Mar. 23, 2009 - Perfect in PINK! (and dots)
We have a wonderful, beautiful, perfect GIRL!!!
Her name is Haven and she is such a blessing.
I could go on and on except it has taken me more than 45 minutes just to do this (obviously it has been a long time and I need a blog refresher course). Our family is so happy, we are as "back to normal" as we can be. Homeschooling is going well, trying to work out the kinks of feeding baby while teaching Gabriel and of course, Brilynn has to do her "school" :) We are missing coop and our usually outings but life is blessed even in our circumstances. God is good and he will continue to hold us in His hands. Please pray for us as we wait on God's will for us.
Blessings,
Tammy
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Dec. 28, 2008 - Surprises, surprises
Somehow, six whole months have flown past and I haven't found a spare minute to post. I really miss it and think of it often but.... Anyway, here I am. Glad to be back even though I will not be able to add pictures at the moment. (We had our computer crash (ugh!!). We had two wonderful surprises this summer. The first was a very unexpected trip to Disney:) with my wonderful Mom and Dad. They called on a Wednesday to tell me they were leaving Saturday after the family reunion and that we could just go on down there with them if we'd like. Though I had a good laugh, I didn't take them seriously. My Mom called back Thursday to ask me when they should be expecting us. Oh my, perhaps they were serious and I should talk to Travis? So I did, he couldn't get time off on such a short notice and Jessy didn't want to take that much time off of work so it would just be the two little ones and myself. We ended up riding down with them too. That took a great deal of extra patience from them seeing that Gabriel can only eat at certain places we had a lot of Cracker Barrel there and back (we haven't eaten there since:)) It was an amazing trip. We stayed in their condo which was beautiful and very near the parks. We got to go to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and back to Magic Kingdom (we love that place). Brilynn feel totally in love with "Winnie Pooh" and we rode the Pirates of the Carribean ride truely more times then I could count. Gabriel even got to celebrate his sixth birthday there. Talk about an amazing trip-thanks Mom and Dad:) and of corse God for providing. The only negitive part of the whole vacation was I felt terrible the whole trip. It was very hot while we were there......
Surprise number two, we will be having baby number four in early March. This wasn't our timing, we wanted another baby but felt we should wait until at least next year after Jessy had had time to get settled into college etc etc. But as you know God's plans are not our plans and His are always better. And I admit, I had to lean on Jerimiah 29:11 for a bit until I realized if God planned it , it is most truely better than my timing.
I need to go for now, by the way we are still homeschooling even math!! Gabriel is doing wonderfully, he is reading everything!! this is somewhat sad for me but I know it is wonderful!! Brilynn loves "school" and even asks to do it on the weekends. I will add pictures as soon as possible.
Blessings to you all,
Tammy
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Jun. 30, 2008 - Summer Fun!
I love summer-don't you??
Chef Gabriel
Flat Gabriel at Salamonie
"Camping" at Salamonie Preschool program. The kids and I go once a month, we always learn and or experience something new. This time we got to play camping games, and make fish imprints (probably something I won't rush to do again;0) ).
Well folks this is it I AM OFFICIALLY CAUGHT UP!!
~Tammy
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Jun. 30, 2008 - Jessy's 18th birthday
Here is my darling daughter at her 18th birthday-oh my!!
Flowers from Bub
Lighting her own candles??
Her special memory book from Grandma Fisher.
~Tammy
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Jun. 30, 2008 - the next teacher
One day, Gabriel was being very quiet (unusual) so I went to see what was going on, I found him teaching his duck the part-whole math that we had learned earlier then he proceeded to teach her the alphabet. This demonstrates masterly when they can reteach correct?? Oh this truely tickled my heart:)
The teacher
The student.
~Tammy
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Jun. 30, 2008 - You know you are a homeschool mom when...
We have quite an exciting life around here. The kids found some ants outside and were so excited we watched them for days until a storm washed them away. (you know, I think I could write a book titled, "You know You Are a Homeschool Mom When...)
Of corse we fed them too!!
My follow up book will be titled "Life in the Country".
Aren't these little ones just precious?
~Tammy
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Jun. 30, 2008 - Girl Scout Gold Award
Jessy has been in girl scouts for...forever I believe:) she decided to pursue the Girl Scout Gold Award, this is equivalent to the Eagle Award that boy scouts can earn. She put in a ton of hours creating and implementing an after school program. She also made many trips to Indy to work with her leader. We were so proud to watch her earn this award. 
(back row third from left)
Jessy and Elaine Green
Proud parents.
Mary got to come with us also.
~Tammy
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Jun. 30, 2008 - Graduation(s)
What a year this was, Jessy graduated from High School and Gabriel from Kindergarten. (Now how many can say that?hahaha). We had a party for both of them. I will try not to overwhelm you pictures.
Gabriel's special gluten-free cookie cake.
Both of my graduates!
Gabriel and Grandma Fisher opening gifts.
This is a bell he had been wanting for his bike.
~Tammy
All high school graduates should get a copy of this book-Dr. Suess, he was way beyond his time:)
The party.
The cake
Gabriel's special cake.
Kind of like this blog, I pulled several all nighters and finally got her scrapbooks caught up!
Jessy and her wonderful Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Curtis.
Jessy and her best friends, Becca, Gabriel and Mary.
Grandma and Grandpa Maddox
Grandma and Grandpa Fisher
Jessy and her laptop, she was so surprised-that was a lot of fun!!
WE MADE IT!!! And I do mean we. I can't believe the days of algebra and disection are finally over!!! (Please don't anyone be so cruel as to remind me that I will be doing this all again in a few years). I am basking in the glory of being done. Bring on the summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
~Tammy
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Jun. 30, 2008 - Daniel's Duck
This was our final coop book for the year. It talked about a little boy who lived with his family in a cabin. During the winter each made something to put in the county fair. Daniel decides to carve a duck. It doesn't look quite like what some would expect but Daniel learns that that is ok. We went to the Jonesboro park for coop to read the book and to go through the cabin that is there, it was a fun day with our friends.
Brilynn really enjoys coop, it will be interesting to see how next year goes.
Gabriel is learning about churing butter.
Gabriel decided to make sun catchers to bring to our coop county fair.
They turned out really neat.
Here is his sign.
He is set up and waiting on his first customers.
Everyone loved his sun catchers, he sold them all:)
~Tammy
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Jun. 30, 2008 - Truman's Aunt Farm
We read the book Truman's Aunt Farm. This fun book had a lot of homophones in it and we had some good laughs discussing it as we learned more about our language. We made an ant placemat which Gabriel is still using and we ordered an ant farm. We got our harvester ants on May 8th. It is illegal to ship the queen ant and of corse you have to have the queen to keep the colony going, therefore,the ants will naturally die out within 2-4 weeks, or so they say!! It is June 29th and we still have 2 alive! Maybe I should contact the Genis book of ant records?:) Anyway, though it may sound odd, we learned so much from watching our ants. I truely don't know who enjoys them more, Gabriel or myself. 
Reading the book at Coop.
Gabriel's ant placemat.
Gabriel was so excited when his ants arrived. They came in a tube that you place in the fridge for a few minutes so they can't move too fast as you are pouring them into the ant farm. You don't want them to escape-they will bite.
Day one
They created this many tunnels after only 4 days.
Ants are amazing team workers.
June third and still going strong.
~Tammy
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Jun. 30, 2008 - Eric Carle
We were able to go to hear author Eric Carle speak. It was a wonderful time, one I am sure that will not be forgotten. We went down to Indy with our friends, Ami and Elijah. We had a good time together, I always prefer to get lost with a friend than alone:)!
We are outside enjoying our Eric Carle collection.
Here Mr. Carle is talking out his book, The Very Hungry Caterpiller. he said he got the idea for the book when he was messing around with a hole punch hmmm....
Gabriel is getting his book signed by the author.
Here are Gabriel and Eiljah with their signed books.
~Tammy
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Jun. 30, 2008 - Oh my goodness!
I don't quite understand how it went from Spring Break to the end of the school year and now summer!! I really miss blogging and reading others blogs. I don't even know where to begin so I guess I will just do a shortened version of the past two months and move on:) We found over spring break that Gabriel is extremely allergic to gluten (the protein found in wheat which is either directly in or used as a filler in MANY foods). He broke out in terrible, itchy sores completely covering his body! They looked something like chicken pox or measels. Having to almost completely change our diets was difficult, not to mention expensive and overwhelming. I had been slowly switching our menus to a healthier and more whole grain diet over the past 6 months or so, that is probably what put Gabriel "over the edge" for what his sensitive body could handle in the area of gluten. God has lead me to some useful resources and we are all learning to eat differently and still healthily (is that a word?). I have been assured that we will all be healthier then we would have been before. It has been a long road, thankfully Gabriel has been very gracious about it. He was extemely miserable so he has learned to be careful about how he eats and he understands some things are just plain out, chicken nuggets and fries were his favorites;(, Along with this we had him finish his kindergarten year, Jessy finish her senior year, her open house, the 4-H horse show and her 18th birthday. Now if I can just get caught up on this blog, I can feel somewhat back on top of things:)
Our field trip to Papa John's after reading the book, Little Nino's Pizzeria.
Gabe is a chef.
WE read the book, Flat Stanley, a story about a boy who is smashed flat one night by a bullitin baord. You would think this is terrible, yet he is able to go many adventures due to his flatness:) At coop, each child created their own "flat person" now we are mailing them to others to see what adventures they go on and to what places they travel.
After going to see the musical of Flat Stanley, we went to the park for a picnic.
Here is Gabriel's "Flat Gabriel" flying on a kite. This was a fun day. It was very windy and he seemed to prefer to fly upside down. Below is a picture of Flat Gabriel at the library during lunch on the lawn (which was actually inside due to the rain).
Gabriel drew a picture of Jesus, I thought it was so cute I had to share!
Flat Gabriel is riding on Skip as Jessy practices for the 4-H show. Hope they do well on Saturday!
Flat Gabriel is soooo excited Jessy earned Grand Champion on both Skip and Jane!!! Good job!
Here is Gabriel again at lunch on the lawn with his flat friend, Daniel. We will be keeping Daniel this summer and bringing him with us on adventures. We mailed Flat Gabriel off to Daniel's home in Michigan. He may be traveling to Japan with Daniels mom, now that will be an adventure!!
Here is Jessy showing Skip at the 4-H show, don't they look great? She really is a great showperson, and Skip, well, he is just plain perfect:)!
Here is Jessy and Skip recieving their Grand Champion trophy.
Jessy and Jane also working hard for that Grand Champion trophy.
Jessy and Jane, gratefully recieving that trophy:)
Here is Jessy riding Jane. Below is Brilynn riding Jane. I am pretty sure Bri will end up being our rodeo girl, silent and fearless!!
Due to circumstances outside of my control (three children "desperately" needing my attention) I am going to go for now. Hopefully, I can return soon to continue.
~Tammy
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Apr. 23, 2008 - Spring Break!!
Finally! It has been a long winter!!
Our Spring break starting off with this little lamb. (soon to be named Baa by Brilynn) We were outside playing in our yard/Gabriel's hunting grounds, when a man came walking up our drive asking if we would like our lamb back. Apparently, he was walking down the road and she got out of the fence and was following him. (She still has a habbit of doing this especailly with the kids and Grandpa). At this time she was a newborn. It was decided by the next day, for some reason (this happens) her mother would not accept her so Grandpa (with help from Brilynn) has been bottle feeding her. She is living in the milk shed right now and comes out during the day. If we put her in the field she usually finds a way out. The kids think this is wonderful because she likes to follow them around like a puppy. Like I always say, if you can't live in a mansion, a farm is the next best thing:)
That evening we took the two little ones out bowling for the first time. Honestly, I really didn't want to go. It had been a long week and I had a lot of packing to do to go down to Mom's for the next week. I am sooooo glad we went. We had so much fun!! Brilynn was carrying that ball around like little Ms. big girl and Gabriel loved bowling and dancing (yes, at the same time). Did I mention, Travis and I played and I won:)
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Apr. 23, 2008 - Grandfather's Journey
The next week (I think, I am so far behind;) ) we read the book Grandfather's Journey . We learned a lot about Japan, was taught origami (which is a good thing because I could not figure it out!), and had a visit from a local pet store with a bunch of birds. That was fun!! 
Gabriel's origami birds (the one's above are real hahaha).
Have a great evening
~Tammy
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Mar. 24, 2008 - Easter week
It has been so long since I have blogged, I may have forgotten how. We had a great Easter week. Since St. Patrick's Day was on Monday, we spent Monday discussing St. Patrick's life and ministry then we moved on to Easter starting on Tuesday. We had a great week that was really busy with learning yet not overwhelming-if that makes sense. We read the book, The Legend of the Easter Egg. We made resurrection rolls and an empty "tomb cake" , and colored eggs among other fun activities. I love talking with Gabriel about Easter and Jesus, he has such a pure and trusting heart. When I ask him a question about Jesus' death and resurrection he is just so matter of fact and sure of his answers. I pray (and truely believe that he will) stay sold out to God and sure of his faith. I have 200 things to do before naptime ends so enjoy the pictures!
Have a blessed day,
~Tammy 
My beautiful children!!
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Mar. 6, 2008 - Laundry
I have had a few people inquire about making my own laundry soap so I thought I would post about it. We have been using homadmade soap since the end of January with great results. I find it to be extremely inexpensive even when I am able to get premade soap with coupons. Somewhat like my 30 day cooking, I thought about trying it for a long time, I read up on it and over-planned. Once I actually made the first batch, it was quite simple and quick. I made another batch this morning and took pictures to share. I have kept track of the cost and now that I am confident of what I am doing and what to look for I will be able to get the supplies even more cheaply. My only problem finding the ingredients (there are only 4) was the soda ash (a.k.a.. sodium carbonate or PH Up among other names). After researching, I found that it is the same ingredient sold at pool supply stores to balance the ph levels. Then I had to find a pool supply store around here open in the winter:). There is one on the bypass that is open every Tuesday and the gentleman is very helpful. To make your own soap all you need is: 1 cup of Borax, 1 cup of oxy clean (I got a two pound container of the generic brand at the grocery for $1.00) , 1 cup of soda ash, and I bar Fels Naptha soap (found with the bar soap). Use 1-2 T depending on the need. I find that I spend about .06 cents per load!!! Along with that, I use white vinager for my softner (this by the way is not only cost effective it is much better for your dryer). No, it does not leave your clothes smelling like vinager and I have no problems with static cling.The vineager adds about one penny per load so for all my laundry needs: soap, stian remover, and softner I spend about .07 a load and I forsee this becoming even cheaper. Use a grater to grate the Fels Naptha, mix in the other three ingredients and tada, you have soap! I saved the little piece of soap that was leftover (too close to my fingers to grate) to treat stains- it works better than store bought, just wet the bar and apply to the stain. I used it on Brilynn's pink pants, she had fallen on her bottom in the mud, I thought the pants were ruined, after laundering they are fine, you cannot see any of the stain.
Supplies (the nifty little measuring cup came in the oxy, it is the perfect size for this)
Grated soap, notice the little piece leftover, that is my stain remover.
Add one cup of each of the others, put on the lid, shake, tada you have enough soap to wash approximately 60 loads of laundry!
This really does make the chore of washing clothes better somehow.
Have a great day!
~Tammy
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Mar. 4, 2008 - Dr. Seuss week!!!
I love Dr. Seuss, I am so excited about this week that I am blogging early. 
We went to our wonderful library yesterday for Dr. Suess day (he would have been 104 on Sunday). We love Dr. Suess day at the library. We have the traditional green eggs and ham and listen to stories read aloud and we even got to watch Daisy Head Mayzie this time. I will include some pictures then add more later this week.
Happy Suessing!
Making the green eggs and ham.
I think I like it!!
Quite good, I say.
Mrs. Clair's green jello is the best!
Bri makes a new friend. That would be anyone who will read to her. (Yes, my # 1 fan I know she is on a table, I was watching her well!!
)
~Tammy
The Lorax
Today we read the Lorax. That book is so full of good stuff. I had Gabriel draw what he thinks the Once-ler looks like since they do not show his face. I will have to take a picture of his picture and post it later. We also had a fun treat:)
As I am sure you know, these are the Truffula trees the Once-ler chopped down to make thneeds. Everyone needs a thneed right? Wrong!!
Happy Seussing!
~Tammy
Here is Gabriel's depiction of the Once-Ler:
We finished the evening with Daisy-Head Mayzie. Then we made daisies and stuck them in our banana bread head. We are having so much fun and not just because it is so much eating though that doesn't hurt ;)
They are just so cute and even big sister got in on this one.
Our own little daisy-head Briley.
Time to go to bed, much more fun Seussing tomorrow.
;)~Tammy
Today (Wednesday) we read several Dr. Suess books. I really love his books, everyone of them has a message. Some maybe more for adults such as Your Only Old Once and the Butter Battle Book but all of them have a message. I have started to read his biography, Dr. Suess and Mr. Geisel it is so interesting. I wish I had read it before now but hey I will be better prepared for next year:) Today we focused on If I Ran the Circus and Sneeches. I love the conversations that come so easily after reading that book. It is a great way to see into Gabriel's heart. After reading Sneeches we read and discussed 1 Samuel 16:7 then we read You are Special by Max Lucado. What a wonderful way to end the day. What a blessing to be able to teach my son. Of course we had to have a special snack so we made sneech cookies and of course some had stars upon thars and some did not. I gave Bri one with a star and Gabriel one without. I knew he would want one with and he did. We discussed how could her cookie be better than his (this may seem a little mean to do to a five year old but boy did it get the point across). Then I had him pay me for a star, this lead to another great discussion. Then we enjoyed the cookies together and everyone was happy. Enjoy the pictures!
Goodnight
~Tammy
Brilynn just wants the frosting.
Look just like Sneeches huh?:)
Gabriel paying for his star.
Now it has a "star upon thar".
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Mar. 4, 2008 - Who Owns the Sun?
Last week we read the book, Who Owns the Sun? It depicts a slave boy asking his father several questions such as who owns the sun and who owns the flowers. The wise and obviously much loved father answeres the same each time, no man can own the sun, flowers ect. One day as the slave boy is carrying his father's lunch to him he overhears Mr. Finley telling about what a great farm hand his father is and that he wishes he owned ten more just like him! At the realization of what he said dawns on the slave boy, "his childhood ended that day". We have already discussed slavery, Civil War and the Isrealites. This was a wonderful book to reintroduce that God created each of us for a reason and that we cannot be owned by anyone other than God . We hit a slight snag when I tried to explain that not even mommy and daddy own Gabriel. Oh I love that boy, he is so sweet! I love homeschooling, it opens more doors for deep conversations that I am sure I would not be having with my five year old if I allowed someone else to introduce these things to him!!
Here are a few pictures of our week:
Gabriel reading his book at COOP
Gabriel painting a picture
Brilynn has to join the fun!!
~Tammy
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Feb. 24, 2008 - Thirty Day Cooking
I have been wanting to try the thirty day cooking for a long time. The idea behind it being you would spend one day cooking all of your main meals then for the next month they are in the freezer waiting for you. With some trepidation I finally decided to try it yesterday. It was not bad at all!! Of couse tiring but soooo worth it! I now open my cupboard check my meal list, pick one, thaw and heat-yeah! We had our first one today after church, Chicken and borccoli. I heated it, cooked some rice and corn, and had the wheat bread I had thrown in the bread machine before church, yum and easy (also healthy!!). I made a slide show of my day and now I can't get it over here-ugh! I will have to wait until tomorrow to ask my sweet computer friend if she can help me.
Once again, thank you my dear sweet computer friend, Emily. You brighten my day!
If you have ever contemplated trying this cooking method, I would so encourage you to do so! We have enjoyed two meals so far and they have both been almost as tasty as they were convienent (and healthy!). Between the prep work Friday evening and the actual cooking day Saturday I spent less then eight hours total to have 31 meals in the freezer-yeah. There is also the added bonus of the money saved both from buying items in bulk and by planning the menu ahead of time I was able to watch for sales on the ingredients I would need. For the next month I will not be running to the store for this or that during the week. I will of course have to buy milk, eggs, and fruit but I have two handy helpers that can pick those items up for me;). I am already compiling a recipe list for next month. (Does this sound like an infomercial to anyone?!) I am trying to get my # 1 fan to join me for the fun next time around. What a great day that will be.
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Feb. 22, 2008 - Teeth week
We learned about teeth this week. I was somewhat out of my comfort zone because I did not have a lesson guide or even book suggestion to go by. I also learned it is difficult to find books about teeth (dentist, doctors etc but not just good ole teeth). It turned out better than I feared. It was also a break from the list of books I usually try to incorporate (hmmm...). We did learn about the different parts of the teeth, the great importance of enamal and keeping our teeth clean. We did a fun experiment with vinagar and an egg and made our own toothpasth. Not a hit with either of the kids. Hopefully I can get the pictures on here by this weekend. Haha the faces they made were priceless. We did read the book, George Washington's Teeth-that lead to some great discussions! And by "fluke" we ended the week will a cool new "flashing" toothbrush that both kids just love. It flashes for a minute which is how long kids should be brushing and they think is is great. I just happen to see them at Aldi's earlier and for .99 cents each my kids think I am so fun. Ah, I love it!!
Making homemade toothpaste, what an adventure!
Trying the new toothpaste
Not liking the new toothpaste!! Poor baby and she just loves to brush her teeth!
This was a fun day. We went back to our "normal" paste and everyone was happy
~Tammy
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