Tuesday, December 15, 2009 - Enter to Win a MP3 Player
I was over at the Homeschool Lounge and entered a giveaway for an MP3 player.
I have been wanting one of these for over a year to listen to Beth Moore podcasts, narrated Bible chapters and scripture put to music.
Hop on over and enter yourself!
Christmas Blessings,
Chy
Monday, December 14, 2009 - Its been a long time...
Mom was so sick and there wasn't anything the doctor could do to help her heal and watching her die was the hardest thing I had faced; or so I thought.
Even more difficult has been adjusting to life without her here.
The smallest things seem to make larger wounds in my heart. Christmas is so different, rlationships with my Dad and siblings have changed, and my younger children won't get to know my very own Mommy...
Gosh I miss her!
Grief sure is a unique experience.
Dec. 12, 2009 - The BEST Christmas cookie dough!
A friend made these cookies at our ladies tea last night and cut them out with tiny Christmas cookie cutters and decorated with icing and sprinkles, they were adorable and delicious! I can't wait to try them with the boys.
The original recipe is for Santa's Whiskers cookies but she simply used the dough from that recipe to make her own cut out cookies to decorate.Best of all, the raw dough is safe to eat because they have no Egg! My chunky monkey can eat them and the boys can eat the raw dough! (the best part)
Easy kid-friendly recipe for slice & bake refrigerator cookies.
1 1/4 cups butter, softened (2 1/2 sticks)
1 cup sugar
4 teaspoons milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
In a large mixing bowl, preferably with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add milk and vanilla, beat again and scrape bowl. With mixer on low speed, add flour one cup at a time and beat after each addition. Shape into logs approximately 2" in diameter. Roll the logs in parchment paper or plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat liner and give them a light spray with vegetable shortening. Unwrap logs and slice into 1/4" thick slices or roll out to cut out shapes. Place cookies on prepared cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until very light brown and the sides are slightly firm.
Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes before transferring cookies to a wire rack. Cool completely before storing in air tight containers.
We are sharing and discussing Christmas Cookies at The Forum on The Homeschool Lounge... come join us!
Dec. 6, 2009 - I'm Still Living
Life has been very busy around our house. So I thought I'd drop a note. I'm teaching full time at the Christian School and still leading Master's Club on Weds. nights. Were getting ready to do some major changes in our children's ministry. I'm very excited about it. I did coach our girls volleyball team for a while but I had to give that up. It became too much. The kids are doing great. I can hardly believe I don't have any preschoolers anymore. In 2 years I'll have one graduating. It just don't seem possible.
I think this will be my last year teaching at the school. I may sub but teaching fulltime is proving to be a little to hard on the old body. Maybe when the kids are older I'll give it another shot but right now with dh going to school and working fulltime, and with what I'm doing it's getting pretty crazy around here. Though it has been helpful with my oldest boy getting his license. I just wish we had a car for him to drive. Oh well someday.
The 2 oldest boys both got speaking parts in the Christmas play, so we've been busy with that also. It's hard to believe its almost Christmas again. I'm so not ready for it. Usually I'm almost done with everything but this year I've barely begun. I don't even have the tree up yet. LOL I wish life would slow down a little so I could catch up.
Wishing you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Thursday, December 3, 2009 - Catching Up
It sure is difficult to make it to the computer with baby in tow! As such I'm increasingly thankful for my Blackberry in helping me feel "connected." Having only started texting in October it didn't take long at all to master the technique of texting (or emailing) from the tiny QWERTY keyboard with only one thumb in use (and yes, either thumb-- who knew my thumbs were so talented? ) LOL
Anyway, here is a blog entry to catch ya up...
Baby Girl is now 5 months old. Since last month she's learned to roll over... ALL over! Gives raspberries, slobber and all, and has a wonderful sense of humor.
November look back---
DD 12 finished another season of Youth Soccer.
I found a new book to request from the library... hope it is a good one!
We finished off the month by decorating the tree-- and baby girl, too!LOL
DD12 used an old Junior Girl Scout uniform and other things from her
closet, added a hat and was an elf for our decorating festivities.
She is "hugging" the tree here. LOL
Schooling continues, and we've implemented the "mama basket" as well.
Various things I've pulled together to brighten up our homeschooling studies that
I do with her. A new folk songs CD was a special addition to it. I was sure to put in
a set of Brain Quest cards as well. Those have always been a hit through the years.
There's other stuff in the basket, too, but baby girl beckons... time to go tend to her
Nov. 25, 2009 - Mangoes
November for us is all about Mangoes. We pick, pack, freeze, dehydrate and eat. In fact we've eaten so many mangoes over the last month we are nearly over them. (I know it is a terrible thing!!)
My favourite recipe for mangoes at the moment is a mango green smoothie:
1 orange
1 mango
1 handful of leafy greens - spinach, bokchoy etc
Blend, blend, blend till nice and smooth.
This has been breakfast nearly every day. Yum.
Nov. 23, 2009 - Intentional Training - Bootcamp
This morning I looked through my blog for some links for a friend so I thought I would share them here with you too.
Intentional Training - bootcamp - an intense period of training for a purpose.
These blog posts are simply my thinking processes. I share them on my blog not so much to be copied (as each child will have different heart attitudes) but rather to share the thought process and the intentionality that is needed if we are to help our children succeed.
Training Notes - Boot camp - Obedience
Bootcamp – final report and here
Training notes – Boot camp – Diligence
Nov. 21, 2009 - Parenting Think Spots
I've just created a new page on my website: Parenting Think Spot - a collection of short parenting tips, ideas and thoughts.
Two short thoughts are already uploaded
5 Keys to Consistency The key to training our children is consistency - but how do we maintain that?
Instructions or Example? When we are teaching our children what is more effective? Our Instruction or our Example?
Nov. 20, 2009 - Internet Reading
I’ve had several pages open in my browser for the last little while waiting to share them with you. Since I have to shut down my computer for a while now seems like a good time to post them.
I love the idea of these Narration bookmarks. These prompts help the children to think as they are reading. Most of my children are sharing their narrations in their reading journals these days, but they go through seasons of needing prompts. This post was listed in the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival – if you haven’t read it yet – there’s plenty to read!
I love this list of what a true friend is like – as per scripture. These are good scriptures to remember for anyone – not just us ladies!
Not sure how I came across this site though it has been open for a week or so – neoK12 – Educational videos and lessons for k-12 school kids. This will be a handy link to keep!
I’ve printed this off to keep in my Bible study folder. Not sure when I’ll get to this study but I’d like to do it myself or help my older ones to do it as their Bible Study. Getting to know God through His Names and Titles. I like the list in that it is just some prompts/scriptures – you have to do the thinking and applying.
Also need to be more diligent with Scripture Memorisation with my younger two – not sure how I’m going to do this yet, but with AmblesideOnline’s list and this one I think we’ll have enough to work with.
Nov. 18, 2009 - Reflecting on my boys birth day.
The boys birthdays are always extra special for me. Yep I said me, probably more so then for the birthday boy. It's a day I spend reflecting on the day of their birth, my pregnancy with them and how they are growing. Am I making each day count, am I taking every opportunity to show them how far and wide the love I have for them flows.
Do I take the small moments to create lasting memories. Birthdays are always joyful with a tinge of sadness; they are growing up too fast. My time with them feels like sand slipping through my hands, it runs out fast.
Today is Ashton's 5th Birthday, he is my tiniest boy weighing 5 lbs less than his younger Brother Noah (2). He is my feistiest and funniest of the 4. He is precious in every way if I do say so myself! :-)
We had an early Birthday party on Sunday so that Troy could celebrate with us. Today we had our Birthday breakfast with Ashton's favorite... cinnamon rolls and hot cocoa! :-)
Find more photos like this on The Homeschool Lounge
