Never a dull day... For a homeschooling Mama. Who is teaching who? Jamin 2007

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Aug. 21, 2008
Rain Painting
After living in the desert for 4 years rain is still a exciting concept to my kids!  So when it rains we all have to run out front on the covered porch and watch.  Since my rent-a-kid was here visiting we were all extra excited about the rain!  So I decided we needed to do some rain painting!  I know, only I could come up with a craft that includes rain! LOL

Here are the kids out watching the rain.

Thinking about getting wet!

Rain painting & rain dancing!  LOL

Finished product

So what is rain painting?  Just put a few drops of food coloring on a paper plate. Hold the plate out in the rain to add some water and let it splatter.  Then set your creation aside to dry.

Viola!

A quick, easy, creative art experiment!  You can’t do that in the desert! LOL


Aug. 20, 2008
My Rent-A-Kid
My rent a kid is here, my rent a kid is here, hi ho the derioo my rent a kid is here!  YAY!!!!!! 

The hardest part of leaving Las Vegas for me was that I couldn't bring my rent-a- kid (AKA: my sons best friend) with us!  So imagine how happy we all are that he is here for a visit!!!!!

Here he is!

Best Friends!

Of course she is thrilled too!

I know his 2 weeks with us will pass WAY too fast!  But, we are planning on enjoying every minute of it!
Aug. 19, 2008
Vultures!
We went over to our friends house over the weekend.  When we parked we noticed
there was a dead squirrel in the street.  About an hour after we got there my 13
year old remembered he had left something in the car.  He comes back in saying
"There are some HUGE vulture like birds out there eating that dead squirrel." We
all figured he was exaggerating until we went outside!  Vulture like?  I'd say these
are actual vultures!  LOL

I had no idea that vultures came into the middle of cities!

Gross enough for you? LOL

This was one of 5 of the vultures that the squirrel attracted. We looked them up
online and these are called Black Vultures and are a cousin to the Turkey Vulture.

There were five of them that we saw.  There were three one the roof, but I could
never get a picture of all three at once. They kept taking turns being on lookout and
the other two would go towards the back of the house.

Then there was this guy who's job was to cirle in the sky over the feast! The wing
span on these ugly creatures was about 3 to 4 feet!  Don't worry we were keeping
out distance and I was using the zoom lense!  LOL

Of course we had to come in and read all about vultures. Not something we
probably would have ever researched unless this had happened! The kids were
about equally fascinated and grossed out!  LOL  We had a lot of interesting
conversations about watching the vultures.  The most interesting one was about
how God made our world with such a delicate balance that he even provided a
clean up crew for dead animals.  As gross as it was to watch, it was really
interesting to see those vultures do there job! (The pelt was pretty much picked
clean when they were done.)

You just never know what teacheable moments may present themselves!  LOL


Aug. 18, 2008
Life is Fragile
Last week was a reminder of how fragile life is.

On Monday I found out the a very good friends father had died. 

On Tuesday my Uncle Phil died.

On Friday I found out that a beautiful lady we went to church with in Las Vegas had died on Wednesday.

We called her Miss Kathleen.  She was my daughters Awana leader for the 2 years she was in Cubbies.  What a blessing Miss Kathleen was in our lives! She was one of those people that just glowed because she loved the Lord so much!  I have such sweet memories of sitting across the hall while I was working in nursery and hearing all the sweet things that Miss Kathleen (as well as her partner Miss Trish.) did with the Cubbies. I have no doubt that Miss Kathleen and Miss Trish had a HUGE impact on my daughter in her walk with Christ.

As soon as I heard of Miss Kathleen's passing the song below came to my mind.  It could have been written for her! I am posting it here in her memory.

Thank You For Giving to The Lord

I dreamed I went to heaven

and You were there with me
We walked upon the streets of gold
Beside the crystal sea.

We heard the angels singing
Then someone called your name.
You turned and saw this young man
And he was smiling as he came.

And he said, "Friend you may not know me now"
And then he said, "But wait"
You used to teach my Sunday School
When I was only eight.

And every week you would say a prayer
Before the class would start.
And one day when you said that prayer
I asked Jesus in my heart."

(Chorus)
Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am so glad you gave.

Then another man stood before you
And said, "Remember the time
A missionary came to your church
And his pictures made you cry.

You didn't have much money
But you gave it anyway.
Jesus took the gift you gave
And that's why I am here today."

(Chorus)
Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am so glad you gave.

One by one they came
Far as the eye could see
Each life somehow touched
By your generosity.

Little things that you had done
Sacrifices made.
Unnoticed on the earth
In heaven now proclaimed.

And I know up in heaven
You're not supposed to cry.
But I am almost sure
There were tears in your eyes.

As Jesus took your hand
And you stood before the Lord.
He said, "My child look around you.
Great is your reward."

(Chorus twice)
Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am so glad you gave.

Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am so glad you gave.

Words and Music by Ray Boltz © Copyright 1988 Gather Music/ASCAP

Thank you Miss Kathleen!  We look forward to seeing you again in heaven someday!


Aug. 15, 2008
Olympic Dinner!
The kids have had the Olympics on every minute that they can all week. Seeing all the different countries represented has made me hungry for exotic foods!  So here is my take on a Caribbean dinner!

We started out with Mango Salsa (The recipe is here - http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/000473mango_salsa.php )
It was SO good!  I can't wait to make it again!!!!

We also had fried plantains
YUM!!! The first time I had these I was in my 20's and working at ABC TV.  They had them at the commissary on the buffet and I thought they were sweet potatoes!  LOL  I had never cooked them until now!  (Here are the directions I used - We also had chicken grilled in lime and butter. (Probably not very Caribbean, but I knew my kids would eat this if they didn't like anything else.)
The kids thought is was SO cool to have a dinner that was so different for us!  (They had never had plantains in their lives and I thought I had gone crazy cooking bananas!  LOL)  Now they want to have a meal from a different country every night for the rest of the Olympics! 

How do I get myself into these things? LOL




Aug. 14, 2008
Wall Art Memories

My Uncle Phil passed away on Tuesday of this week.  He was 86 years old and one of my favorite uncles.  He is a part of MANY of my favorite childhood memories. But, one memory of him stand out in my mind, so I thought I would share that one here.

Uncle Phil was married to my dad's older sister Edith.  (For over 65 years!) By the time my sister and I came along his own children (2 boys) were teenagers.  My Aunt and Uncle doted on my sister and I.  Going to their house was always a treat for us! We were never sent off to play when we visited Aunt Dede and Uncle Phil.  We were always in the middle of whatever was going on.

One night we stopped by Aunt Dede and Uncle Phil's for a visit. The lived in a very nice little house that was built in the late 20's early 30's.  It had the typical front room that was separated by a large archway door in the middle.  It just so happened that the next day they were beginning a remodeling project that would include tearing out the arched wall between the 2 rooms.  As soon as we arrived Uncle Phil disappeared into the other room in search of something.  Soon he returned with a big box of markers, crayons and any other writing instrument he could find.  Then he announced it was time to write on the wall!  My sister and I were pretty sure he had lost his mind!  I mean we KNEW we were not allowed to write on walls!  LOL  But, after some coaxing and he himself leading by example...my sister and I cautiously began to write on the wall!  WHAT FUN!  Before we knew it out came ladders and step stools so we could reach higher and higher!  Then all the grown-ups joined in.  I remember my dad, mom, aunt and uncle all up on those ladders drawing and writing on the walls!  We decorated every inch of BOTH SIDES of that wall!  WHAT FUN!  I must have been somewhere around 4 to 6 years old when this all happened.  But, I remember it like it was yesterday! 

What a great example my uncle was!  From him I learned to seize the moment and make memories loved ones in unconventional ways!  Years later when my oldest son was 6 and my daughter a newborn my husband and I were putting hardwood floor down in our house in California.  We already had all the carpet torn out so the night before we started laying the wood floor...out came the markers!  If anyone ever takes up that wood floor they will find drawing, bible verses, poems, prayers, all our names and MORE.  It was a BLAST to re-live one of my own childhood memories!  Believe me I thought of Uncle Phil many times as we worked on decorating that floor!

Godspeed Uncle Phil.  You were a wonderful blessing to me! Much of my child focused attitude I am sure came from the example you and Aunt Dede set. I always felt loved and welcomed in your home.  That is something I treasure to this day.

You will be remembered fondly.





Aug. 13, 2008
Speeches That Changed the World
Since we use Sonlight the last thing we really need to do is supplement.  But, it seems I just can't resist adding a few good things I find on my own!  A couple of weeks ago I found this neat book and CD combo that I just had to bring home for my soon to be 14 year old.  The book includes the transcripts of over 50 speeches going all the way back to Jesus sermon on the mount! The CD includes a collection actual recordings from Winston Churchill through George W. Bush. 

I think this will be fun for my freshman to pop in the CD player each day and listen to a bit of history come alive. I realized when I bought this that there was a good chance we could find all of these online for free.  (I only paid $10.00 for the set, so I thought it would be worth it to have the convenience of the CD to just pop in.) You know I couldn't resist looking for FREE speeches online!  LOL

Here are some sites I found:

Aug. 12, 2008
More Beads!
Here is my daughter and my latest project.

Here is the watch by itself.

I bought my watch face at a Cracker Barrel restaurant.  But, you can also find them here:

http://www.whohasthetime.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=193

I thought those of you who had emailed me that you wanted your kids to learn how to bead to make gifts would appreciate this.  These would be great to make for grandma, aunts, teen cousins, sunday school teachers, awana leaders, etc.

While I am showing off beading projects...

Here is a bracelet I made my mom over the weekend.  She had a necklace and earrings already that match this and wanted the bracelet.
I really wasn't going to get into beading!  LOL  This was suppose to be something for my daughter to do.  But, it's just so FUN!  This one was a challenge because there are 2 strands and they are connected by the flat rectangle beads.  The pink beads are all different sizes so I had to try to match the approx. sizes of the beads in the 2 strands.  I had to re-do it 3 times!  LOL  But, I do like how it came out and my mom likes it too! 

It MUST be good for my brain too!  LOL

Here is my daughters very first necklace she has designed! 
She is so funny.  She wakes up in the morning, get's dressed and then makes something to match her outfit to wear!  LOL  It's every girls dream! 


Aug. 11, 2008
Third Times A Charm!
This weekend was the third try since we moved in April to get together for a weekend with my mom, sister and niece.  We finally did it!  Here some pictures from our weekend.

This is me with my mom and sister.
See any resemblance?  LOL  Everyone always thinks my mom is our older sister.  If you want to make my mom's day leave a comment about how young she looks!  LOL  My sister got my dad's shape and size and my mom's looks.  I got my mom's shape and size and my dad's look.  My mom and sister look so much alike that my 4 year old was calling them "Grandma" and "Other Grandma"!  LOL (He hasn't spent too much time with my sister since we lived SO far away all his life.)

Here are my kids with grandma

This is my sister sporting her new beaded jewlery she made while she was here!  I LOVE those earrrings and may have to make me a pair!
My sister and I love each other to death, but we are total opposites.  She was always into sports and tomboy things as a child and I was a girly girl.  She has never taken much to crafts and sewing and well, you all know me!  LOL  We were going to teach my neice how to bead and my sister took too it like a pro!  We decided it is because there are tools involved and the girl has always been more comfortable with pliers than a sewing needle!  :^)

While they were here we had an early 14th birthday celebration for my oldest son. (He will be 14 in 18 days, but who's counting??? LOL)
Is that the cutest cake ever??? The dog had to be in the pictures since he was the inspiration for the cake!  LOL

Here are the littles with their big brother.

Here he is opeing his gifts from grandma and his aunt and cousin.
He got the Nim's Island movie and the book!  I wonder who's idea that was?  LOL  We will let you all know how we like the book. (I am dying to read it!)

I just had to post this one because my oldest looks so grownup, handsome and happy in the picture
He is such a good boy!  I don't know why everyone complains about the teen years?  LOL  (I know he could still lose his mind to hormones any day, but so far so good!)

Here is a shot of the whole gang (minus my husband who took the pictures.)
Look, my oldest is as tall as grandma!  My mom was taller than my dad so I always think of her as TALL!  Now I have a son as tall as my mom!  YIKES!

It was a whirlwind the whole time they were here, and we are all a little tired and cranky today.  But, lot of fun was had while they were here!



Aug. 8, 2008
Free 2008 Olympics Lapbook

The Olympics begins today!  I just thought I would let you all know there is a free 2008 Olympics Lapbook over at Homeschoolshare.com!

I am hoping the kids and I can work through this.  It's not too late for you to join us!.