My Family

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I feel that an explanation is due for my absence on this blog lately, so here I am to give it!

This is our family's busiest time of the year, so my blogging will be sporadic at best until August. Rob and I coordinate our church's annual vacation Bible school, which begins next Monday. We are also part of a team that plans a large community outreach that takes place at the end of our VBS week. To top it off, we are training and taking a team of youth to Mexico for a short-term missions trip in July.

I thought that I would at least be able to keep up with the MPM and HOTM memes during this busy time, but I really have not had a chance to blog at all. Although I have really been enjoying it, I have to be careful of priorities at this busy time of year, and blogging has to be low on the list.

If I have a little time here or there, then you will see a post, but there will be nothing regular until August.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and have a wonderful summer!

~Andrea

I just thought I would write a quick post so you know I'm still here. :-) I've been so much better about keeping up with this blog lately that I feel like I'm slacking if I am too busy to post!

I've been busy working on some friends' computers, planning for a couple of upcoming church outreaches, homeschooling, yada yada - you get the picture.

It has been a crazy couple of weeks for computers! A friend's hard drive crashed. After multiple attempts to clean it up, I ended up having to reformat it and reinstall her operating system. My pastor has been having some computer problems that I was finally able to resolve. Another friend's computer crashed and she needs help moving her files from her old hard drive to her new computer. It has been fun and interesting, but I am tired of computers right now. My eyes are blearing over as I type. :-)

My family's busy season has officially arrived, so I may be sporadic with my posts for a couple of months. I am trying to post at least a few times a week, though, and I will attempt to make them meatier and more interesting than this one.

Here are a few of posts that I am considering in the near future:

• Generating and Personalizing a Tapestry of Grace Booklist
• Creating a 3-column Template on HSB
• Printing a Booklet in Adobe Acrobat Reader

There - now I have to post about those topics! If you are particularly interested a topic that I listed (or something similar), please let me know and I will work on it first.

Have a great weekend if I don't get back here before next week!

~Andrea

This topic for this week's Heart of the Matter Online Meme is Your Favorite Books.

Of course, the Bible is at the top of my list of favorites. As much as I love to read, that is the only Book I cannot do without.

It would be very difficult for me to choose only my favorite books, so how about my favorite authors, as well as some favorite titles and series? When I was a child, I read everything I could get my hands on by Louisa May Alcott; we have also read at least one out loud as a family. The Anne of Green Gables series is definitely a childhood favorite. We are currently reading Anne of Green Gables as a family. I also loved Heidi, by Johanna Spyri and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, by Kate Douglas Wiggin.

Other favorites in the classics genre include The Lord of the Rings trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien; The Chronicles of Narnia , by C.S. Lewis (as well as his nonfiction books); Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne; The Swiss Family Robinson, by Johann Wyss; Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky; War and Peace and Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy; Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott; and most of the George MacDonald novels I have been able to find. My current favorites are books by Charles Dickens and Jane Austen. Persuasian is my favorite by Jane Austen; I cannot pick a favorite by Charles Dickens. I recently discovered Elizabeth Gaskell's novels and enjoyed North and South and Cranbrook.

Favorite homeschooling books: A Charlotte Mason Education and More Charlotte Mason Education, by Catherine Levison;The Three R's and You Can Teach Your Child Successfully, by Ruth Beechick; and Beyond Survival: A Guide to Abundant-Life Homeschooling, by Diana Waring.

Favorite child-rearing books: How Children Raise Parents: The Art of Listening to Your Family, by Dan B. Allender and Age of Opportunity: A Biblical Guide to Parenting Teens, by Paul David Tripp.

My favorite homemaking book is The Hidden Art of Homemaking, by Edith Schaeffer. I also like Frugal Luxuries: Simple Pleasures to Enhance Your Life and Comfort Your Soul, by Tracey McBride.

As far as other nonfiction books, I like to read about whatever we happen to be studying or whatever our pastor gives us to read. I always have a stack of books that I am reading. Two recent reads that stick out include Families at the Crossroads: Beyond Traditional and Modern Options, by Rodney Clapp and Deep Justice in a Broken World: Helping Your Kids Serve Others and Right the Wrongs Around Them, by Chap Clark and Kara E. Powell.

I could add more, but this post would turn into a series! If you would like to participate in the Your Favorite Books meme, go to Heart of the Matter.

~Andrea

...or "What Were We Thinking?"

The boys have been begging me for the book "Backyard Ballistics" almost since we began homeschooling. Well, I finally ordered it (after getting Rob's approval, of course) and the book arrived yesterday. Now I know why I hesitated....

The boys decided to build a paper match rocket today, which is a pretty harmless-looking project - at least it looks pretty harmless in the book. Of course, instead of making one paper match rocket on a small board, they decided to rig up 3 sets of 5 on a large, duct tape-covered board, complete with numerical labels for the rockets. What is it with boys and duct tape anyway?

Apparently, the launching didn't go very well. It was quite cold and the ammo wouldn't stay lit.

How's that for anticlimactic? The boys don't seem to be deterred, though.

So, you've now seen episode one from Backyard Ballistics at the Elliotts. I hope this doesn't turn into another chicken mummy saga!

~Andrea

We met some really cool bloggers yesterday at a nearby Tim Hortons (whom I was told was the prime minister of Canada - did you know that?). We had a great chat, although it was way too short! The kids got along really well too, although I did hear of some pranks that we missed - guess we were a little too engrossed in our conversation.

The camera man didn't bring a camera yesterday, but our new friends had the foresight to bring theirs, so you can go here for pictures.

Thanks for a great time, Neal and Kristina! Hopefully we can do it again in the not-too-distant future!

~Andrea

I just came upstairs from a trek to the laundry room to bring up a load of clothes from the dryer. Guess what? It was empty! Guess it's already done. Now, that is something for this tired mom to be grateful for! I think I'll go to bed early and read some of Martin Chuzzlewit.

~Andrea

I have had so many things on my heart to blog about lately with no time to do it. I have so much to be grateful for this holiday season! Don't you love Thanksgiving? Even though it can be busy, it is such an opportune time to focus our thoughts on our Lord, our families, and everything that we are grateful for in our lives. I know that sometimes I need reminders to keep a thankful heart.

My husband and I agreed that it is time for me to quit my medical transcription job (we have been slowly weaning ourselves off this income for a few years). The Lord provided someone to replace me, so I should be done in the next couple months. I have also had less work recently. It is wonderful to be able to focus more on my husband, children and home!

Our children have begged us for the past several years to have outside lights for Christmas, but we haven't put them up (mostly out of busyness and not wanting to take the trouble). This year, they begged again, and I asked them if it is really that important to them. They all said yes and gave their reasons, and I thought, "Why not? What's the big deal anyway? It might be a nice new family tradition." So, I talked to Rob, asked him what he thought, and we now have a new tradition. Putting outside lights up earlier in our marriage (when Nathan was a baby) was quite a production, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect this time. Rob kept it simple, though; we bought some of those icicle style lights. And guess who put them up? Nathan and Jordan did it by themselves for the most part! Another huge blessing - they are growing up so fast!

Rob lost his grandmother last week. That was a difficult time, but although we will miss her, it was such an honor to know her and to have such a godly heritage to pass down to our children. She passed into the arms of her Lord last Wednesday.

It rained all night last night, and I think it's still pouring. I think the kids and I will straighten up the house, make something hot to drink, and read some Thanksgiving titles. Maybe we'll do some baking. It's a great day for it! We go to my in-law's home for Thanksgiving, and Rob's dad does almost all of the cooking, so I don't have anything to do for the dinner. I think I'll take the time to have a cozy family day with the kids before things get too crazy with church and other holiday events.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

~Andrea

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