Well, I recently found out that my class is having a 20 year reunion back home.  I found the site that some of my classmates are hosting and it is SO fun hearing from my old friends.  I wish I could attend the reunion, but at this time it is impossible to do so.  I have been thinking about memories I have from those good ole days.  Some people have disheartening memories, but I on the other hand love the memories I made during those years.  I feel so blessed that my parents moved us back to New Carlisle so I could attend my highschool there.  We lived in the city for awhile, which I really disliked.  When we moved back to New Carlisle I was in the 8th. grade and really behind in my studies.  I had a hard time  getting back to where my other classmates were at the time.  With the help my teachers who cared, and friends who helped me when they could, I managed to stay on the B honor roll my whole high school career.  I was so proud of myself!   I attended all the dances, prom's, played softball,went to the football games,  worked a OWA job, and really had the time of my life.  I made LOTS of friends and really felt like we were a family.  I kept my yearbook, senior newspaper, my senior memory book and my school jacket (that got lost in a move)  I really loved highschool and wouldn't trade my memories for the world. 

 I have often wondered lately if my daughter is missing out, since she is homeschooled. Is she missing out on the opportunities that I had growing up?  I have prayed and asked God to settle it in my mind if we should have taken other roads and put her in school.  I have come to figure out that although her memories will be different ones- they are none the less just as special to her.  She has SO much opportunity to thrive and enjoy her highschool years.  She has different kinds of blessings that God has offered her.  I hope she looks back on her highschool and carries those memories close to her heart as I have done with mine.

Thank you Lord for allowing us to see the blessings you put in front of us.  Lord I pray my reunion goes well, that all arrive and get back safely. Let the joy of reuniting after 20 years be another blessing in each ones hearts!  I thank you for my time at THS and all the memories I carry with me.  I wouldn't be the person I am today without that move back.   Bless my children's life in the same way- keep them close to you and guide them as they continue their education at home.  Help them to also find enjoyment and blessing in their schooling as I did.

Blessings~ Dee

Well we have family in town this week and it has been so fun. We all went out to the golf course to play a round of night time golf under the lights.  It was interesting to say the least haha! I really enjoyed the cooler temperatures and the evening. The bugs well.... What can you say...  there wereTONS of them flying into you haha.  Oh well, it was still fun! 

Logan (our little one we babysit) has made so much progress with his crawling and sitting. He is just about ready to get mobile.  He is so cute and we just love having him around. He starts baby food for lunches this week. That ought to be fun haha!  I imagine we and he will need a bath when we are done.

We will start school full- time again the first full week of August.  Things have been kinda crazy with all the stuff going on this month. I have everything ready to go, just need to get back in the routine of things now.

 I guess that is about it for now- Blessings! Dee

It is July and I have been SO busy with babysitting I've not had time or energy to blog much.  The job is going very well. I love Logan to death, he is one of the cutest babies ever! (mine were too of course lol) He is such fun to have around- he smiles all day long. I have been very busy with him though.  I am starting to get used to him and my body is adjusting somewhat now.  We were also looking into another house to buy.  It seemed to be PERFECT and I really thought it was going to work out.  The sad news came that the appraiser didn't appraise it at what they were wanting. The seller didn't want to lower the price and said they'd just stay. I was  heartbroken and so was everyone else here.  I know the Lord has something in store for us, it just must not be the right time yet.  I fully trust he will provide what we need when we need it.  I "unpacked" the few things I already washed up and put in boxes and got my heart attitude back together where it should be when you are walking with the Lord and trusting  Him.  I know in my heart  it will come- sometimes I am a bit too impatient. I hope to report back a blessing in another year or so on a house that really is the perfect fit for us.

The kid's have had a nice summer break from school this month. It has been nice to take a break and relax a little bit anyway. We will begin full time schooling again August 4.  I wasn't going to give them a month off, but with babysitting, and the house situation... well, it looks like they were blessed lol.

We will have family in town next week- everyone looks forward to seeing Barb and Jim. They are SO fun to have visit. Jim wants to go golfing twice a day for a week lol.  ( I told you they were fun!)  I will still have Logan but we will just include him in our plans each day. 

That's about it for  now- I ordered my curr. for Marie this week- I am excited to see how her Jr. year of highschool goes.  More later

    Blessings~

My daughter and I have decided to sell baby blankets - either crocheted or quilted for your new baby or for a gift. We will custom make them with the colors you'd like. Take a look at some of the examples on my blog and see if your interested... The price for a crocheted blanket will be $15.00 plus shipping. The pieced and hand tied quilts will be $25.00 plus shipping. In the U.S. only please. I will take a check or a money order will be fine. Blessings~ Dee

email me @ dhtrucking@hotmail.com if your interested ~ Thank You!

  We have our baby that we sit. He is adorable and seems to really like being here with us. He is almost 6 mo. old and tries really hard to sit up. He loves to play with my kid's as they really entertain him. I have forgotten how much work a little guy is though. I have to say he will give me some of my strength and flexability back. I keep him from 8:00-5:30 Monday-Friday. I really am enjoying him and his toothless, slobbery smiles LOL!

Blessings to all~  

  Well, It is time for a garage sale!  We will be taking our things over to Marie's piano teachers house tomorrow for a sale this weekend.  We tore our basement apart and went though almost every bin and box down there. I have a 1/2 basement full LOL. I am praying the Lord will give us good weather, not too hot or rainy!  I was really going to do this in the fall, but Anne said she wanted to do it sooner so I decided to go ahead and get it done.  I am trying to sell a bunch of my school curr. and things.  If I don't sell it at the garage sale I might put it on my blog to see if anyone wants to buy it. My prices are very cheap, so I am guessing I will sell most of it. (I hope anyway) My school room was overflowing with things I really don't need anymore.  Other than that, the weather has been hot or rainy this past week.  I will be glad to have a few weeks off from school now to HOPEFULLY relax.  I will only be taking about 2-3 weeks off this summer before we begin our new school year.  I am in the process of making up the portfolio's and transcripts.  Looks like Marie will have a 4.0 this year!!! (GREAT JOB MARIE!!!)  She works so hard in all she does and makes me a very pleased mama!  The boys also will have an A average this year, they also worked extremely hard. I am SO pleased with their efforts. 

  Be Blessed~

  Saturday afternoon we took a field trip to the battlefield in our town, It was really interesting!  I think it sparked some interest in history (praise the Lord).  I know when you see things like artifacts or houses that have a story to them it really does make a difference in the understanding.  Michael said he thought that the war would be boring, but said he changed his mind. I really learned alot myself about how hard it was for the soldiers to walk so far, fight out in the open field, and how they had to make their way across massive amounts of brush and tree's in the 100 deg. temperatures. We saw an old uniform, swords, supplies, medicines etc.  It was all in all a very interesting time. 

Blessings~

Here are more blankets that my daughter and I made for the baby ministry at church....

 

This Mother's Day was very special... Michael my youngest son (the baby) was baptized.  Michael accepted Jesus at VBS in 2004, but because we were waiting on the Lord's guidance on wether or not my DH would be pastoring a church, we figured we'd wait and see if ole dad could do his baptism. Well, we in the mean time decided to join the church we were attending and that meant Michael would need to go ahead and get his baptism taken care of.  The interesting part was that the pastor knew our situation and why we waited and asked my DH if he'd like to do it.  We were SO thrilled with this special opportunity. SO, on Mother's Day my DH got to baptism Michael, and what a beautiful event it was.  I just REJOICE at how God is SO good to us and how He just how he KNOWS our hearts exactly and so perfectly. Thank You Lord for that awesome opportunity!  Michael will always remember the day he was baptized and thanks to YOU- so will his daddy!  God is SO good! Let's focus on his goodness this week.

     Blessings~ Dee

Here is a picture of how our herb garden is coming along...

Well, here I sit waiting on pizza and it is smelling pretty great!  We finished cleaning house today and getting the last piano practice in before the recital Sunday. I do hope the meeting with the prospective parents for my babysitting job goes well tomorrow.  Marie is going to bake cookies and make some iced tea for a special treat for them.  I taught her about being hospitable to guest who come over this week. We will give it a try and see how it all goes with our guests.  The boys helped so much today- they are just as excited as I am on the possibility of little Logan coming. 

I am praying that the Lord blesses our new decisions! The job, The house, The education of the children, and my health!                

In Him, Dee

 Well after only 1 day of putting up my flyer and lots of prayer I got a call.  I am excited to have an opportunity to bless a family by watching one or two of their children.   I believe it will be their son who is 5 and half months old.  I am hoping to set up a meeting with the family Saturday at our home.  I feel like God answered my prayers really quickly.  I do hope I can keep up with a 50 hr. week job though. I do have some worry about my strength. ( but I know if it is of God, He will provide what I need)  Either way I am excited about it!

 The kid's are doing well, finishing up their studies for the year. I didn't plan on much of a summer break for them, but they have earned a small one I think.  The boys MUST master their times tables before moving to the next grade though.   ;-)

 Marie is almost done with her geometry- she has some science and history yet to read and get finished.  I am happy to say she is getting a break from piano and babysitting over the summer. She is glad about that.  Her volunteer job will continue on though. 

 

 We are still making baby blankets- I finished my first one and Marie took her's and mine to church sunday. They were lovely.  We are planning a garage sale also the middle of June.  We are busy, busy , busy.   Whew! 

 That is about all for now-  Blessings, Dee

  We got our early this morning and headed to the library.  We began with a biscuit with bacon, egg and cheese this morning from Hardee's (my favorite).  It sure made my stomach feel better!   I decided to get out early even though it is threating rain so we could beat the trafffic at the library.   The boys are wanting to play on the computers a little bit, so I am giving them a few minutes.   I found a few good video's and a new homeschooling magazine to check out.  (yipee!) 

  Our herb garden is coming along really well.  We have many sprouts and they all look fantastic! Pretty soon I will be using them for cooking, and I can't wait. 

       Have a great day!

 We have sprouts in our new herb window garden! It's been exactly 5 days and I already see "basil" I think coming up!  I'm so excited and so were the kid's today.  Pictures to come...

   Waking up to sunshine this morning I knew I wanted to get up and shower and get school started a bit early.  The boys were up and chipper as always at 6:30am.  On my way to the shower I woke up Sunny (parakeet).  Marie was already up and said she'd braid my hair for the day.  We ate an egg sandwich and oatmeal and off to school.  Douglas worked more on his WWI study and read about a family member who served in the war.  We tried to email him but his email came back void. Ah well,  we tried.  He also read how the flu in 1918 killed  around 20-40 million people during that time period.  More than WWI itself.  I thought that was amazing! 

  Michael worked more on the underground railroad unit today.  He didn't waste any time doing his required work so he could go out and enjoy the sunshine.   Marie again did her usual lessons.  She put the finishing touches on her newest baby quilt, and went to do her volunteer job this afternoon.  She had fun pulling damaged books, and cleaning desks. 

  I am making Violia for supper- its smells heavenly!  I'm feeling awfully tired being on this new schedule, it is wearing me out.  I know it is good for everyone else though, so I will try to tough it out.  I will read a chapter of "Pocketfull of Pinecones" to the children tonight before bed.  I LOVE that book!

                  Blessings~

  I am listening to the sound of the humm of the fridge... Ah! all is quiet.  I figured I'd take advantage of it and get my journal updated.  Today we got up and fixed some french toast and sausage for breakfast. It tasted SO good! Marie made some orange juice to go with it. 

 Today Douglas studied about World War I and II.  We began a new unit study. He is very interested in wars- so I figured we'd go ahead and go through those two.  We did some reading in the DK WWI book today and discussed mainly the "trenches" that the soldiers built.  I sat down and put together a unit study from internet pages last night, I did it all in 3 hours. (not too shabby!)   I am not going to discuss the graphics as I think he is too young still.  I think he can get the biggest portion of it by what I plan to teach. Of course Douglas did his regular math, spelling, reading and penmanship practice.  Douglas and Michael want to begin working with leather. They want to make wallets, key rings, belts, and another other item that would be fun.  They would like to make Christmas presents to give away also.  The kid's and I will also be planting an Herb window garden this week.   I hope it grows well and we can use them for cooking.

 Michael is working on his "Civil War and Underground Railroad" unit. He began it last year but really needed to add more too it.  I have Dover coloring books to corelate with those units.  I read some to him about what exactly the underground railroad was today.  He worked on cursive writing, multiplication tables, reading and spelling also.   Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglas were a topic of discussion. Michael is trying to learn piano (sister teaching him). He doesn't like it too much, but knows its good for  him. He wants to try his hand at cooking more often also.  He and brother Douglas are going to make me a birdhouse (maybe) for my flower garden.  

  Marie finished her "Circut Riders" lapbook.  It turned out fantastic!  She included Modern Evangelism into her study.  She Put  missionary letters, prayer cards, and even mentioned Raceway Ministries in it.  I thought it was really cool how she combined her information together.  Her writing ability has improved very much.  In school today she did her norm- English, Geometry, Biology, History and Spanish.  She finished her Spanish today for the year and will do review for the remaining school year.  She is about done with her Geometry course as well.  I plan on doing the DVD Algebra II next year. That worked out great! English, Biology and History will be done in about 2 and half months.   She's done SO good this year.  I can't wait to put her portfolio and transcript together.   I will be adding her communinty service of being a "weather watcher" for our local news channel, and her volunteer job at the library.  She also babysits one day a week, takes piano, teaches piano, practices guitar, makes baby blankets for a church ministry, and loves to paint and make cards and scrapbooks.  She's a busy girl!

  Other than that, "Sunny" is doing well. He lets the kid's pet his belly and feathers on  his wings.  He is the cutest and sweetest birdy ever!  He sits up on their fingers to eat his treat also.  They really are enjoying him.  He sleeps on his swing and knows when its bedtime. 

 I guess that is about all I have time for . It is almost lunch time and I need to figure out what that will consist of.               Have  a blessed week~

 How exciting, Marie is gone for her first day of volunteer work at the college library.  I am so excited for her!  She will get to work 1 day a week for 3 hours that day.  I am hoping to stretch it out for about 2-3 months.  I was told they have a plan together to allow her to shadow and learn from each person up there, from the director to the janitor.  I am so thrilled God has blessed her with this opportunity.  I want all the kids when they turn 16 to volunteer for 2 summers before getting a "real" job.  Next year we are hoping to set up something in the church office.  I do hope that goes well also.  

  Marie wants to attend this college in 2 years, so this will get her more comfortable being up there.  She will also get to see students, professors and books that are most used.  She might be able to get a part-time job in the library when she is ready.  I do pray that she finds enjoyment and lots of valuable information while she trains.

 

 

Everyone Welcome (SUNNY)  he is our newest addition to the family.... We think he's pretty wonderful!

 

  I am sad to report that today my beloved parakeet of 11 years passed away.  Cowboy was an amazing full of spunk friend to us all.  He enjoyed singing along to Marie's piano music and saying prayers with her at night.  He would always chime in!   He was a spoiled and very loved bird.  I was told that him living to 11 was amazing in itself.  I call it blessed!   We will all miss him greatly. 

  Marie is just about to celebrate her "16th" birthday on the 29th.  We are planning a party for her. I have put her 2 brother's in charge of decorating and planning.  They are doing a superb job of it!  Her theme will be "Western".  The boys know LOTS about that LOL. We have a checked table cloth (red) for the table, bandana's (red) for the napkins, balloons, streamers in red, white, and black.  They are going to make saloon doors out of cardboard for the kitchen entrance and make a HUGE cactus to hang on the patio door.  I have daisy's for the centerpiece with american flags.  For the games- horseshoes, target practice with squirt guns and plastic bottles, and lasso the stuffed animals. I bought these cute paper old fashioned popcorn containers 1.47 at Hobby Lobby to hold the kettle corn treats for game winners!  We will be grilling out hamburgers (cow patties), Hot dogs (little doggies), Chips, Veggie tray (fresh Pickins'), baked beans (chuck wagon beans), potato salad (tater salad) I am making a menu "western style" to give everyone who comes.  I am also putting together some old timey birthday invitations- we are going to burn the edges of the cards and ink them in antique brown to make them look old.  I found vintage photo's to add also.

I want her birthday to be something she will always remember.  We are going to get her cake with a picture of her on it and it will say "Happy Birthday Sweet "16" Little Darlin' "  lol.   I hope she enjoyes herself. 

Monday- Douglas has his basketball award night at church.  I am preparing  7 layer bean dip to take for the covered dish dinner, and I purchased a sheet cake with congratulations to the Rhino's! 

I think we are having too much fun! We are having  Spring Break from the 24th.-30th. yipee!  company coming for Marie's party so I need time to clean and decorate etc.  Kid's need a break to play.

Blessings until next time 

Here is my Valentine present....

 

Okay just call me "Michael Jordan Jr." lol!  You should have seen me slidding, running backwards, defending the goal and blocking out today hahahaha!  WHOHOO!!! Go mom!!!  That was the most exercise I've had in a long time.  We took the kids up to the church to play in the gym this morning. We wanted to play and get exercise but most of all do some teaching on how to do some things better today.  Dad had a very sore back, so that left me "MOM" to bump it up a notch HAHA!  I have to say I think I did pretty good considering... The kid's worked up a sweat and had red cheeks after the practice. I think they did fantastic! We had a blast!

I went to Walmart supercenter for some groceries afterwards and then we came home, had a nice lunch, and did some Bible memory verses and had a chapter in our Boxcar book.  The nap that followed felt WONDERFUL and everyone slept good ( I wore the kid's out) haha! 

They are watching "I Dream of Jeanie" DVD's and relaxing right now. It will be a night of relaxation and calm activities.  The boys will have regular B-Ball practice with the team tomorrow night.  Marie and I did some crocheting today- she is almost done with baby blanket #2.  I am still working on mine.  Her's are SO beautiful!

Blessings~

I feel like writing about what all we did today...

I woke up to a dream at 4:30 am. I talked to DH for about an hour and then went back to sleep.  I got up at 8:30am this morning, Marie came in to tell me what time it was. I got dressed and drove her to piano.  After dropping her off, I went to the bank to get some cash and then to McDonald's for a Dlx. Breakfast for everyone. I felt like a little treat today and I was hungry.  I took the food home and me and the boys ate and saved Marie's.  Then we all piled in the van and went to pick Marie up from piano.  After leaving there we went to the Dollar store in search of jump ropes. The boys told me this morning they had a desire to work out using jump ropes. I thought to myself, that's a great idea!  Unfortunately they didn't have any out today.  It must be too early in the season for them yet.  So, we came back home and I assigned jobs for each child. Marie is to Wash, Dry and Put away 2 loads of laundry.  Douglas is to clean the little half bath.  Michael is to dust and vacuum the living room.  I am going to try to upload pictures and send an email to my mother today.  After struggling with the computer for an hour I decided to give it one more try and finally it is working.  Marie gave Douglas a guitar lesson, Michael did some typing practice, and now Marie is playing guitar and the boys are playing with lincoln logs building a fort.

 It is about time for me to get dh up and have some lunch.  I am just making him lunch as I am still full from breakfast. I am wanting to read a chapter of our boxcar book then take a nap.  I will make grilled cheese sandwiches w/ pickles on the side and veg. soup. 

 After resting a bit I made supper (omlets and toast) and then chatted with my dad via web cam for about an hour.  Me and the kids watched "I Dream of Jeanie" later on.  Oh yes, I forgot to mention I cleaned the kitchen before I went to bed tonight.   I guess a did a few productive things today!

 Blessings~

Marie's Experiment:  5.3 Apologia Biology - (you must use fresh pineapple)

"The Fragility of an Enzyme"

Pineapple contains an enzyme that stops the reaction which causes Jello to gel. 

 When pineapple at room temperature was added to Jello it caused the Jello not to set.   When pineapple was heated and added to Jello it gelled fine.  The heat destroyed the enzyme in the pineapple and allowed  the Jello to gel normally.  This proves that enzymes are fragile, in fact  enzymes are so fragile that most food processing destroys them.

(Lesson)

(Reading and Gathering Materials)

(Cut Pineapple, Cooking Pineapple)

(End Products)

  I have been teaching the boys all about fractions this week. I have made them into a unit study and they are having fun learning about them.  Today they mainly focused on how different  fractions equal the same.  Yesterday they studied how to convert mixed numbers into improper fractions and also how to take improper fractions and convert them into proper fractions.  FUN FUN!  We have added them, subtracted them and  now we're getting ready to multiply them.   They also got some typing practice today and learned about the parts of the computer (some of which they already knew).   Marie made a spreadsheet from a monthly budget and did all the figures. She used the computer program "works" to accomplish this goal.  ITomorrow she will make a  couple graph's using her budget figures. I want  all the kid's to be VERY familiar with the computer and all it can do. 

 Marie has finished all of her assigned school work for today- she is now playing "The Amazon Trail" computer game. The boys are playing "Golf" on the TV game.  I am going to do some blogging, laundry, cleaning and then maybe crochet some later.  Me and Harry are catching a cold- I've been trying to fight it, but I think being out last night in the cold 17 deg. and icy it is about to win the battle over me.  I had to take Douglas to B-Ball practice last night- it was SO cold and windy~  The parking lot in the church was a SOLID sheet of ICE!  I slid through a stop sign- thankfully no one hit me! Okay, I'm ready for spring!!!

                 Blessings~

 

Here are some of the sand castle's being built by some of the world's best sand sculpture artists... While in Ft. Myers they had their annual contest.  It was awesome to see them work and what they created.    Just Beautiful!

Amazing Walter 

 

Dancing Waters!

November 2007 (Vacation)~Michael~ Marie~Douglas ~ Hunting for Shark Teeth at The Shark Tooth Capital of the World (Venice Beach Fl.)   We drove from Ft. Myers up to Venice for this special field trip. We found 3 small teeth in about an hour!   The waters were rough and extremely cold compared to Ft. Myers Beach.  We had a GRAND time!!!

 

  I don't have a lot going on as I am not feeling so great today. The kid's got up early and stuck to their schedules today which I am happy about.  They got all their school work done without much of my help and finished it in a good time.  I decided to go ahead and take  them to the library afterwards.  It was busy, busy as usual. I am getting really tired of all the craziness and noise that is there anymore.  We made it through without spending too much time and managed to bring the library home with us once again lol.  I met my limit of 60 items AGAIN! how can one person get so many things lol! My daughter is as bad as I am, we take our rolling book bag and fill it to the brim.  Oh well, we read most everything we bring home- since we homeschool I guess that would explain it lol!  I did get a few extra video's this week also... Most educational - I like the Inventor's series, I got Monet' and Watt's video.  I also got one on decimals, and test taking stradegies. I am currently reading- Charlotte Masons Companion by Karen Andreola, Devotions for Homeschooling Mom's, and Keep It Simple by: Emilie Barnes!  I am enjoying them all VERY much.               

  For dinner me and Marie are cooking- Seasoned Tuna Patties, Homemade Mac-n-Cheese with extra sprinkles of cheese on top, Oven Roasted Potatoes with Olive Oil and Paprika, along with some Angel Eggs. (Deviled Eggs) I prefer "Angel" instead lol.  We will enjoy tropical fruit salad for dessert. 

  Well that is about it for today the boys are out playing basketball- trying to get some extra practice in before the games Saturday.  Both are doing very good- Michael scores on average 12-14 pts a game. Douglas is the #1 rebounder. His scoring will pick up as he gets more comfortable. 

                Have  a great week~  Blessings

 Well I braved the rain and thunder to go get my haircut today.  I didn't get too much cut off only about an inch or so off the ends.  I got long layers with the "V" put back into the back for DH.  It has been raining most of the day today. We are having severe weather (tornado's) south of us AGAIN!   Marie and I babysat Imani and Josiah today also.  Imani really didn't want to take her nap (she is 7 weeks old) so we tried to keep her sleeping, but she had other idea's lol.  She is so adorable!  Josiah slept the whole time, he must have been worn out.  

 I am making stuffed baked potatoes for dinner- I am putting cooked broc., fried ham, and cheddar cheese with sour cream and a bit of butter. I will put a side of tomatoes and some corn with this dish.  I LOVE stuffed potatoes!  They are one of my favorites!!!  Sometimes I use chili, broc., and cheddar cheese instead of the ham... YUMMY!   *I wish I had made a loaf of homemade bread to go with it!* (sigh!) 

  Anyway- we had a good day of school, and things to do. I want to relax tonight and enjoy the rain showers.  I do hope we don't get enough bad weather that we will have to hang out in the basement.

             That's it for today- Count Your Blessings~ 

It wouldn't be too hard to get used to this now would it?

   Tomorrow will be here soon enough. Both boys have ball games.  Douglas plays at 9:15 am. and Michael at 10:00am.  Douglas missed his first practice due to the snowfall last night.  He was not happy about not getting to go.  He is a little nervous and a lot excited to play again tomorrow.  Michael had practice on Monday, he is feeling ready for his game.  Both boys love to play ball and I'm so glad the opportunity opened up for Douglas this year!  It seems hard to find "good" teams for homeschooler's. I wish there were more homeschooling sports teams available.  We are heavy into golf in the spring-fall which is a nice alternative to baseball and soccer.  We play as a family which I really appreciate.

  I am trying to find a new hairstyle for myself.  My hair is getting long, down to mid-back.  I haven't had my hair this long since I was a child.  It is a bit thin, and has some damage due to coloring. I am thinking of getting long layers with the back in a "V" shape.  I really hope it gives it some body and a healthier look.  My appt. isn't until next Tuesday so I still have time to pick something out.

  Well we got some measurable snow last night- about 5.25 inches to be exact.  It was so beautiful watching it fall.  I know hubby doesn't enjoy it like I do, because he has to work out in it.  We don't really get hit to hard in the winter with it, but for some reason a little here seems like ALOT because they really don't clean the roads very well.  The kid's played in the snow today and had a snowball fight  and built a snowman with some of their homeschooled friends behind us.  They were laughing and carrying on something fierce! 

  Douglas began with history he studied about the Bill of Rights and what they are.  Science he learned about caves.  In math he did 7's multiplication facts and picture graphs, and in Language he learned about  generalizations. I am going to have  him do some geography and maybe a bit of spelling today also.  Last night we did our Keys for Kid's devotion. We will probably do one during our family reading time also.  We are reading "The Midnight Mystery" in the Boxcar series books. We have only 2 more chapters to go.  He has been reading about cars and basketball this week. He has been exercising any time he can. He is looking forward to basketball practice tonight if the snow holds out for him.

  Marie is doing her geometry, english, science , and history. I need to make up a history test for her this week.  She is helping little brother with his spelling while he talks by white board to our back neighbors lol.  It is snowing and no one is out playing right now.  So, he is using a board to write messages back and forth and draw pictures to his friends.  They are discussing plans to play in the snow and what they all want to play.  Marie is also putting the finishing touches on a crocheted blanket for the baby ministry.

 Michael did science, history, language, and math today. He needs to accomplish his spelling and multiplication 5 facts today also. He has been reading Boxcar books on his own time and trying to get some extra exercise in. He has been playing and practicing basketball when he can.

My Boys!  Hunting Shells on Sanibel Island

These are pictures of our baby quilts and me and my daughter made for the baby ministry at church.

 

 

  Good Morning!  It is bright and sunny but burrr~ cold outside.  I am awake, had a nice hot bath and ready for my eggs and toast to begin my day.  I do hope we have a great day of school. I pray all attitudes are positive and proper for me.  I have to begin my blog entry with an answered prayer- Douglas was laying with me the other night discussing how much he missed playing basketball.  He has played organized ball with the "Upwards" program since he was 5 years old.  He has just turned 13 last week.  He told me how much he really wished there was a way for him to play again and that he has been feeling sad that he's outgrown Upwards.  Well I told him to pray about it and ask the Lord to guide us to another team or maybe see what the Lord wanted him to focus on instead.  Well, while at my youngest son's practice for Upwards, one of our church friends came up to us and asked how old Douglas' was and in what grade?  We told him he was in 6th. grade and his eyes opened wide and he asked Douglas if he'd like to play on his team, that they needed "1" more guy!  My son was SO excited he broke out in a sweat due to his nervousness, excitement, and delight!  This man is the head of our Upwards program at our church and knows my son well. He knows we want our children to play for the GLORY of GOD and to learn sportsmanship, the game, and to get exercise.  We NEVER focus on winning or losing!  We do it for the good of the game, and the Love of our Lord and the health of our bodies!   God has blessed him with this opportunity and I know he will totally enjoy himself.  Just thought we could all use a reminder that God does hear us and he does answer our prayers!  I can not figure out how we can ever for a second wonder these things, with all the prayers we see get taken care of in  His way.  But, I am sad to say sometimes I still wonder if He is really listening.  I'm SO thankful HE really DOES!

 Thank you God for providing a way for Douglas'  Thank You for hearing the thoughts and prayers of a little boy... You are SO wonderful and I love you SO much!  

              Blessings, Dee

 Today my daughter bought me two bouqets of flowers at the store.  She told me it was "Happy Valentine's Day Early" lol. They are very pretty and I have them where I can enjoy them alot. 

 We are putting the binding on our first quilted baby quilt for the church ministry.  It is hard to figure this part out, but Marie is doing her best trying to read, ask for Nana's help, and just trying different types of things on the machine.  I can't wait to post a photo of it, it is so cute! I love the tractor material.  This one is obviously for a boy!

  We had a treat of chicken strips, mashed poatoes, mac-n-cheese, and coleslaw for lunch today. I went to the deli to get our lunch and it tasted so good.

  I heard that my brother and family are doing fine in Sweden last week. They *finally* got done with deputation and headed to the mission field.  I'm excited for them.  I'm asking God to take good care of them and to keep them safe.

  That's about it for today-   Be Blessed~

We found oodles of shells, 61 sand dollars, a pelican feather, and I brought home 3 containers of sugar fine sand!

I want to share more of my pictures from our vacation- this is a photograph I took at Ft. Myers Beach one evening from our back patio. Just beautiful!!! 

  My sweet hunk of a guy has turned *13* today!  He was up at 2:35 am to see what it felt like at his real birthday time .  13 years ago today I was handed the most precious baby boy anyone could have.  He was handsome, chunky, and had a light puff of hair on his round head.  His sweet personality shone through from birth.  He is now a VERY tall amost 6 ft. guy with the prettiet blue eyes with the  most caring heart you can imagine.   He is getting interested in cars (camaro's) or hotrods, girls (sigh!), and wanting to participate more at church.  He helps me SO much each day around the house- and most of the time is very pleasant. He enjoys cooking, crocheting, putting together models, and creating stuff from nothing.  I am SO thankful he loves the Lord~  God has been so good to me as a mother being that all my children have accepted Christ!  That is such a burden lifted on a parent to know that they will gain entry to heaven some day.  I praise the Lord for Douglas as he is the most talented, and wonderful child a mom could ever wish for.  I love him dearly and pray everyday that the Lord would continue to work in his heart, changing him and molding him for His glory!  I pray that someday he will understand the love that a parent has for their child. I hope he gets to feel the same love for his own quiver full!  

God, today I ask a special prayer for my "Douglas".  God be with him always- continue to guide him and draw him close to You!  I pray that you give him wisdom for the things he will need as he continues through this next year. Help him to feel Your love- feel your proding- feel your teachings.  Father, bless him and protect his sweet, innocent, and precious heart.   In Your Name I  pray these things!  Amen!

  Well I got the email yesterday that said our team would need to prepare the meal for a family who delivered their baby boy  last week.    I prepared a green bean casserole and a loaf of homemade bread with peach jellies to take to the church today.   I got to see the basket that they had prepared to give them also, it had a blanket, stuffed bear, card, and a cute handmade towel.  I am so happy to be involved in this ministry.  Marie and I cut out pieces for our first quilt to give away for another baby yesterday.  We made 4 inch squares from a cute lady bug and flower patterned material and we will team it up with a mint green solid.  It will be VERY cute when we get it done.   I will post a picture of it after it is completed.  We will next do some "boy" themed quilts.  

                     Blessings~

 This afternoon Marie and I went to babysit our new neighbor girl. She is about a month old and I feel like it makes a great opportunity for Marie to learn the basics about a newborn.  Imani is her name and she is the most adorable, sweet, precious little girl I've held in a long time.  I just loved having a baby in my arms once again.  She smiled at us and seemed so comfortable around us, that is was a very enjoyable time. Marie will learn a great deal from Imani and I hope it  helps prepare her for motherhood.  I am going to help her and teach her as she learns.   Josiah is her big brother, he is 3 years old and is still trying to adjust to his new sister.  I hope we can help him become more accepting of her while we are there.  I remember when mine were introduced to little brother lol.  It takes a little time to get used to the idea of a baby. 

       Thank You Lord for all you allow us to do:     Blessings~

  We are getting involved with a new baby ministry at our church. I am so very excited about it.  My daughter Marie will be making quilts by either piecing or crocheting. I will be making a dish to take to the family and a homemade loaf of bread.  When the flyer came in, I knew it was a ministry for a mother and daughter.  The boys will be helping me do the baking and cooking also.  I didn't want them to feel excluded in any way. We have our first family this week - I am making green bean casserole and a loaf of bread to go with the beef brisket that the team leader is taking.  Marie has begun her baby quilt- she is crocheting one and cutting pieces to make a quilted one.  I bought her a acrylic square and a new rotary cutter to help make her job a bit easier.   I am SO grateful for the opportunity to serve the Lord with our gifts.  He is SO good!

                Be Blessed~

Here is Grace getting ready for her spring bath.  We love her very much!

 

Well, we are back from Florida (Fort Myers Beach) .  We did a unit study, read MANY books, gathered internet information, watched a live web cam from the exact spot we would visit, and ordered many field guides for ocean animals, shells, shark teeth etc.  I think we were very prepared for our vacation.  I had list of things to see and do and "items to take" list and even a menu for the long drive we were expecting.   Looking back on it I think we actually did a very good job of preparation.   

On arriving to our "condo" we walked into a dream come true.  We were so amazed at how wonderful the place was and how roomy.  We had 2 large bedrooms with King sized beds.  The kid's room overlooked the pool and mine and dh room had a glassed wall that made the sunsets just BREATHTAKING!!!  my youngest son had the pull out bed from the loveseat in our room.  It had 2 full baths and a wonderful florida room to watch the boats in the ocean.  The full kitchen made for a nice place to have snacks and a few homecooked meals.  the living room and dinning room were very comfortable and so clean.  We were SO blessed!  The kicker is, it was ALL free to us thanks to my husband's employer.  Praise be to God!  

We did our fair share of swimming in the 70 deg. pool. (lovely) and we did ALOT of exploration.  We visited near by "Sanibel Island" and "Captivia Island" to do some shell hunting. They say the best in the world. We found many, many lovely shells.  We drove to Venice Beach to hunt for shark teeth, also the best place in the country to find those. We did find 3 small teeth to bring home.  The sand on Ft. Myers beach was SUGAR white and SOOOOOO SOFT!  I found it like therapy playing in it myself.  God has created such wonderful things for us to enjoy.   We stayed for 7 days and I have to say we traveled all over the area enjoying all we could.  I soaked in so much sun and beauty it left me wanting more.  We took over 700 photographs while there and they are a treasure to me.  we brought back a bunch of sand and a box full of shells.   One of the highlights came when we hit the jackpot - we found 61 sand dollars! I could not believe them all.  I brought each one home to share with other homeschooling friends and some of the kid's in our neighborhood.  I just feel God was with us and gave us all the time of our lives! 

                     God Bless~

 

We spent the whole evening and into the night in the basement.  There were 60? tornado warnings issued for the surrounding areas.  When they said there was a tornado about 2 miles from our home we decided we'd better take it really seriously.   I am very thankful God protected us this night.   Marie, of course was very excited (she is a weather lover) this is exactly right up her alley.   She was interested in the path, the hail size, the clouds, and all the weather stuff.  We took photo's of the 2 inch hail stones that fell.  She gathered 3 1/2 inches of rain from her guage also.   According to her- it was a great night!

                  Blessings~

  Today we were accepted to our local television station to be a weather watcher. Marie is very excited to do this. She is a weather fanatic!  But of course, isn't every homeschooler?  We get SO excited to see a storm roll in or hear about a possibility of snow heading our way.  I think it's just perfect for our family to do this.  What a learning experience and what a good thing to do for the community.  I'm very happy we are going to be  involved.  I bought a new thermometer and rain guage to set up outside.  I found a site on the web where it describes how to watch your weather and graph the results.  We will offer our weather anchor not only highs and lows and precepitation results.  But, we will give him sky conditions wind conditions, and anything else we can come up with that is accurate.   FUN FUN!

  Well we are babysitting tonight- so I must get going... Blessings~

  Yes its true!!!  Marie talked me into decorating before we leave for vacation.  So, we have our new white tree up and our large beautiful green tree up in the living room (FLUFFING OUT) lol.  I can not believe its that time again... I am going S-l-o-w with it, but it seems SO early!   I know our neighbors think I'm crazy, but if they knew the circumstances they'd understand lol ( I think)   We will be having company after we get back from vacation and I won't feel like doing all of this then SO... that means we must do it now.  We will be having Christmas time with our family when they come and I want it to be festive and comfy.  Ah well, who doesn't love Christmas decorations? ( I do)

 Well, need to get back to cleaning so the decorations can go up!  Blessings~

 

  Today we got busy on a nice full day of school.  Marie is down in the school room teaching an art lesson this afternoon.  They are making clothespin pilgrims and orgami turkey's.   From what I am listening too, they are having fun!  I am interested in seeing what they come up with in a little while.  Michael wanted to do a clothespin "Indian" instead of pilgrim lol. 

  We won't be babysitting tonight because the Bible Study was cancelled due to someone's birthday.  Marie will instead chat with Nana over the web cam.  It will be good for her to once again meet with my mom each week. 

  We sent the cards we made and painted for mom's homemaker club bazaar this November.  I do hope they all sell.  Marie and I put together sets of 4 cards w/ envelopes to be sold. I think we sent a total of 8 or 9 packs.  I would buy them, so I hope others will too.

  Marie has sent her quilt top to Nana for quilting.  It turned out SO great for her first one.  She is going to give it away to Aunt Barb for Christmas.  I know Barb will cherish it!  Marie and Nana have been working on another quilt that Marie will keep for herself after its done.  I think my daughter is the most talented girl I know her age.  She can just do anything with a little help getting started.

  That's about it for now - Be Blessed~