through, yet only learned to spell after I started teaching my kids phonics. Praise the Lord for spell check!
Amy started going through the Phonetic Zoo after finishing up her Modern Curriculum Press book. She is flying through. She learned one lesson in 3 days! For more of a review of what this program is, click here.
Literature: We have always tied reading and literature with History and Science. I don't really have a formal approach to this. I just borrow a ton of books from the library on whatever subject we're on (Ancient Greece and biographies of Famous Botanists being the most current). Or if I can find them cheap at a book sale, I buy them. Then we try to work in 30 min to an hour of reading time a day. Some days there isn't time for any reading, and other days, when Emily is sick, we have 2-3 hours of reading time. Now that both older kids are reading well, this has been easy. I just have to remember to have them read to me once in a while to check on words they are missing and just guessing on!
Writing: We started this year using Ancient History - based Writing Lessons. It's a great curriculum, one I'd definitely recommend to go with Ancient History. But we didn't get very far with it. Hmm. Not sure what happened.
History: After going through all 4 Story of the World books, this was our first year branching out into something new. We used The Mystery of History. And for the first time SEAN taught history. I had asked him to teach a subject and he graciously agreed. He loves history so that helped. While he is extremely knowledgeable about current history, ancient history isn't something he's very familiar with. So I think he enjoyed it as much or more than the kids. The Mystery of History's first volume is also very heavily weighted with Bible history. Most of the prophets as well as the main Old Testament characters are talked about in their proper time frame. This is what drew me to the curriculum and I think Sean (and the kids) are learning quite a bit. Because of Sean's crazy schedule, we went a couple of months without history (scary for me, but good to give up control!) so we'll be having history lessons in the summer.
Science: This year we went back to studying Biology. For the first part of the year we used The Body Book. It was so much fun! Evan used his "body" as part of his science fair project talking about human anatomy and many of the different systems. We also used various book from the library and The Human Body - God's Design for Life series as supplements.
Instead of using a book on zoology (studying animals) , we started using a basic biology book called Christian Kids Explore Biology. There are lots of great activities to go with the lessons. We're going through it a bit fast, but it would be a great spine to work off of and take a bit more time with.
For botany, in addition to what is covered in Christian Kids Explore Biology, we, of course, are growing a garden. Last week we dissected flowers. Great fun!
Latin: We're a classical homeschool so we study Latin. However, we're a flexible homeschool family. So when crisis arises, Latin is one of the first to make the cut. We only got half way through Latina Christiana 1 this year. Evan seemed to really get it this year. All the grammar that was introduced he really took to, but Amy was lost. I think she would have done much better with Prima Latina, but I just couldn't teach two Latin classes! So I'm not sure what to do about this one. Sean has never really understood the need to teach Latin. And the kids are begging me to take Spanish. Begging. So this will need to be a matter of prayer over the summer.
Logic: This year Evan started doing some Logic studies. I ordered A Case of Red Herrings, Equilibrio, and Mind Benders. They are really, really, fun! The kids both get them out to "play" with quite a bit.
At the beginning of the year, a man from our homeschool group offered to teach a logic class using The Thinking Toolbox. Evan absolutely loved it and did well considering it was a class for junior high students, primarily.
Out side Classes: For PE our kids have been doing Karate for several years now. I really like the Shotokan style. It is very traditional. But really the strength of a dojo lies in the Sensei. We feel very blessed that the school we go to has not one, but 5 outstanding teachers.
We also take Art class. Miss Brenda now, Mrs. Brenda is wonderful!
Amy finished up her second year with the CC Children's Choir. Being involved with a children's choir has been a great way for Amy to learn music and develop her voice.
Preschool: Emily has loved the Kumon preschool books! She has developed her fine motor skills working on cutting and tracing. I picked up a bunch of preschool "workbooks" at the garage sale yesterday. My goal for next year is to train her to work quietly for at least a little bit, while we work on something else.
Here's what our year looked like.
Bible: We went through Nancy Ganz's book "Genesis" from her Herein is Love series. We started out the year having Emily listen in too, but it proved to be more a time for training to sit still and quietly than a time to learn about God's word. So we changed things around and now read "Genesis" during nap time and read a smaller more little kid friendly book with Emily. Some of our favorites with her are "The Big Picture Story Bible" and "Leading Little Ones to God". The big kids and I love Nancy Ganz's series and will be going on to "Exodus" in the next week.
Math: We stuck with Saxon this year. Amy is just about finished with book 3. Evan is close to finishing book 6/5. I think I've gotten too lax on the drills and this has made math quite a bit harder for both of them. We never really got into a good pattern for when to do math. Last year Emily was still taking a morning nap and that was math time. This year, we tried having math during her afternoon nap, but the kids were too tired out. So we switched it to the morning, but it was harder to balance all three kid's needs. So we ended up dropping some of the drill work that we've done in the past. Oh, well.
Next year, Evan is going to try Teaching Textbooks for math. He is just having too hard of a time with Saxon. I'm hoping to do some flashcard drills this summer to brush up on the speed factor. I think Amy will stick with Saxon because we already own it and Teaching Textbooks doesn't start until the 5th grade. If it goes well for Evan we'll order it for her as well.
Grammar: Evan finished up the grammar book we bought last year from Rod and Staff called Building Diligently. It was a very through grammar and writing book so rather than rush him last year, we took it a bit slower, and finished it up this year. Next year we're going to try Easy Grammar on Fishmama's suggestion.
By far, my favorite grammar book has been the First Language Lessons series by Jessie Wise. Evan still chants all the helping verbs. I didn't know that they had more than just the first book at the beginning of the year, so Amy went through English for the Thoughtful Child. I had bought it the first year we homeschooled for Evan do in first grade. It wasn't right for him, but I saved it and Amy really enjoyed it. Not as through as the First Language series, but a nice book to practice writing and grammar as well as penmanship.
But I was so excited to see that Jessie Wise is continuing the FLL series! So we ordered the 3rd grade book and Amy is working through it now. We'll probably do a bit in the summer so she doesn't lose ground, and then just keep with it next year and move on to the 4th grade book when she finishes.
Spelling: After doing 2 years of the Phonetic Zoo and still not finishing! I decided to move to a different program for Evan. He worked through a little book called Apples to Apples. It's just one page a day to reinforce spelling rules. He likes it, it only takes about 10 - 15 minutes a day so we're happy. The fact that he still is a horrible speller has more to do with my genetics than any homeschool curriculum. I was in honors English all the way through, yet only learned to spell after I started teaching my kids phonics. Praise the Lord for spell check!
Amy started going through the Phonetic Zoo after finishing up her Modern Curriculum Press book. She is flying through. She learned one lesson in 3 days! For more of a review of what this program is, click here.
Literature: We have always tied reading and literature with History and Science. I don't really have a formal approach to this. I just borrow a ton of books from the library on whatever subject we're on (Ancient Greece and biographies of Famous Botanists being the most current). Or if I can find them cheap at a book sale, I buy them. Then we try to work in 30 min to an hour of reading time a day. Some days there isn't time for any reading, and other days, when Emily is sick, we have 2-3 hours of reading time. Now that both older kids are reading well, this has been easy. I just have to remember to have them read to me once in a while to check on words they are missing and just guessing on!
Writing: We started this year using Ancient History - based Writing Lessons. It's a great curriculum, one I'd definitely recommend to go with Ancient History. But we didn't get very far with it. Hmm. Not sure what happened.
History: After going through all 4 Story of the World books, this was our first year branching out into something new. We used The Mystery of History. And for the first time SEAN taught history. I had asked him to teach a subject and he graciously agreed. He loves history so that helped. While he is extremely knowledgeable about current history, ancient history isn't something he's very familiar with. So I think he enjoyed it as much or more than the kids. The Mystery of History's first volume is also very heavily weighted with Bible history. Most of the prophets as well as the main Old Testament characters are talked about in their proper time frame. This is what drew me to the curriculum and I think Sean (and the kids) are learning quite a bit. Because of Sean's crazy schedule, we went a couple of months without history (scary for me, but good to give up control!) so we'll be having history lessons in the summer.
Science: This year we went back to studying Biology. For the first part of the year we used The Body Book. It was so much fun! Evan used his "body" as part of his science fair project talking about human anatomy and many of the different systems. We also used various book from the library and The Human Body - God's Design for Life series as supplements.
Instead of using a book on zoology (studying animals) , we started using a basic biology book called Christian Kids Explore Biology. There are lots of great activities to go with the lessons. We're going through it a bit fast, but it would be a great spine to work off of and take a bit more time with.
For botany, in addition to what is covered in Christian Kids Explore Biology, we, of course, are growing a garden. Last week we dissected flowers. Great fun!
Latin: We're a classical homeschool so we study Latin. However, we're a flexible homeschool family. So when crisis arises, Latin is one of the first to make the cut. We only got half way through Latina Christiana 1 this year. Evan seemed to really get it this year. All the grammar that was introduced he really took to, but Amy was lost. I think she would have done much better with Prima Latina, but I just couldn't teach two Latin classes! So I'm not sure what to do about this one. Sean has never really understood the need to teach Latin. And the kids are begging me to take Spanish. Begging. So this will need to be a matter of prayer over the summer.
Logic: This year Evan started doing some Logic studies. I ordered A Case of Red Herrings, Equilibrio, and Mind Benders. They are really, really, fun! The kids both get them out to "play" with quite a bit.
At the beginning of the year, a man from our homeschool group offered to teach a logic class using The Thinking Toolbox. Evan absolutely loved it and did well considering it was a class for junior high students, primarily.
Out side Classes: For PE our kids have been doing Karate for several years now. I really like the Shotokan style. It is very traditional. But really the strength of a dojo lies in the Sensei. We feel very blessed that the school we go to has not one, but 5 outstanding teachers.
We also take Art class. Miss Brenda now, Mrs. Brenda is wonderful!
Amy finished up her second year with the CC Children's Choir. Being involved with a children's choir has been a great way for Amy to learn music and develop her voice.
Preschool: Emily has loved the Kumon preschool books! She has developed her fine motor skills working on cutting and tracing. I picked up a bunch of preschool "workbooks" at the garage sale yesterday. My goal for next year is to train her to work quietly for at least a little bit, while we work on something else.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Farmer's Market for $10
We've been going to Farmer's Market for over 10 years now. Thankfully, we have one almost every day of the week. In the summer I probably spend 1/4 of my grocery budget at Farmer's Market.
But recently I've been thinking a bit more about our budget, and how to best maximize our money. Plus, recently I had mentioned to a friend that you could get a lot for 10 bucks at Farmers Market, So today I set myself a limit of $10 to spend. Good thing I did too, because the neighborhood down the street was having a huge 40 family garage sale bonanza!
So, if you think there is no room in the budget for fresh produce, try the Farmer's market! Here's what we got for our $10. In the picture, there should be more apricots, but the kids couldn't wait to eat them!
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1 head of broccoli
But recently I've been thinking a bit more about our budget, and how to best maximize our money. Plus, recently I had mentioned to a friend that you could get a lot for 10 bucks at Farmers Market, So today I set myself a limit of $10 to spend. Good thing I did too, because the neighborhood down the street was having a huge 40 family garage sale bonanza!
So, if you think there is no room in the budget for fresh produce, try the Farmer's market! Here's what we got for our $10. In the picture, there should be more apricots, but the kids couldn't wait to eat them!
1 head of broccoli
1 head of Cauliflower
1bunch of Beets (Try them roasted or boiled. They are so much better than the canned ones!)
8 Oranges
1 Huge Artichoke
2 pounds of Apricots (A splurge for sure, but they taste amazing!)
The Second Time Is The Hardest!
Our family just joined our local health club. Last week, the day after we got back from camping, I went to the 5:45 AM Spin Class. It was a great start. I love to ride, but haven't had much opportunity to do much since having kids . We have a stationary bike at home that I've used off and on. But it's hard for me to get motivated when I'm by myself confined to a garage!
On Thursday, Evan went with me to an evening class. Never mind that my legs were burning and I was out of breath, or that my 11 year old son was spinning twice as fast as me, but my seat hurt! Yikes, I forgot how painful that second day is! Next week Sean is going to go with us. Yes, we are making exercise a family fun affair.
Thankfully, Emily did really well in the childcare room. If you know her, you know what a miracle that is! I'm sure that it helped that her "Sissy mommy" was there to play with her, change her diaper, and help her with the potty. They should be paying me to drop Amy off!
On Thursday, Evan went with me to an evening class. Never mind that my legs were burning and I was out of breath, or that my 11 year old son was spinning twice as fast as me, but my seat hurt! Yikes, I forgot how painful that second day is! Next week Sean is going to go with us. Yes, we are making exercise a family fun affair.
Thankfully, Emily did really well in the childcare room. If you know her, you know what a miracle that is! I'm sure that it helped that her "Sissy mommy" was there to play with her, change her diaper, and help her with the potty. They should be paying me to drop Amy off!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Emily Turns Three!
The birthday girl helping make pancakes for breakfast..JPG)
Yeah! I'm three!We had a small party for Emily earlier this month. She just wanted to have a couple of girls over from church. She was so excited! We had a lot of fun watching all the little ones play and enjoy each other.
Jessica posted some great ideas for theme cakes (mostly for boys). Here is our girly girl cake! Emily wanted a lady bug theme.
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Sean's mom and my parents came to the party too. (Thus the great pictures by my dad.) 
We did a little craft from the left over flower arranging supplies. Evan and Amy were big helpers with the little ones. Evan was a bit disappointed that all Emily's girl friends had sisters and not brothers. Another opportunity to serve and be gracious!
We did a little craft from the left over flower arranging supplies. Evan and Amy were big helpers with the little ones. Evan was a bit disappointed that all Emily's girl friends had sisters and not brothers. Another opportunity to serve and be gracious!.JPG)
The older kids setting up the flower arranging for the little ones. They had a lot of fun doing this, both the big kids and the little kids..JPG)
Sophie with her arrangement.
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Sierra with hers.
Playdough was another fun activity.
Beautiful baby Tess.
Patiently waiting for cake!
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Little girls also love to play house!
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Maggie on the rocking horse.
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Evan posing by our friends "Bug".
Monday, May 19, 2008
Lost Links
Sorry I haven't posted much here lately. Blogging seems to go in waves for me. For a time I have a lot to share and time to write, and then other times it's pretty slow.
I was looking back over some ideas that I had started to write about but never finished. Almost all of my drafts were links to other web sites that I meant to come back and comment on, but never got a chance.
So here are some great links. Food, friends, my pastor's preaching. It's all good stuff. Enjoy!
Pork Tenderloin with Rosemary-Orange glaze
Speaking of food, does anyone want to try this idea with me?
A little late for this years Valentine's day, but this article is a good one to deal with expectations in marriage throughout the year.
We went through these questions with some good friends on New Years (I told you I was behind!) But they are great for reflection at any time, a birthday, or start of the summer would be perfect too.
My friend Alicia has a gift for poetry. This one spoke to me awhile back.
This past Sunday (OK, it was in October!) our pastor preached about God's amazing grace. It was so helpful and encouraging. You can listen to the sermon here. It may take a minute to get started, but it's worth it.
I was looking back over some ideas that I had started to write about but never finished. Almost all of my drafts were links to other web sites that I meant to come back and comment on, but never got a chance.
So here are some great links. Food, friends, my pastor's preaching. It's all good stuff. Enjoy!
Pork Tenderloin with Rosemary-Orange glaze
Speaking of food, does anyone want to try this idea with me?
A little late for this years Valentine's day, but this article is a good one to deal with expectations in marriage throughout the year.
We went through these questions with some good friends on New Years (I told you I was behind!) But they are great for reflection at any time, a birthday, or start of the summer would be perfect too.
My friend Alicia has a gift for poetry. This one spoke to me awhile back.
This past Sunday (OK, it was in October!) our pastor preached about God's amazing grace. It was so helpful and encouraging. You can listen to the sermon here. It may take a minute to get started, but it's worth it.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Guest Blogging
Thursday, April 24, 2008
God's Grace and Fear
"So often we ignore the awesome displays of God’s faithfulness to people in trials and instead imagine ourselves in their situation, minus the grace of God. We would do well to heed Elisabeth Elliot’s wise reminder that there is no grace for our imaginations. The next time we observe someone going through a trial, let’s turn off our imaginations and instead fix our gaze on the marvelous, abundant, overwhelming and timely grace of God—the same grace that will be available to us when we actually need it."
Taken from Girl Talk. To read the whole (little) article, go here.
Taken from Girl Talk. To read the whole (little) article, go here.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The "Christmas" Spirit
Our pastor is getting ready to go on sabbatical next month. Since he finished preaching on Hosea, he wanted to spend a couple of weeks helping us as a congregation to press on in love while he is gone. (I'll link the sermon when it gets posted.)
This morning, I was reading "Knowing God" by J.I. Packer. It fit so wonderfully with what Pastor John Marc was saying.
Packer was talking about the incarnation and how Christ became poor for our sakes. How He laid aside His glory, voluntarily restrained His power, accepted hardship, ill-treatment, malice and misunderstanding so that we could have hope of peace with God.
"It is the most wonderful message that the world has ever heard, or will hear.
We talk glibly of the "Christmas spirit," rarely meaning more by this than sentimental jollity on a family basis. But what we have said makes it clear that the phrase should in fact carry a tremendous weight of meaning. It ought to mean the reproducing in human lives of the temper of him who for our sakes became poor at the first Christmas. And the Christmas spirit itself ought to be the mark of every Christian all the year round. ......
The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christian snob. For the Christmas spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor-spending and being spent-to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care and concern, to do good to others-and not just their own friends-in whatever way there seems need.
There are not as many who show this spirit as there should be. If God in mercy revives us, one of the things he will do will be to work more of this spirit in our hearts and lives. If we desire spiritual quickening for ourselves individually, one step we should take is to seek to cultivate this spirit." (Knowing God by J.I. Packer page 63-64)
This morning, I was reading "Knowing God" by J.I. Packer. It fit so wonderfully with what Pastor John Marc was saying.
Packer was talking about the incarnation and how Christ became poor for our sakes. How He laid aside His glory, voluntarily restrained His power, accepted hardship, ill-treatment, malice and misunderstanding so that we could have hope of peace with God.
"It is the most wonderful message that the world has ever heard, or will hear.
We talk glibly of the "Christmas spirit," rarely meaning more by this than sentimental jollity on a family basis. But what we have said makes it clear that the phrase should in fact carry a tremendous weight of meaning. It ought to mean the reproducing in human lives of the temper of him who for our sakes became poor at the first Christmas. And the Christmas spirit itself ought to be the mark of every Christian all the year round. ......
The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christian snob. For the Christmas spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor-spending and being spent-to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care and concern, to do good to others-and not just their own friends-in whatever way there seems need.
There are not as many who show this spirit as there should be. If God in mercy revives us, one of the things he will do will be to work more of this spirit in our hearts and lives. If we desire spiritual quickening for ourselves individually, one step we should take is to seek to cultivate this spirit." (Knowing God by J.I. Packer page 63-64)
Sunday, April 20, 2008
On the Way to Bed...
Me: Time for bed my sweet tired girl.
Emily: I not!
Me: You're not sweet or not tired?
Emily: I not sweet; just tired.
My Birthday Present
I came home yesterday to this.....
What used to be a big pile of dirt is now a beautiful flagstone patio ready for outdoor eating and entertaining! My husband is an amazingly hard worker. He can also get a bit romantic at times.
All my favorite flowers are starting to bloom too. Spring is here in sunny Ca!
What used to be a big pile of dirt is now a beautiful flagstone patio ready for outdoor eating and entertaining! My husband is an amazingly hard worker. He can also get a bit romantic at times. 
All my favorite flowers are starting to bloom too. Spring is here in sunny Ca!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Comments
Of course, all bloggers love comments. It's really the only way you know that someone read what you wrote. Plus there's usually good encouragement or discussion. However.... If I commented on every blog post that my friends wrote, I would never get my dishes done.
I was out of town this week, visiting my nephew Noah, who just turned one. When I came back there were 49 emails and 55 blog posts. Yikes! I gave myself an hour and got caught up. But, I didn't comment much. So I just wanted to tell you all that I did read your blogs this week. Thanks for sharing all the great posts, cute pictures and thoughtful insights. Sorry that I didn't comment much. Now I have to go do the dishes!
I was out of town this week, visiting my nephew Noah, who just turned one. When I came back there were 49 emails and 55 blog posts. Yikes! I gave myself an hour and got caught up. But, I didn't comment much. So I just wanted to tell you all that I did read your blogs this week. Thanks for sharing all the great posts, cute pictures and thoughtful insights. Sorry that I didn't comment much. Now I have to go do the dishes!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Four
Four jobs I have had in my life: Mom/Home educator, Lab Assistant, Food Service Director for a Christian Camp, checker at a grocery store
Four movies I've watched more than once: The Princess Bride, Star Wars (The old ones), Anne of Green Gables, Most Preschool Videos
Four places I've lived: Different places in California, sorry, no specifics on the blog =)
Four TV shows I watch: I don't watch TV
Four places I have been: Ireland, Germany, Canada, Boston
Four places I want to go someday: France, Maine, Vermont, Italy
Four favorite foods: I like a lot of foods, so I'm having a hard time with this one! But I really like fresh, seasonal, home made food that has complex flavors. I also love dessert.
Four places I'd rather be right now: I actually really like where I am. I can't think of a place I'd rather be. The struggle I have is with situations, not places. (Thanks Joanna for the suggestion of Phil 4:8!)
Four places I love to shop: Farmers Market, Trader Joes, Timberdoodle, Ebay
Four Places I always go: Church, the library, Karate, Art Class
Four people who always email me: The Flylady (she'll email you too if you sign up!), Alicia, Sean (from work), Cat
Four people who will respond (to this meme): I have no idea! You can do it if you want to.
Four movies I've watched more than once: The Princess Bride, Star Wars (The old ones), Anne of Green Gables, Most Preschool Videos
Four places I've lived: Different places in California, sorry, no specifics on the blog =)
Four TV shows I watch: I don't watch TV
Four places I have been: Ireland, Germany, Canada, Boston
Four places I want to go someday: France, Maine, Vermont, Italy
Four favorite foods: I like a lot of foods, so I'm having a hard time with this one! But I really like fresh, seasonal, home made food that has complex flavors. I also love dessert.
Four places I'd rather be right now: I actually really like where I am. I can't think of a place I'd rather be. The struggle I have is with situations, not places. (Thanks Joanna for the suggestion of Phil 4:8!)
Four places I love to shop: Farmers Market, Trader Joes, Timberdoodle, Ebay
Four Places I always go: Church, the library, Karate, Art Class
Four people who always email me: The Flylady (she'll email you too if you sign up!), Alicia, Sean (from work), Cat
Four people who will respond (to this meme): I have no idea! You can do it if you want to.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Finally A Chance to Blog...About a Servant's Heart
Life has been very busy, stressful, and hard for us lately. Last month Sean was gone for three weeks and the fourth he had to work overtime. I think we saw him for three days. That's why my mom came for a week! I am so thankful for my parents who love Jesus and love us.
Right now, my older kids are in the kitchen and I am not allowed to come in. I think they cleaned up. I know they are baking something. Sean said he heard the dishwasher and went to go check. There were a total of 5 dishes in it! Too funny!
I was going to write that they are such great kids, but then I realized that the truth is they are little sinners. (And don't I know it!) And God is so great. Just this morning, we were talking about serving. Last night our family had the opportunity to serve at church and watch 16 kids. We had 7 older kids from the church (including ours) who helped out. Sometimes the kids were very thoughtful and helpful while at other times they were pretty self-focused and really just wanted to go out and play. Our own kids flip-flopped between the two. But overall, the night went well.
This morning I talked to our kids about having a servant's heart. They knew that last night was a lot of kids, and they could see how helpful it was when the older ones helped out. They understood it was tougher when the older ones were just looking out for themselves. We had a great talk and then ran off to our day's activities.
So it is such a joy to see God work in their hearts to help them to decide to do something to bless and serve our family! And I am relieved since the kitchen was a mess and I still have baking to do for a baby shower tomorrow.
... They let me in, and they are making lemon bars! Maybe I won't even have to bake tonight! (But I LOVE to bake, so I probably will.) =)
*Sean's note* Yes, they managed to get five dishes in the dishwasher before they started it. Very funny to find another fifty on the counter that didn't make it in! And another yes, they were supposed to be lemon bars. But there were no lemons or lemon juice! So they substituted oranges, tangerines, and any other citrus fruit they could find in the kitchen. It should be pretty interesting when its comes out. *
Guess I'm baking after all!
Right now, my older kids are in the kitchen and I am not allowed to come in. I think they cleaned up. I know they are baking something. Sean said he heard the dishwasher and went to go check. There were a total of 5 dishes in it! Too funny!
I was going to write that they are such great kids, but then I realized that the truth is they are little sinners. (And don't I know it!) And God is so great. Just this morning, we were talking about serving. Last night our family had the opportunity to serve at church and watch 16 kids. We had 7 older kids from the church (including ours) who helped out. Sometimes the kids were very thoughtful and helpful while at other times they were pretty self-focused and really just wanted to go out and play. Our own kids flip-flopped between the two. But overall, the night went well.
This morning I talked to our kids about having a servant's heart. They knew that last night was a lot of kids, and they could see how helpful it was when the older ones helped out. They understood it was tougher when the older ones were just looking out for themselves. We had a great talk and then ran off to our day's activities.
So it is such a joy to see God work in their hearts to help them to decide to do something to bless and serve our family! And I am relieved since the kitchen was a mess and I still have baking to do for a baby shower tomorrow.
... They let me in, and they are making lemon bars! Maybe I won't even have to bake tonight! (But I LOVE to bake, so I probably will.) =)
*Sean's note* Yes, they managed to get five dishes in the dishwasher before they started it. Very funny to find another fifty on the counter that didn't make it in! And another yes, they were supposed to be lemon bars. But there were no lemons or lemon juice! So they substituted oranges, tangerines, and any other citrus fruit they could find in the kitchen. It should be pretty interesting when its comes out. *
Guess I'm baking after all!
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
A Good Letter Day
The other day I got 5 personal letters in the mail. FIVE! I don't think I've gotten that much mail since college and even then, that much in one day would have been a rarity. Two were thank you notes. And three were notes of encouragement from the little talk I gave last week. I was so blessed!
I also got on the same day, my first free-be from the links I've signed up with through Money Saving Mom. I got a coupon for a free full size bottle of Coffee Mate Creamer. Yum.
It was a good day!
I also got on the same day, my first free-be from the links I've signed up with through Money Saving Mom. I got a coupon for a free full size bottle of Coffee Mate Creamer. Yum.
It was a good day!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
Flower Arranging Class - Week 3
This week I'm going to teach the kids how to use wet floral foam. It's sometimes called Oasis. If you put it in a bowl of water and let it sink for a few minutes, it absorbs water and you can make an arrangement in any container. We're going to use baskets that I found at the dollar store. I lined them with ziplocks because they are not water proof. (On the right are what the daffodils look like when you buy them at Trader Joes. They open up two days later.)The procedure is basically the same as last week. I made the top flower a bit shorter so that the overall arrangement would be more compact. Since we're not filling in with any filler, the flowers needed to be tight and not have much space.
Daffodil stems are a bit fragile, so I used a pencil to push a hole in the foam first, then put the flower in place.
After placing the top flower, I put some on either side at an angle, slightly shorter. Then I came down to the bottom and filled in the bottom row.
After that I just went around, placing the flowers at an angle to make a round dome of flowers. Here's the end result before I finished off.
To finish, I just stuffed a bit of moss around the edges securing with an "S" pin where necessary.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Deals
I've been following some of the coupon deals over at Money Saving Mom. This week I got free shampoo, rinse, Advil, toothbrushes, toothpaste and deodorant (for Amy). Actually, I spent $13.68 and got a coupon for $26.98 (like a rebate) to use at my next visit on anything I want. So really I made $13.30. I just followed the links that MSM gave me. The poor cashier. Some of the coupons didn't take at first, so I showed him the small print that said that they should. He was very confused. My older kids were getting embarrassed. Emily was throwing a tantrum. So while it was fun to get free stuff, I'm not sure how much more of this I'll do. It's a lot of work, even if MSM does the front work for you.
At Walgreens I got free makeup and almost free air freshener. They were out of the coupon special one so they offered to give me any other brand for the same deal. Again, the cashier was flustered. When you're stacking coupons it gets confusing. He was shaking his head as he rung up the freshener at $.49 and $.01. All total I spent $1.43 at Walgreens.
But the deal I was happiest about, because it was free, because no coupons were involved, because the lady begged me to take more, because she wasn't flustered but extremely cheerful as she gave them to me, was my free 5 gallon buckets with lids. The bakery at Albertsons gets their frosting in these buckets and they throw them away when their done. I called ahead and asked for one. When I got there they had three all rinsed out with my name on them. The bakers were glad that someone was going to put them to good use. (I'll use them to store my grain for bread baking.)
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At Walgreens I got free makeup and almost free air freshener. They were out of the coupon special one so they offered to give me any other brand for the same deal. Again, the cashier was flustered. When you're stacking coupons it gets confusing. He was shaking his head as he rung up the freshener at $.49 and $.01. All total I spent $1.43 at Walgreens.
But the deal I was happiest about, because it was free, because no coupons were involved, because the lady begged me to take more, because she wasn't flustered but extremely cheerful as she gave them to me, was my free 5 gallon buckets with lids. The bakery at Albertsons gets their frosting in these buckets and they throw them away when their done. I called ahead and asked for one. When I got there they had three all rinsed out with my name on them. The bakers were glad that someone was going to put them to good use. (I'll use them to store my grain for bread baking.)
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Monday, March 10, 2008
Flower Arranging Class- Week 2
This week for Amy's Keepers of the Faith class, we did a silk flower arrangement. I went to Walmart and bought bunches of roses, irises, daffodils and daisies. I also bought some flowers at the dollar store.
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For the girls we started with a terra cotta pot. (I ran out, so I used a cute pail I had on hand for the sample above.) The green stuff you see inside is called floral foam. There are two types. One type called Oasis, you get wet and use with fresh flowers. The other is made specifically for silk and dried flowers. I used half a block. After cutting off the corners with a sharp knife, I wedged the foam into the pot. If you use a container that is slightly bigger than the foam, just hot glue it to the bottom so it doesn't move.
Next, put a little moss around the edges to cover up the foam and use "S" pins to hold it in place. This also allows you to have the foam be a bit taller than your container if you want to have flowers spill over the side. .jpg)
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Next, using wire clippers, cut the silk flowers. Starting with the flower that will go in the middle, the tallest flower will give you an idea of how big your arrangement will be. We made round arrangements so that it could be viewed from all sides and placed in the middle of the table.
Then you place flowers at angles around the pot coming down to the front and sides. If leaves were cut off when you cut your flowers, add them back in with a fake stem made of wire or parts of the silk flower stem that you didn't use.
After filling in with the larger flowers, we used one other accent flower or berry. These were different texture and many of them were tall and kind of spiky or very airy to contrast with the bigger, fuller flowers. Most of the girls chose a contrasting color to work with too. A lot of the girls who chose roses also chose some white berry looking things that I had. It gave a very classic look. One girl chose bright pink Gerber daisies with blue little spray flowers. I wasn't sure how that would turn out, but it came out looking very Hawaiian, and very beautiful! (The girl is Hawaiian too.) Everyone's project turned out really well and I think the moms were surprised that the girls finished and had made such pretty arrangements.
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