Things have been busy, as usual. Trying to keep up with my cluttered house has been hard. It seems like as soon as I get one area clean, then another one rears it’s ugly head.
I have been really dragging my feet when it comes to my upstairs. There are just so many junky toys, papers, and books everywhere. I am sad to say, that I have been gladly throwing away legos when I run into them. I know that I have thrown away toys that kids like. If they knew about some of them, there would be tears. But these toys are toys that haven’t been played with in months. They will probably never notice they are gone.
This week we have been working on getting out adoption application filled out, and reference forms handed out to close friends. I read some blogs today that belonged to other families who have adopted, and it brings a great amount of excitement to my heart. The Lord willing we will be one of those people!
One particular blog that I read today talked about how she has what she considers virtual twins. She was 33 weeks pregnant when they adopted an infant. She was able to not only nurse her biological baby, but her adopted baby as well! Wouldn’t that just be the best? It would be such a WONDERFUL thing to be able to not only have two children the same age, but to be able to breastfeed your adopted baby. The bonding that happens when you are nursing a baby is like nothing else. What a blessing! So perhaps the Lord will allow that to happen with us.
Next week I am hoping that Adam will be able to take a day off so we can get our application turned in, and also get our fingerprinting done at the State Police department. Just a couple more steps toward an addition to our family.
Last year I talked about another family that was adopting from China for the second time. I am so excited to hear tonight, that they may be able to adopt a third child from China here in the next week or so. They could use a lot of prayer about that. Everything is happening really fast with this adoption.
As for our homeschooling…it has been going ok. It is almost as if I have been stuck in a rut for the last week or so. Do you ever get like that? When I get like this, I tend to just sit and stare at my shelf of books and think to myself…am I doing this right? Are the kids really learning? Am I just so disorganized that I am failing my children? When it is time do some school work, I look at the shelf and pull books off that I think will do for the day. I think…ok, let’s do some math, maybe some writing, and we will read out of this book. Maybe it is working doing it that way, or maybe it’s not. I just don’t know.
I have also been trying to brainstorm, and come up with ways that I can raise funds for our adoption. It is so expensive. But it does keep my little entrepreneurial ticking. When I bought my webhosting, it came with an online store. I am seriously thinking about making some handmade items that could be sold, and have all of my proceeds go toward our adoption expenses. I can make yarn, I can knit fairly well, and I can do blog and graphic designing. Another thing that Adam and I recently figured out how to make, are handmade drop spindles for spinning yarn. Adam made one, and it turned out SO pretty! If we can get a bunch of them made, that can be something else that I can sell.
Last year when we were first discussing adopting, I ran into a blog where a family had a donation button, and they asked for just one dollar. When I got to thinking about it, it made sense! If 2000 people donated just a dollar, that is 2,000 dollars worth of financial support. Brilliant!
Ali
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We sure did.
Looking back at our past Christmases, we really bought our children a lot of junk toys. Little toys that would get played with for a short amount of time, then thrown to the side never to be played with again. But the Christmas presents this year, were FAR from junk toys. We bought most of this years gifts from Vision Forum. I have learned over the year, that if you want GOOD QUALITY toys, Vision Forum is the place to go. This is what my kids got this Christmas.Beautiful Girlhood Heirloom Tea Set
When I went to wrap this tea set, I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. The pictures here on my site, and the picture on the Vision Forum site doesn't do it justice. The tea set is nicer than my own set of dishes. It has a beautiful floral pattern, with gold trim. My girls have already had two tea parties since opening it.
My boys LOVE listening to the Jonathan Park Adventures (also by Vision Forum!). One of the tools that the creation response team uses in the adventures, is their comunicator watches. My boys were very excited when they opened up this gift. They haven't even taken them off yet! Gable says he feels like a spy, or a detective with his on. These watches keep time, and are also walkie talkies that have a mile and half range. They came with ear pieces so the boys can keep their conversations between themselves. Another added bonus to these watches, is the fact that they run on rechargeable lithium ion batteries. No need to keep buying batteries!
Starting today, Vision Forum is having a year end overstock liquidation sale. They have more than 250 items on clearance. You can get these items anywhere from 30-70% off. There are many books, toys, and even homeschool resources for sale. You can't miss this!
You can access this sale by clicking the above banner, or by simply clicking any Vision Forum image or link on my blog.
This is such a wonderful company. They are like minded, family oriented, Godly people. You can't go wrong when you purchase items from them.
(If you would like to visit me some more, come see me at My God Given Mission Field!)
We were there all morning, this morning, working out their clothing. Exhausting, but fun--sort of like playing dressup with several rooms full of clothing. They took care of almost everything--underclothes, dresses, shoes, cloaks, petticoats. The only thing we have to buy is stockings.
Elder dd and I had volunteered for "Auntie School" but when we didn't hear anything we thought we hadn't qualified. It turns out that we *did* qualify--they had us set up in their volunteer hours log and everything--but somehow we were never notified to go to the first day of training. I got to play dress-up today, too! My dress needs altering, but I'll be able to pick it up on Monday next week.
They're repeating the first day of training next month, so we'll go then. What fun! It appears we're all going to be historical re-enactors (maybe docents?) when training is done.
As Lepidoptera pointed out, I have not been blogging lately. Actually, she "tagged" me about two weeks ago (give or take two weeks), and I haven't even looked at her blog to see what I'm supposed to do. So sorry, dear friend. It is certainly not that I don't love you dearly; I just can't seem to make time for blogging.
Much is happening for my dear friends in the blogosphere. Lepidoptera and her family just moved -- much closer to us, but still not as close as I would like. Next door would be preferable 
. But we'll make it work. Jim and Kelly are rapidly closing in on the arrival of their baby boy. The other blogger Lori isn't moving or expecting (at least if she is, she hasn't told me), but you should still check out her blog anyway, because she has some really adorable pictures of her twins asleep in various venues.
OH -- I guess I should get around to my subject, as you are thinking, "What does your title mean, anyway?" That is a common quotation from DD2 around here these days. You see, she can't just ask me a question one time; she has to ask it two or three or even more times in rapid succession, without waiting for an answer, or even asking it again when I have answered it because she is not listening...so I say to her, "Ask once..." or hold one finger up and she says, "Ax One Sand Weight." Translation: Ask once and wait. She still doesn't really "get it" yet, but maybe someday soon, she will.
There is one more funny floating around in my brain, courtesy of DS4. Yesterday morning, I was running through the day's agenda with the kids, so I included "and then we'll go to the polls". Well, a little while later, DS4 asked me, "So when are we going to Kohl's?" LOL
Alas, I must again depart the blogosphere in search of some clean real estate in the kitchen. I would not take a picture of my kitchen right now even if my camera were working -- I'd be too embarrassed. I have determined that I will not go to bed until it is spic and span. We'll see how long my resolve and the caffeine holds out.
-Lori.
And I can't blame them! It's like Christmas when ever a new catalog comes in the mail. Come see an example here!
I am in heaven!
A few months ago, my wonderful husband bought me a spinning wheel. I thought that spinning on a spindle was fun. Using a wheel is awesome!
A couple of weeks ago, I was able to purchase a few raw fleeces to scour, card, and spin. I was pretty nervous doing the washing part, because it can easily turn to felt if agitated too much, or experience a big temprature change. But so far it has turned out just fine..... (Read More Here)
I found out last week, that I have strayed too far away from my original relaxed homeschooling. I started making my kids do too much bookwork, and tears flowed from their eyes.
I took a good long time this weekend, and re read the information on Ambleside Online, and got everything organized so I can put their curriculum to use. After all of this time wanting to do things the Charlotte Mason way, I think that I haven't been to good at the copywork and narration part of it. We do it, but doesn't turn out the best. so we are giving it another valiant effort this week! I will say, that when we are using AO, there are less tears, less frustration, and more fun being had.
Fireproof the Movie opens this Friday, September 26, in the following theaters in Hawaii:
- Dole Cannery, Honolulu
- Kahala Theaters, Honolulu
- Ward Theaters, Honolulu
- Ka'ahumanu 6, Kahului
This film was produced by Sherwood Baptist Church, the same church who brought us Facing The Giants. The church has also tied this movie to a ministry, entitled Fireproof My Marriage. This ministry shares resources on marriage, including counseling and programs for churches.
http://www.fireproofmymarriage.com/
From HomeschoolViewTube:
HomeSchoolViewTube.com, what is it? It’s homeschooling from your view. Pull up a chair and surf your way to your new favorite spot to upload your homeschooling themed videos. Share your experiences, ideas, and knowledge with your fellow homeschoolers. Think of it as your very own Virtual Co-op. Do you know how to teach a certain subject? If so, this is the place where parents can find resources to supplement or enrich their homeschooling experience. Are you a student? Share what you know and what you are doing. The opportunities are endless.
http://www.homeschoolviewtube.com/
Hat tip to Esther.
Do you know what happened? Is there a different link to these wonderful resources? (I hope...?)
highland.hitcho.com.au
highland.hitcho.com.au/forms.htm