Posted in Family
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We decided to take a mini family vacation over the three-day weekend last week. We live only 1.5 hours from the zoo and a really cool children's museum. So we headed out early Friday morning and grabbed breakfast at McDonald's. (I was craving Atlanta Bread, but can you believe they had the audacity to be closed on July 4th?!?) It was so early, that all three kids napped on the way up.   And while they slept, Brady and I took a few self-portraits.  Our first stop in Columbia was Riverbanks Zoo. When we were there in May, we bought a family membership, so the cost was excellent. We also invited some friends to use some of our guest passes and spend the day. The kids had a lot of fun feeding giraffes...  Acting like penguins...  And checking out the fish...  Because we had been to the zoo just a month and a half before, I spent some more time this trip photographing the zoo creatures (instead of my creatures). A one month old lion cub:  Some corn snakes (and their skins):   A frilled lizard...the kids tried really hard to scare him so he would show off his frill, but he was just one chilled out lizard:  And finally, this clown fish was swimming in and out of his anenome and reminded me so much of Marlin in Finding Nemo, "In, out, in, out."  Here are just a few more random shots of our zoo trip. Braden and his best friend, Sarah:  Benjamin tracing a model snake:  All three of our boys with Sarah:  And a nice family shot:  Benjamin catching a ride:  Riverbanks Zoo also has a botannical garden that we took the tram up to see. I love sunflowers and wanted a picture with them. Braden decided he wanted to play photographer and Ethan was sleeping in the stroller, so we got a partial family shot:  And these flowers looked awfully familiar, so we took a picture of them, too.  We left the zoo and went to our hotel and took advantage of the indoor pool. Then we had dinner at Red Robin, an excellent restaurant, recommended by friends. Then despite the rainy weather, we found some local fireworks and celebrated our country's freedom. Saturday found us heading to the Edventure Children's Museum, a wonderfully, fabulous place for kids to learn and explore. We started off exploring Eddie, a "40-foot, 17.5-ton, hands-on exhibit, made of reinforced, molded plastic, large enough for adults and children to climb in and through." Here's Eddie with our boys:  We climbed all the way up Eddie's spine, stopping off at his stomach, heart, and head. Our boys loved diving through the contents of Eddie's stomach. I think he needs to see a doctor about his digestion issues:   Next we headed to the World of Work, where our kids got to role play lots of different jobs. We had firemen:   Farmers:    Auto mechanics:  Construction workers:   And grocery store clerks (and shoppers.) This was my favorite room!    After lunch, we headed over to Body Works. Here kids learn all about the different parts of their body, health and nutrition. Ethan sampling a "watermelon" in the cafe area:  A giant game of Operation:  Upstairs, they have a music room, a room to experiment with air, a newsroom and a an exhibit about Timbuktu. Benjamin riding a camel:  Braden trying out a motor bike:  Our news anchors:  And the weatherman:  The museum also has two outdoor areas. One is all about water and the temporary bubble exhibit. I completely forgot to take pictures there. The other outdoor area has a huge spider web to climb.  We packed a TON of activity into two very short days, but as always our kids had a blast and so did we! |
Posted in Family
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Where did the time go? I last updated 5 months ago and so much has happened! My time on the computer has been limited severely. Ethan is crawling more and sleeping less. Add that on top of trying to get first grade done with Braden and preschool with Benjamin and keep my house in a semi-neat condition and my days are full to overflowing. So I'm going to try to catch you up on the last 5 months of our lives using lots of pictures! My last post was about Braden turning 7. We had a party to celebrate and Braden chose a Webkinz theme. (For those that don't know, Webkinz are a wide variety of stuffed animals that come with a code that you enter on the website. You then have a virtual pet, room, food and games as well as the physical stuffed animal.) For the first time ever, every child invited came to the party. They all brought their oen Webkinz and we made "Crowns of Wonder," spun the "Wheel of WOW," played "Where's Wacky" and "Zingoz Pop," had a "Chef's Challenge," and shopped at the "W Shop." Fun was had by all! Braden and Benjamin with 2 Webkinz wearing their Crowns of Wonder  Braden and some of his guest wearing their own Crowns of Wonder:  Braden opening of of 3 Webkinz he received for his birthday:  We were steadily working on school and finished up in May. Braden graduated from 1st grade and Benjamin finished his Letter of the Week program. Benjamin with an art project:  Braden making a Roman Road:  Graduation pictures:   We celebrated graduation with a trip to the zoo:   Ethan celebrated his first birthday in April. We had a very small party with just a few close friends. We put out the slip-n-slide and wading pool, grilled out and had cake and ice cream.     We hit several milestones during this period, too! Benjamin is FINALLY potty-trained (we would read to him while he sat, thus the book he's holding):  Braden lost his first tooth (and the second and few days later):  And Ethan started walking in the last three weeks. Unfortunately, we haven't gotten a good picture of that yet. We've been busy doing lots of other things,too. Here are a few shots from Easter: Ethan's first egg hunt:  Braden hunting:  And Benjamin with his prize for finding the Golden Egg:  Enjoying the spring weather before it gets too hot:   At the Air Force Base Air Show:  Enjoying our Sonlight Box:  Enjoying the beach (Ethan's first trip!):    Benjamin and Braden both completed their first year of AWANA and received awards:   Benjamin continues to entertain us with his quirky personality:  While Ethan keeps us on our toes trying to keep him out of trouble:   And Braden continues to be a big help, even teaching Benjamin's school when I threw my back out:  And finally, I helped direct VBS at church this year! We did Lifeway's Outrigger Island and had a record (for our church) of 73 kids! Brady helped out in drama and Braden and Benjamin were Wave Riders. This was Benny's first VBS! My co-director, Peggy, and I:  Brady as Bobby in the drama (He's supposed to be surfing those waves:  Benjamin at Rec Reef "surfing:"  Braden having a blast in Music Falls:  Benjamin's class performing Friday night for the parents:  Braden's class during Friday's performance:  Whew! If you've stuck with this, thanks! I'm hoping that I'll be able to update more frequently and maybe even participate in kellieann's flashback Friday sometimes. So there you have our last 5 months in a nutshell, and yes, I did leave out LOTS of pictures I wanted to include! |
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I was told on Adrienne's blog that if I read this I should consider myself tagged. Well, she was game enough to accept my tag so I'll play along with hers. Here goes: 1.Aprons – Y/N? If Y, what does your favorite look like? I have one apron that everyone who came to my wedding shower signed for me. I wear it on occasion, but usually only when I'm using flour.
2.Baking – Favorite thing to bake:
Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies or cheesecake. These happen to also be my favorite things to eat. 3.Clothesline – Y/N? 4.Donuts – Have you ever made them? 5.Every day – One homemaking thing you do every day: 6.Freezer – Do you have a separate deep freeze? 7.Garbage Disposal – Y/N? 8.Handbook – What is your favorite homemaking resource? 9.Ironing – Love it or hate it? Or hate it but love the results? 10.Junk drawer – Y/N? Where is it? 11.Kitchen – Color and decorating scheme? 12.Love – What is your favorite part of homemaking? 13.Mop – Y/N? 14.Nylons – Wash by hand or in the washing machine? 15.Oven – Do you use the window or open the oven to check? 16.Pizza – What do you put on yours? 17.Quiet – What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment? 18.Recipe card box – Y/N? What does it look like? 19.Tablecloths and napkins – Y/N? 21.Under the kitchen sink – Organized or toxic wasteland? 22.Vacuum – How many times per week? 23.Wash – How many loads of laundry do you do per week? 24.X’s – Do you keep a daily list of things to do that you cross off? 25.Yard – Y/N? Who does what? 26.Zzz’s – What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?
Feel free to play if you want to. Just leave me a comment and let me know you did. |
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Okay, so two months to the day. I guess you could say I was on a blogging vacation over the holidays. Or maybe I'll tell the truth. I have honestly thought of so many things to blog about but by the time I had the chance to sit down and do it, the story/idea was so old I felt embarrassed writing about it. And then my mind would be blank and no new ideas were forthcoming. So, I am being prodded out of my blogging retirement (however temporary and unplanned) by a So here it is the Debbles version of Scattergories: The game is called scattergories. Use the first letter of your name and find words with that letter. The number of letters in your name determines how many people you can tag." What is your name? Debra (this means I have to tag less people)
So, now I tag: My lovely sister, Kellie, because she's my sister! Emily, because we're going to arrange marriages between her three girls and my three boys and because I feel like we'd be best friends if we lived near each other! Adrienne, because she needs to think about something else for awhile
Arby, because he always makes me laugh and I want to read his answers! I love Scattergories and hope everyone will play!
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We played around with this site last year, but this year you can make multiple elves. So here they are: Braden Elf, Benjamin Elf and Ethan Elf! The Elves |
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Kind of an odd title, I know. I'll start with the birthday and get to the deja vu momentarily! Today is Benjamin's 3rd birthday! It is unbelievable to me that my little baby is 3! Here he is just a week old. We decorated for Christmas just 7 days after he was born and he got to wear Christmas outfits for his newborn pics!  Here he is on Saturday eating lunch before his party.  Benjamin has really been into fire fighters lately and decided he wanted a fire fighter birthday. Does anyone know how hard it is to find stuff for a fireman party these days?!? So we decorated our house in black and red and I searched the internet to find directions for a fire truck or fireman themed cake. It was quite involved in the making and I enlisted my friend Anna (who made the frosting), Brady (who colored some of it black) and Braden (who colored the rest of it red).  While they were working on making frosting, I was busy cutting apart a 13 x 9 sheet cake and "building" a fire truck.  I know it doesn't look like a fire truck here, but it really turned out cute. See?  Benjamin was so excited to have his friends come to his house. Here he and Elsie (a fellow Cubbie) were playing football and both collapsed on the floor.  Braden wanted to host a game for all the kids. I gave him the general idea, but he did all the work. Basically it was a "Pin the ______ on the _______ game." He drew a fire on poster board and then cut out several water droplets for each child. Then he blindfolded them, spun them around and had them pin on their water. Here's Benny playing "Put Out The Fire" with Braden "helping" him.  After everyone went home, Benjamin had us open up all of his new gifts so he could check them out. He put on the Jack Sparrow dress-up outfit we bought him and paraded around the house. Here's the little pirate:  So there's the birthday part. Now for the deja vu... I posted last year about Benjamin's 2nd birthday and the fun party we had and then how he woke up Monday morning coughing and running a fever. The culprit: croup. He passed out on the living room floor, something he NEVER does!  So we clean up from this year's party, get the kids bathed and go to bed. At 5:30 am Braden comes in to inform us that Benjamin is coughing really bad. Brady got up to go check and came back in with the news: Benjamin was running a fever! He got up and I put on Power Rangers for him. It wasn't long before this:  Do you notice I even gave him the same sippy cup?!? Complete coincidence! So we then realize Braden is also running a fever and Ethan has green stuff coming out of his nose. I headed off to church (responsibilities, you know) and Brady stayed home with our sick brood. Everyone is much better today and I am so thankful for that. I'm also very thankful for my Benny. His personality is infectious and he's such a charmer! I love you, my Benjamini! |
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So, I kept meaning to post pics of my kids wearing their Halloween costumes, but each day would end and I hadn't yet found the time to do it. Then my mom (that's Indiana Mimi for those of you who read my sister's blog) was telling me the other night that she still had not seen pictures from Halloween. So being the dutiful (and more obedient *smirk*) daughter that I am, I am now obliging that request and posting Halloween pictures on November 15. Braden, my impulsive, buy-what-you-see-when-you-see-it child, could talk of being nothing else but Spiderman. That is until we were at Target and he saw this outfit that he then decided he could not live without. Seeing as it was cheaper than Spidey, we bought it.  He is the Black Ranger from Operation Overdrive, the umpteenth installment of Power Rangers. Benjamin, my stubborn, decides-what-he-wants-and-will-not-change-his-mind-for-anything child, decided in oh, say June, that he wanted to be fireman. We could not talk him out of it even after discovering that NO ONE had toddler-sized fireman costumes this year. However, my wonderful sister mailed us this, just slightly too big costume that her son wore a few years ago and Benny was able to be happy!  Doesn't he just make an adorable fireman? Then there's Ethan, my I-don't-care-what-you-put-on-me-as-long-as-I-can-drool-on-it kid. We had a really cute lion costume that Braden wore as an infant and an adorable Chewbacca costume that Benny wore. We were just waiting to see what our weather was going to do before we decided (the lion costume is VERY heavy). Then I found this at a consignment shop for only $2.50 and could not resist buying it.  This little fireman fell asleep. I guess trick-or-treating is boring when you know none of the candy is for you.  Here's the full view. Sorry it's a little blurry. I had to turn the flash off to keep his costume form glowing and he wouldn't be still. Here are all three together before we headed out.  We also carved a couple of pumpkins this year. Braden drew one design, which he nicknamed "The Goblin" and I drew the other (Braden calls it a football player, but he was supposed to just look forlorn). Then Brady did all the carving.  We had bought a third pumpkin to carve, but after the first two, Brady decided he had had enough of pumpkin guts and carving. Now to totally switch subjects... Recently I've been having a lot of trouble with my allergies and my contacts. It had gotten so bad that I wasn't wearing my contacts at all. But I can't see anything without some form of corrective lens so I was wearing a really old pair of glasses with a 10 year old prescription. Not to mention they were incredibly out of style. So we headed out and I was able to splurge on some new and (in my opinion) rather stylish glasses. What do you all think?  Hey look, Annaleigh, I'm wearing the earrings you made me for Christmas last year. I love them so much and would really, really like another pair! I bet they would fit in my stocking! (hint, hint)! |
My dear sis, whom I like to call Big Buddy sometimes  , is hosting a contest. Honestly, I think she's read a bit too much Pioneer Woman, but oh, well. I just want some cool jewelry! So stop on by kellieann's blog and enter the Where's the Wreath? contest!  Oh and take some time to read her blog. It's usually hysterical! |
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Because my brain is fried from being so busy lately, I thought I'd steal this idea from my sister. So which one do you like best? My Rock Star Name (1st pet + current car): Cindy Windstar My Gansta Name (favorite ice cream + favorite cookie): Blue Bell Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip (that's a mouthful!) My Detective Name (favorite color + favorite animal): Green Dog (same as you Kellie!) My Star Wars Name (1st 3 letters of your last name + 1st 2 letters of your 1st) : Siede (How do you pronounce that?!?) My Superhero Name ("The" + 2nd favorite color + favorite drink): The Purple Latte My Nascar Name (1st names of your grandfathers) : Andy Bert (Yep, same here...) My TV Weather Anchor Name (5th grade teacher's name + a major city that starts with the same letter): Bruton Boston (I had 7 teachers in 5th grade so I picked my favorite) My Spy Name (favorite season or holiday + favorite flower): Christmas Sunflower (slightly unbalanced) My Cartoon Name (favorite fruit + article of clothing you're wearing right now + "y" or "ie") Cherry Shortsy My Hippy Name (what you ate for breakfast + favorite tree): PopTart Bradford Pear My Rock Star Tour Name ("The" + favorite hobby or craft + favorite weather element + "Tour"): The Scrapbooking Sun Tour |
Posted in Family
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I had a very interesting conversation with Benjamin (almost 3) today. He was eating a Cottage Double (cottage cheese mixed with fruit) for breakfast when the following conversation took place: Benjamin: Is this pineapple? Me: No, it's peach. Benjamin: Oh! I like peaches. I eat them at home and at church. Me: Did Miss Lisa give you peaches at Cubbies? Benjamin: Uh-huh! And raspberries. I like raspberries, too. Slight pause. Benjamin: I saw a peaches of the tree. Me: You saw a peach tree? Benjamin: Yup! Me: When did you see a peach tree? Benjamin: Sunday. Me (wondering where there is a peach tree): Who showed you a peach tree? Benjamin: God. Me: God showed you a peach tree on Sunday?!? Benjamin: Uh-huh! Me (not knowing where else to take this conversation): Benny, do you know who made the peach tree? Benjamin: God made it. Me: That's right! Who made Benjamin? Benjamin: God did! Me: That's right, Benny! God made you! Benjamin: Yup! He has a big Benjamin puzzle. Me (after a slight pause to process this): Benjamin, are you saying God has a puzzle of you and that's how he made you? Benjamin: Yup! (Big Grin!) Oh, the minds of toddlers (or preschoolers as Braden informs me that Benny will be when he turns three)! He is really into puzzles of late and in his mind, God sat down and put all the pieces together to make a Benjamin puzzle! I had to hug him so tight and smile for this wonderful bit of toddler logic! Oh, and I did Google what people who put together puzzles are called and it is puzzlers. |
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***Disclaimer*** I know many of you have sent me comments, PMs, e-mails or told me on the phone how you would love for me to update my blog more frequently. I really do appreciate your interest in my blog and in my family. It means a lot to me. But, I keep this blog as a place to record my own thoughts and experiences as I can. Just as I see my phone as a convenience for me, thus do I view this blog. Life has been crazy lately. Not only am I schooling Braden, doing preschool with Benjamin, and taking care of an ever-more-active Ethan, I have resumed my responsibilities coordinating K4-K5 at my church, taken on a leadership role in Awana and started a Beth Moore Bible study. My time to be on the computer is limited at best and some days non-existent. While I know those of you asking me about updates aren't meaning any harm, it does make me feel bad and makes me feel obligated to post when i don't have time. So please understand my heart behind this post. I appreciate your interest, but need to feel like I can blog at my own leisure and not at the insistence of others. ************************************************** Now for the blog at hand. I mentioned in my title that this was going to be about future firefighters. We recently got all of Braden's Rescue Heroes out of the attic for Benjamin to play with. Like the true all-boy that he is, he has really taken a great interest in them. His favorite is Billy Blazes, the group's fearless leader and, you guessed it, a firefighter. The timing couldn't have been better because last week, when doing Letter F with Benjamin, we learned about firefighters and fire trucks. He has since been going around the house claiming to be "Biwee Bwazes" and has even decided he wants to be Billy for Halloween. He also told me that he wants to be a firefighter when he "gets big." So with all this firefighter enthusiasm, I decided a field trip was in order. I called our local fire department to see about bringing the boys by on Saturday. They were more than willing. So Saturday morning found us at the fire station meeting Fireman Daniel and learning all about the specific trucks, equipment and gear they use. Following are several pics of the boys as they got their fill of firefighters! I think the most exciting part for both boys was getting to sit in the driver's seat of three of the four trucks! Here's Benjamin, complete with his very own fire hat:  It's kind of hard to see him, but here's Braden driving one of the rigs:  Both boys got a chance to sit in the jump seat (the open air seats behind the driver).   This is one of my favorite shots, even though Braden isn't looking at the camera. I love that Braden is in the driver seat and Benjamin, all smiles, is right behind him in the jump seat!  Here is Fireman Daniel explaining the controls of the ladder truck.  And in case any of you think Ethan was left at home, here he is, dressed in his fire red shirt:  For the most part, Ethan was unimpressed. He even fell asleep while I carried him around the bay. However, when Fireman Daniel demonstrated one of the engines horns, Ethan was very upset! Finally, here is me with all three boys posing with the pumper truck:  After this wonderful trip, we headed over to the new American LeFrance Fire Museum. Both older boys were so thrilled. Even Braden wants to be a fireman now! And because I didn't want this momentous occasion to pass by unmentioned, I must include one last photo. Braden and Benjamin are now attending AWANA. Braden is in the Sparks (grades K-2nd) and really enjoying it! He finished his entry-level book and is now well into the Skipper book. He earned his Skipper patch last Sunday, but won't receive it until award night at the end of the month. Benjamin is a Cubbie (3 and 4 year olds). He is so proud to have his own book, bag, and vest. He, too is memorizing a scripture verse each week and earned his Jumper patch last Sunday. So here they are, the Spark and the Cubbie:  |
These sound pretty interesting and I'm always up for new books, especially when they're free!   Enter to win the complete set of Terrestria Chronicles on the HSB Company Porch! Go to the Front Porch if you'd like to enter too!
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I know I've been MIA for awhile, okay three weeks. But I've really been trying to discipline myself to stay off the computer for long periods of time until I get my daily chores done. Thus blogging has gone on the back burner. But here I am and with a couple of pics to share! I took my boys for their haircuts on Monday and we decided to do something a little different with Benjamin's hair, well at least different for him. We had our friend Lori give him a bowl cut. Braden had this hairstyle when he was 2 until almost 4 years old. I think Benjamin looks really cute like this and so much older! So here is his new 'do! Front view (complete w/ pink lollipop):  Back/side view:  |
Posted in school
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First, I must say, this is quite an accomplishment for me: three blog posts in four days!!! (Okay so the last two were a tag and an award, but at least I was blogging, right?) So, as my title proclaims, it's been a week of firsts around here! Last Wednesday, Ethan had his first solid food (except of course the tiny bite of Jell-O Daddy gave him...) I fixed about a tablespoon of rice cereal, making it extra thin and, boy did Ethan love it! He had been showing interest in food for a couple of weeks, going so far as grabbing Brady's cup of Jell-O (thus the bite...).  Don't let the wide-eyed look fool you, he really did like it. See?  Yes, that is cereal all over his chin. He wore more than he ate this night (and the next, and next and next. But who's counting, right?) Benjamin and I started a new preschool program two weeks ago. It's a Letter of the Week program. We started with an intro to the alphabet week and then moved on to letter A. We have a bulletin board that we work with daily, books about words that start with our week's letter. I also use a puppet to help teach and we make snacks to go with our letter. We also learn a poem and a song and do lots of coloring and lots of crafts. One of letter A's crafts was to color a large A and large a, then cut them out and glue them onto an apple print frame. Benjamin and I painted an apple cut in half with red paint and stamped it onto construction paper to make our frame. He loved painting with the apples so much!  For letter B this week, he made a "stained-glass" butterfly with tissue paper scraps and LOTS of glue!  And finally, Braden and I finished our first lapbook of the year. (For those clueless about lapbooks, they are a teaching tool that utilizes file folders and lots of paper and construction paper and imagination.) We read Charlotte's Web as part of our Core 1 studies. We decided to lapbook about spiders. (Not my favorite subject, but Braden LOVES them!) Here is a pictorial description of what we did: Braden w/ his completed book:  A close-up of the cover (Braden drew the web, then outlined it w/ glitter glue. I printed the spider, he colored it and we glued it on so the legs are 3-D):  The inside:  The left top is a picture Braden drew of Charlotte:  Bottom left is a mini-book that describes how spiders spin a web. Braden drew the pictures (using a library book for inspiration) and copied the description form the same book:  Middle top is a flip-open file that shows a spiders anatomy and gives descriptions of each part. Braden labeled the parts and colored the picture. (Worksheet downloaded from Enchanted Learning.  Bottom middle is a game. There is a picture of a spider on a pocket. The opposite pocket has pictures of different items (6 insects and 6 other objects, like a flag, an ice cream come, etc.). The point is to feed the spider the insects by putting them in the pocket and leaving out the things a spider would not eat.  Top right is a comparison of a spider leg and the bones of a human leg (in the book, Charlotte tells Wilbur that humans and spiders have a lot of the same names for their leg parts):  Bottom right is an accordian book telling the life cycle of a spider:  And finally on the back is a book about spiders that Braden completed (again downloaded from Enchanted Learning):  Whew! I'm tired and the baby's crying because he wants to eat. I guess now you'll have to wait a month or two for another entry! J/K! If CrossView has her way, I'll be blogging every day! |
Posted in miscellaneous
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WOW!!! I won an award! My sister, Kellie, awarded me for the Nice Blogger Award! Thanks, Sis!
Good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those that have a postive influence on the blogging world. Once you are awarded please feel free to pass it on to other bloggers. " As you can read from her blog, "Debbie, my sister, because she really is nice and always leaves me nice comments here. We're a good balance for each other because she normally does not cause liquid to come out of your nose. Really, you just need one per family. (I also owe her big time for convincing her when we were ages 10 & 4 that the rest of our family were all vampires and that she was adopted. And I got a nice award?!)" Kellie feels like she owes me this! (And, yes, I was convinced that they were all vampires and I had no one to tell because, well, my mom, dad, grandma and sister were all, well, vampires. She really was evil sometimes!  )I'm not totally sure what I've done ot deserve this award, but I definitely appreciate it. And now I'm nominating two others for this award! They are Stefanie, because ever since I began my journey with Sonlight, we've been on the same core and she's always been encouraging and uplifting. My oldest and her oldest are a day apart in age and Stefanie and I tend to have some of the same thoughts and ideas about things. Finally, she deserves a little "niceness" with all she's been through recently! And, Teaching Miss Smarty Pants, because, again, we've been on the Sonlight journey together. She's also just relocated to a new state, is redecorating her house and just needs to have a little "niceness!" |
Posted in miscellaneous
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Here we go! I got another tag, this one from my friend Crossview Academy Rules: You must answer the questions accurately, and no wimping out! You must tag 5 other people. Easy! Ok! Here are the questions: 1. What is your favorite bible verse? A verse that has so much meaning in my life for many, many years:"For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord. 'Plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future,'" Jeremiah 29:11 2. What season of the year is your favorite? Why? Spring! I love the sunshine and warmth, but it's not to hot. Everything is green and colorful and bright! 3. Do you think homeschooling will continue to grow? I certainly hope so! 4. List 4 people that have most influenced your life. ~My mom: she raised me, without a husband to support her, and has had the most influence on who I am today~my sister: She's six years older than me and I've always looked up to her. While she may not know this, I've always looked at how she handles situations and tried to act likewise if faced with similar things ~my grandma:She lived with us when my parents divorced and helped raise us. She was a strong woman and a great person. The last few years of her life, she and i became very close as I drove her to so many doctor appointments. I miss her so much! ~my husband: So much of Brady has rubbed off on me! His sense of humor, his style of speech, etc, etc... 5. What is your favorite non-biblical quote? I really can't think of one particular quote. However, I LOVE to quote movies and will often quote them when I can't think of anything else to say.6. Silk, satin, or cotton? whatever! 7. If you like chocolate, what is your favorite? Anything dark chocolate. I have a current addiction to Ghiradelli's raspberry filled dark chocolate squares 8. If you could sit at dinner with 5 people, who would they be? My husband, three kids and my grandma (sorry mom and Kellie...it said I had to limit it to five and I would love to have dinner with Grandma!) 9. Who is your favorite author? Dee Henderson, Angela Elwell Hunt 10. Who will you tag? OhPumpkinShellz Kellie Stefanie Lydia's Mommy And Adrienne (sorry can't link to you...on a different computer!) |
Posted in Family
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Yep! Ethan rolled over from his back onto his tummy today at 3.5 months! I checked back to see when my other two rolled. Braden rolled from his back to tummy just shy of three months. Benjamin first rolled from his tummy to his back at 4.5 months, so he's pretty much in the middle there. I had Ethan on a big blanket in the living room and Braden was sprawled out next to him working on a lapbook. Aren't they cute?   I wandered to the other end of the room to help Benjamin put together a puzzle. I hear Braden yell, "Mom! Ethan just rolled over! I tried to stop him, but I couldn't do it!" (Poor kid. He thought he needed to keep Ethan from getting hurt.) So I come back down to where they are and find this:   He looks pretty proud of himself, doesn't he? |
Posted in school
My new blog friend at CrossView Academy let me know the other day that I hadn't updated my blog. Would you like to know the reason why?!? Well, it doesn't matter if you don't, it's my blog and I'm going to tell, er, show you! So here is my reason for abandoning my blog for such a long time.    Don't you just LOVE all those shelves of books?!? A teacher's dream. SO there you have it, I've been spending all of my free time the last few weeks getting ready for school. I've gathered my books, organized my instructor's guide and gotten myself as organized as I'll ever be! So all of this prep led us to start school on Monday! Braden is now officially a first grader! Here he is fresh from bed on his first day of school. (Please take note that this is not your typical "all-dressed-up-with-a-shiny-new-backpack-on" first day of school picture!)  For Braden's first grade curriculum, we're using Sonlight Core 1, which is an introduction to World History. We're starting in Ancient history and we'll make it through Ancient Rome by the end of the year. Our day went well, even with the typical first day delays. I am trying to do a full day of school with Braden while keeping Benjamin entertained and Ethan fed and clean. It's not as easy as it looks. Here's a few more shots of Braden on our first day: Reading his first read-alone reader, Clara and the Bookwagon:  Doing Wordly Wise:  And adding Maryland to our markable map:  I'm planning on doing a letter of the week preschool curriculum with Benjamin this year, too. My plan was to get a couple of weeks done with Braden so we could establish routine, then add in Benjamin. However, he wasn't having it. As soon as he saw what Braden and I were up to, he wanted to know, "Where's my 'Cool,' Mommy?" So, i dug up a worksheet I had on hand from the library's reading program and did "cool" with Benjamin. We worked on color patterns on the worksheet and then used Braden's pattern blocks to do more patterns. He loved it. Here's Benjamin doing school. Placing his pattern blocks into a green-green-orange pattern:  Later he sorted a handful of blocks into colors. He's so proud!  And what was Ethan doing all this time? Just chilling! He's been so good. He eats and hangs out with us. He'll nap in his swing or sit in the bouncy or sit with us while we read. It's been going well. And here's the little stinker on the first day:  And I just have to share these few pics of him taken today, the cool dude!   Well, I better get back to making sure everything is ready for school tomorrow! |
Posted in miscellaneous
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My sister tagged me with this, so here goes... The Rules: 1. All right, here are the rules.
1. Tomorrow is my 29th birthday. Hard to believe I'm almost 30. I still feel 17. 2. I have three boys, all born via C-section. After the first unplanned one, it's been kind of nice to have everything planned out ahead of time and just go into the hospital and have a baby! 3. I am addicted to lattes. My current favorite is Orange Mocha. I also really enjoy Chai lattes and Caramel macchiatos. 4. For the past three years, I have headed up the K4-K5 program at our church. For the past 18 months, I've written my own curriculum for it. 5. I love to act! In high school, I was part of the drama group for my church youth group. While normally an introvert, I loved being up on stage in the spotlight. And my youth group had about 100 teenagers! Haven't done much since then, unless you count leading worship for VBS. 6. I have recently completely cut dairy out of my diet. We found out our youngest is allergic to dairy, so in order to keep nursing him, I've gone to a no dairy diet. 7. In college, I double majored in Sociology and Criminal Justice and really wanted to be forensic pathologist. I love CSI, by the way. 8. My two favorite television shows are Survivor and 24. Jack Bauer rocks!
Okay, I now tag AddieGirl, Prncsstefy, teachingmisssmartypants, Shawna Lee, and Marie. Have fun!
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