Well, I am back from the visit with my sister. I had a wonderful time and I LOVE spending time with my sister. She is the greatest!!!!! (hey sis) I also got to see a lot of my family. All of my family lives near my sister's home.
My oldest is sick today, so we were unable to attend church today. We will do a family bible study with dad when he gets home from church. It is great to have your preacher live with you....okay it is great if you are the one married to him. lol
I have our lunch in the crock pot, so I have a minute to do a post.
While we were gone we still did some school stuff...or learning. We always try to learn something everyday...our motto: school is life and life is school!!!
We have just started a co op class, this past Tuesday. We are using the Apologia Zoology 1 book. We received all our info on Tuesday for the class. One of the things we can do for points is a bird and bug journal page. So while we were gone we collected bugs for our journal page. Here are our souvenirs from the trip:
Note: There were bugs harmed in making this post...Although not by us...we picked them up already dead...However when we arrived home we poked pins in them...sorry to the bug lovers out there!!!
Regal Fritillary (not 100% sure it is what that is)
Spotted Ladybird (that is what the book said ladybird not bug)
Horse Fly
Crop/Garden Beetle
Female Earwig
We identified them by using the internet and this book:
Hope you all had a great week and will have a great week!!!! I was unable to do Show and Tell meme with Mary, since I was gone. However I hope to go see all of yours.
It's Show & Tell Time again!!! If you'd like to join us or just check out some other Show & Tell's, please join me and other's @ Mary's site Canadagirl to join in!!!
Boy did I have a little 'Christmas' last week while doing my Anti-Procrastination project!!! I found all kinds of goodies I had forgotten about!!!
First there were cards I had made and stashed away (and forgotten :} ) ...
A pumpkin card...
I would love to take credit for this, but this was an idea from a party I went to!!! I did make this particular example though!!! Doesn't that count?!
This, however, IS my idea..
Yes, for all of you girly girls, it's a purse card!! (Believe it or not, I'm turning into one as well and I'm loving it!! he he he)
And a few more close ups...
And then I found templates. These are ones I made at parties I went to over the years. I hope to use them in the future!! Some are absolutely adorable!!!
This one is a card that opens differently than regular cards. (Please excuse the crazy decorations and background! I did that just to create the template!:} )
This next one was given to me as a card!! I just love it! (sorry for the blurriness!! The low light in the craft area is something I'll have to work on!!! :} )
As you can see, the center of the card opens up into a heart!!! What a clever idea!!
This next one is a little 'box' that the opening twists upon itself.
I also found a template for a little card-made portofolio!!! You could use this for invitations, pictures, recipes... the ideas are only limited by my imagination!!!
And then there is my favorite... I love this little gem...
Yes, you are seeing that correctly!!! It's a shirt! And it's made out of paper!! How adorable is that?!
I wish I could take credit for this as well, but... yes, another party!!! Did you happen to remember what my blog name is? That ought to tell you VOLUMES!!! When it comes to stamping parties, I'm a junkie~ My hubby tells me they have a group at Celebrate Recovery for people like me!! he he
I THINK he was kidding!?! :} Oh well...
See, Anti-Procrastination projects may start out as drudgery, but they can turn up little 'Christmases' like mine did!!! (Not only that, but it gave me a Show and Tell! he he he )
Hey, guess what time it is? It's Anti Procrastination time with our wonderful host Mary!!! If you'd like to join in on the fun or you'd like to encourage us in our projects, please go see her over @ Canadagirl!
I'M DONE!! I'M DONE!!! I'M DONE!!!!
I have officially finished my Anti-Procrastination project!!! Whew!!! THAT was a challenge!!! Thank you Mary for challenging me to get this done!!!
Here is a picture of the trash that I cleaned out of there...
It may not seem like a lot, but this was all junk that needed to go. I didn't realize this was all in there!! :{
These next pics are of the drawers that are under the table top. They were jam packed and disorganized.
Did you notice that there are empty shelves and spaces? That just means room for other stampin' tools!! he he he Don't tell my hubby! He'll panic! :}
And the finished product....drumroll please....
AND THE CROWD GOES WILD...
Well, maybe not wild, but my hubby likes to walk by the garage door and open it up 'cuz it looks so nice now!! Before when we opened it you'd see all the 'stuff' piled up on the counter and it was a constant reminder of what needed to be done!! Now I can use it to my hearts content!!!
I think this calls for a short break to celebrate and then onto the other AP projects I seemingly found while doing this one!! UGH!!!
Hello and welcome to another edition of Tightwad Tuesday!!! If you'd like more Tightwad tips and/or would like to join us, please see our wonderful host Mary @ Canadagirl and see what's goin' on!!
How many of you love ice cream? How many of you love cakes? How many of you love ice cream cakes? Well, I've recently learned of a tightwaddy way to make your own. Some of you may already know this lovely tip, but I've just learned it so I'm passing it on!!
You take your favorite cake recipe ( or a convenient box one) and make up two sheet cakes. Let them cool.
This next step can vary. You take your favorite ice cream ~ mine is Breyers Vanilla Bean ~ and let is soften so it is spreadable. Spread it over one of the cooled cakes. Take your favorite candy (or left over candy from birthday parties, harvest parties, etc.) and spread over ice cream. The other option is to mix the candy right into the ice cream and then spread it over the cake. You may want to crush the candy before you spread it.
You then put the cake into the freezer for 30 minutes to let the ice cream firm up again. After 30 minutes, take out of freezer and put second sheet cake on top. You then frost entire cake and put it back into the freezer for at least an hour.
Voila!! You have your very own ice cream cake. I've also thought of using brownies instead of cakes. My boys aren't really cake eaters so this would probably go over better in our house!!
I just shared this with one of my Yahoo groups, and thought I would post it here too. Some of my faithful readers know I started a new women's ministry this August. Well the mom's class meets twice a month and this past Thursday I taught on hearing from God. I thought I would share my notes with you. We of course elaborated my notes, but maybe you can use the info.
Be blessed,
Chasity
Seasons of Godly Women
August 28, 2008
How do we hear God?
First you must realize that He has a plan for each of us. ~Jeremiah 29:11
God has each of us in His mind each moment of every day. He knows exactly the plans He wants you to accomplish.
There are no special people or groups that can hear from God. ~John 10:27
If you are a child of God you can hear from Him.
Although you may have clutter blocking you from hearing His voice. So in that case you must prepare yourself to hear from Him.
So How?
1) Must have a relationship~ Quiet times
2) Be a follower (disciple) in everything you do
3) The bible will help you know the path (His will) to take~ Psalm 119:105
4) We can receive wisdom if we ask for it in prayer~ James 1:5-6 (and not doubt what we hear
5) We are given the Holy Spirit to help guide us~ John 16:13
6) We are given advice from godly people~ Proverbs 15:22
7) Trust in God that He will accomplish His will in our lives~ Proverbs 3:5 Philippians 1:6
What do we do with what we hear?
He also gives each of us gifts and abilities to use in His service. All talents we have should be used to build the kingdom of God.
Sometimes to recognize these gifts you have to step back and think.
~What gives me life?
~What am I good at?
~What do I love to do?
Those desires are not there by accident. God placed those there for a purpose. We are all different and each of us has different loves. Those loves are what should direct you in His service. Ex. Children’s ministry, youth, women, being a teacher and leader or being a great friend, wife and mother
God wants to speak His plan to each of us, but we have to prepare ourselves and listen.
Also as mothers we have the responsibilities to hear God for our children. (Along with dad) We should seek God in how we raise, discipline, school, and involve them in extra activities. We should encourage our children to have a one on one relationship with God and seek Him first. We should listen for God in how we bring up our kids. We should order our lives so God is first for ourselves and our family.
My baby girl is 8 weeks old already, soon to be 2 months. Time just flies!
We start school in 2 weeks so I'm trying to enjoy these days with her without the added responsibility. But I'll also admit that I'm looking forward to it! Now after our first week remind me I actually said that, okay?
Julianna weighs 11-4 now. She sleeps SO good for me at night! She only wakes up 1-3 times and goes right back to sleep. Once she's down for the night, she doesn't wake up and fuss at all. My last 2 children weren't the best sleepers so this is a nice change. She sleeps next to me so when she's ready to nurse, I feel her stirring and just latch her on before she ever works up to a cry. Despite that though, I am still REALLY tired. Still in that fog.
Here are some pics of Miss Julianna! I haven't had my camera out much lately. I wanted to get some pics of her taking a bath and tried two different days. I have tons of bath pics of her and not much else! But I'll only share a couple.
First, here's one of her sleeping on her daddy. This little one is a daddy's girl already and it's just not right. They're usually "mine" until about 18 months. But I think mommy and daddy are equal in her eyes already. There have been plenty of times he can get her calmed down and to sleep when she wanted nothing to do with me. *sniff* The day I took this photo, they had been napping on the beanbag together for a few hours!
Bath time. (going for a vintage look here)
Thank you April and Jamie for the term for those white spots by her eye! Milia. That's right. A word I now remember from long ago nursing school. One of those spots has since disappeared (you can still see both in this photo).
And these are very recent- just took 'em about an hour ago. I bought this bonnet on Etsy- it is SOOO beautiful! It's too big for her right now but I wanted to get a picture of her in it. Going for the vintage look again..
Giving me her "what-choo-talkin'-'bout-Willis" look (or maybe it's the "don't even think about sticking that camera in my face again" look?):
(first, thank you, my friends, for your encouragement about the children's test scores! you guys are great!)
I decided very last minute that I'm going to "do school" with Josiah this year. He won't even be four until December, but Sonlight has a new preschool program out for his age that looks great. I've always loved their book choices and just couldn't resist! It's mostly reading and shouldn't take very long so I'm hoping to squeeze in the time for him.
Sonlight's preK 3/4 instructor's guide is more of a checklist. This, I'm sure, is fine for 99% of the homeschooling moms using it, but I actually prefer a schedule. I put one together the other day. It is VERY basic. I didn't have time to do up anything fancy. It took me 3 or 4 hours just to do this basic skeleton schedule. I'd love to save someone else that time! Feel free to download my schedule and make it yours.
It's a 4 day, 36 week schedule (with a spot to fill in activities for Fridays- day 5). There are slots to add in any LA, Math or other activities you want to pencil in. I don't think I will be doing much else with Josiah than what's on the schedule. On the very last page I added activities to pick and choose from daily. I didn't schedule those but do plan to have Josiah do one activity from that list daily.
Also, Sonlight's IG has hands-on activities listed for each book. Don't forget to refer to your IG for those projects! (I didn't list them) There are lots of other hints and tips to read over in the IG too. Worth the what, $8?
I saved the schedule in Word and PDF. You can change/add things to the Word doc on your computer or just pencil things in with the PDF.
Sonlight 3-4 year old preschool schedule (download):
I thought I had the original to this video ("Playing in the Rain") somewhere on my blog, but I cannot find it! If you want to see the original (so you know what my children REALLY sound like), you can stop by my website. (link is in sidebar) Can you tell I had a little time on my hands today?
Well it is that time again...Show n Tell Friday with my friend Canadagirl over at Raising 4 godly men.
Well as some of you learned last Friday during show n tell...my birthday was this week. Well it is today. Also in that post I explained that I have recieved some bday money. I had purchased my handy dandy banana holder. Well my show n tell today is another gadget. I learned how to sew last October...which I LOVE doing by the way. Sewing is what relaxes me!! I was eyeing a rotary cutter then, but I could not justify buying one...because I make clothes not quilts. I still think I could use one, but I would not buy one. Well I was browsing a website and found one on sale. SCORE!! Also my 8 year old dd learned how to sew earlier this year. (I loved teaching her.) Well she wants to make a throw for her bed and a baby blanket for her doll...so I need a rotary cutter right? Well I ordered it last week and here is the beauty:
It is a 45mm OLFA Rotary Cutter. I found it here. It is still on sale for $10.49 (reg 14.99) BUT I only paid $8.99. WOOHOO!! It cuts like a dream. It will make cutting out a pattern a piece of cake. They have a bigger one and it was a good price too that day, but I did not want to go crazy. hehe
Do you like that fabric that the rotary cutter is sitting on? Well that was from my last sewing project...ugg too long ago. That was from my girl's Easter dresses. I need to start back sewing on a regular basis...remember it relaxes me. Here is a pic of them last Easter
I even made those bows...I really need to get life settled down, so I can have time for my crafts.
Well I hoped you enjoyed my show n tell...until next time.
Chasity
E is for Ewww! 
