Wow! it's been a while. Is anyone even still checking in to see if I'm blogging? There really has been lots going on around here I just haven't had time to blog about it.
Sam is growing quickly! She's still a little thing. She weighs 11 pounds and 12 ounces now. She will be 6 months old on the tenth of January. It really doesn't seem like she should be that old yet! Today she laughed out loud! It was so cute. I don't think she had ever really laughed before today. Tommy was playing with her and picking her up above his head...you know, that thing that all Daddies just have to do; the thing that makes all Mommies' hearts stop for just a second...He was doing that and she started do kind of squeal and it went from there to this funny little laugh. Then later I was playing with her and she laughed again. It was SO cute!
Jacob is FINALLY potty trained. He rarely has accidents but sometime still makes stinky in the floor when he's mad at us. He talking SO clearly. Sometimes I am just amazed at his communication skills. It may be normal. I don't know. But I'm sure the older two didn't communicate as well this soon. Of course Isaac has developmental delays and Tommy has his own issues. But back to Jacob. He sometimes talks in 8 to 10 word sentences and they make sense! I don't mean weird sentences that no one understands. He's making sense. I'm so proud of him. Unfortunately he likes to talk A LOT! This little chatter box hardly ever shuts up! He will make the same statement or ask the same question over and over again even though he's already gotten a response. I think he just loves to talk. Tommy says he got that from me. I can't deny it.
Little Tommy is growing like crazy. He's so tall but SO skinny! He has finally stared going to a therapist to have some testing to find out what in the world is going on in his head. He is always in trouble. He can be such a sweet heart but he chooses to be MEAN. He seems to have so much anger in him. I'm just not sure what to do with him anymore... and he's only 5. I didn't think we dealt with issues like this til they hit 15 at least! I know he has ADHD. That diagnosis won't surprise me at all. I think he may also have Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). I don't really care what the label is. I just want to know how to deal with it! On the bright side, he is hilarious! He loves to make people laugh. I told him he would make a great comedian. He liked that idea. I swear, the child is SO goofy. He's just like his daddy in so many ways. Silliness is one of them.
Isaac is changing. Just when I think I have him figured out, he goes and morphs into something totally different! He gets more and more affectionate every day. He's having some major issues with separation anxiety. He's fine if he's the one leaving me. If he's going to a friend's house he's raring to go. But if I'm leaving...well then, get ready for the meltdown. It gets pitiful. He cries and says, "I just want to be with you." It breaks my heart.
Big Tommy is still getting to work more hours. He even gets some overtime. We are so thankful for that and we should be caught up on our bills soon...if I manage well. I'm not very good at that.
Christmas was awesome. Even though Tommy and I had very little to give, our Father who owns everything made sure the kids had PLENTY under the tree. It was amazing!
Well, there is more I could tell you about, but I'm so sleepy. It's pretty late and 4 comes early in the morning. Thankfully, I will get to go back to sleep after my hubby leaves for work.
I know this has just been a general update. I hope to have something more interesting to share the next time I have a few minutes to blog. I'm sure there will be plenty of neat stuff to share when Christmas break is over and we start school again.
Bye for now!
In Christ,
Shirley
"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer."(Psalms 19:14)
Whew! I think the rush of Christmas is over for another year...at least I'll be able to say that when I get my Christmas cards done! It's the one thing that I just couldn't squeak in, but I'm hopeful it will happen before New Year's.
We had a lovely, lovely Christmas. It was just the three of us this year, but memorable and sweet. And yes, we even had a white one! It was fun to have no schedule and just savor the crackling fire, good tea and good food, play games, and explore our presents. I got well into Sarah Palin's new biography (well-written!) and worked on our yearly Christmas puzzle. After a busy month of teas, parties, and special events, it was good to enjoy God's Peace. I've just been overwhelmed the past few days pondering on the goodness of the Lord to us, how incredible it is to be the object of His love and care. The Incarnation is still the most staggering thought, the best "Good News" we could ever have received.
Christmas brought SweetPea a neat opportunity to finally put her piano training to good use. Our new little church has been without a pianist for some time, so she was their 'guest' pianist for the Christmas Eve service. I think it's refreshed her personal vision for her music and is helping her see some of God's purpose in the long years of training and practice. We're delighted, and grateful to the Lord for opening up this new door for her.
I'm hoping for some 'think' time this week. Being an incurable planner, I'm already knee-deep in goals and lists for 2010, and I need to think through this coming semester and try to get a handle on what we need to accomplish both on school and home fronts. Always seems like a process of weeding out and prioritizing...what do I really have to do? and how can I work in what I want to do this year? (You know, stuff like refinishing furniture, writing, learning piano, larking my way through my nature journaling books... )
Being newly reminded of how good it is to walk in God's peace and leadership, I'm excited and content to see what He has for us this year. I really want Him to be Lord over everything.
No Homeschooling, No Christmas for the Johansson Family
Posted By Gena Suarez, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
As you celebrate Christmas this year, please remember all the parents who are still fighting for their right to homeschool, and for parents who have had their children taken from them by force without just cause because they homeschooled their children--like the Johansson family of Sweden. This Christmas we can rest easy knowing that the gifts that we bought for our children will help further their education or offer a new way for your family to have fun together. The Johanssons have been denied Christmas with their only child, and so much more.
Nevermind me. I'm just sneaking in here to re-post my updated kitchen towel entry.
I first posted this tutorial on making a dressy oven door kitchen towel more than two years ago. Since then I have made many of them, and they just get easier! This is by far my most visited page, so I have updated the photos and added a video to demonstrate sewing the underarm seams. Yesterday I looked at Etsy.com to see what these towels are selling for. Wow! Some crafty ladies are asking $20 for them! I could do ten hours' work for $100... if they'd sell for that. Would you spend $20 for a kitchen towel??
These cute kitchen towels are relatively inexpensive gifts, especially if you have a stash of buttons and a bunch of extra trim lying around. And once you get the hang of it they don't take very long to whip up.
First of all, pick out a kitchen towel that you like, and find a coordinating fabric. You will need a piece about 14" x 28". Wash and dry your fabric. If it is a wrinkled mess, iron it. Fold your fabric in half, right sides together, so that when you cut out your pattern you will be cutting two identical pieces.
Here is the bodice pattern that I made. Sorry you can't read my notes very well. It is 12"x13", with the corners cut out so that the bodice is 8" across the front, and the sleeve side is 6" wide. You don't have to use these exact dimensions. I used a canning jar lid as a pattern for the head hole, and off-set the circle about 1/2" from the center so that the finished "dress" looks like there is a front and a back. (I did not offset the neck hole for the towel/dress in the above photo.)
Cut out your bodice through both layers, and remember to cut out the circle for a neck hole.
Next, cut your towel in half and set it aside. I found several of these nice quality Laura Ashley towels at Big!Lots! for $2.50 each.
Now take your bodice pieces and pin them together around the neck hole, matching all the sides and corners. Sew around the neck hole using a 1/4" seam.
Clip into the seam about every 1/2", or less, so that when you turn it right side out, the circle will be nice and even and not shaped like a multi-faceted polygon. Be careful not to cut into the stitching.
Take one of the layers, either one, and stuff it through the neck hole.
Now lay the two pieces together nice and flat, matching the sides, and press the neck seam.
The next part is easier to show than it is to explain. Watch.
Oops, I meant to say that the seam should be trimmed to 1/4" or 3/8". Be sure to clip into the curve, close to the stitching, just like you did with the neck seam. Lay the bodice flat and press each seam nice and flat.
Turn up a 5/8" hem on the sleeves, turning both the bodice piece and the lining piece to the inside of the fabric, matching the edges at the fold. Press, then top-stitch close to the edge.
Set the bodice aside.
Now for the towel/skirt. Using your longest stitch length (basting), make a row of stitching 5/8" from the cut edge of both towel pieces, leaving several inches of both spool and bobbin thread at both ends. Do this again 1/4" inside the first stitching line.
You are going to gather the towel so that its width will match the width of the bodice. Anchor the bobbin threads down at one end by inserting a pin and then wrapping both threads around the pin in a figure eight. At the other end of the stitching, pull both bobbin threads together with one hand, and with the other hand slide the fabric along the thread so that the towel edge gathers. When the towel width matches the bodice width, anchor this end of the thread the same way you did the other.
Adjust the gathers so that they are even across the top of the "skirt". Now pin the towel to the outside front piece of the bodice, right sides together, keeping the lining clear. Set your stitch length back to normal and sew from one side seam to the other, backstitching at each end. This is easier if you have the gathers on the underside. Repeat these steps with the back pieces.
Lay the "dress" out flat so the the inside is face up. Trim the seam to 3/8" (don't cut the facing) and press it towards the bodice. Your facing should be loose. Turn up the bottom edge of the facing 5/8" so that the pressed fold lies on the stitching line, and hand-sew it down across the bodice on the inside of the seam.
Here is how your "dress" should look now. Sorry, I got tricky and added some eyelet to the bodice/skirt seam, and I didn't tell you how to do that. But you can figure it out. I have confidence in you.
You're almost done! Now you can decorate with trim around the neck edge, sleeves, and/or bottom of bodice. Just stitch the trim on over the fabric, wrapping the trim ends around the back side.
The final step is to cut four pieces of 1/4" or 3/8" cross-grain ribbon to about 8", and tack one piece to each side of the front and back of the bodice. I use a bit of FrayCheck on the raw edges of the ribbon to keep it from raveling. Snaps would be good, too, or Velcro. Use your imagination.
Hang the dress over your oven door handle and tie both sides. Voila!
Special Needs Children: Bring Them Home Where They Belong
Posted By Gena Suarez, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
More abusive teachers are in the news, this time two teachers tortured and abused several special needs children in their care--children who couldn't speak out about what was happening to them.
Parents, even your special needs children deserve to be at home where it is safe, and where you can be there to protect them. Homeschooling special needs children can be done!
Check out these resources to start:
E-Book: Teaching Jeremiah--a complete curriculum for teaching special needs children in preschool and early elementary grades.
You can find many more resources by searching online, and don't be afraid to ask questions! Trust is a huge thing for children with special needs. Your child trusts and needs you, not a person that neither you nor your child has never met before. You wouldn't just leave your child with strangers otherwise, why do so just because that stranger works for a public school?
I was going to make you some of these, but my family does not allow me to share them! The day before yesterday I made four dozen of our all-time, absolute favorite cookies, Chocolate Peppermint Cremes. Yesterday we ate the last one! Four dozen cookies divided by six people equals... eight cookies each, devoured in twenty-four hours. It's such a shame. But my husband and my kids argue that the point of baking cookies is not to hoard them and make them last forever -- it is to enjoy them. Which we surely did. Reprinting again:
Chocolate Peppermint Cremes
Combine these and set aside:
3 C flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
Beat together in separate bowl:
1 1/2 C brown sugar
3/4 C softened butter
2 T water
2 eggs
Stir in
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted.
Stir in the dry ingredients until mixed well. If the dough is stiff enough, roll into 1" balls and flatten each ball slightly. If not, refrigerate the dough until it is. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes, on greased cookie sheets. Do not overbake these. The centers should be soft. Cool completely.
To make the filling, beat until smooth:
3 C powdered sugar
1/3 C butter
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
3 T + 1 tsp milk
dash of salt
1 drop of red food coloring, if you like pink.
Spread liberally on the bottom side of a cookie, and sandwich together with a second cookie. Makes about 48, but they don't last. Better make a double batch!
Posted By Gena Suarez, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
World Net Daily reports that just may become the case for British parents who wish to homeschool their children. The law stems, in part, to a problem that some parents are using homeschooling as a way to disguise abuse. However, what the law doesn't stipulate is what is required to pass a background check, it invades the rights and privacy of parents, and presumes them guilty until proven innocent.
As I've said before, there are already laws in place--in both Britain and the U.S.--in regards to child abuse. Government agencies are refusing to back those laws up. While there are several homeschool parents in Britain who are in agreement with making tighter restrictions on themselves in order to get rid of the few who give them a bad name, they need to recognize that this bill isn't really about protecting them. It's about a government trying to find ways to slow homeschooling down--period. Find out which parties and agencies are backing this bill and I think you'll find they aren't, and never have been, friendly to homeschooling.
Welcome to Blessings Undreamt Of... a blog celebrating the numerous God-sent blessings that I could never have dreamt of before embarking on our homeschool journey. I encourage you, too, to have a joyous and God-filled homeschool adventure!
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