This blog is a description of happenings in our life and home school. We have four children and are enjoying every second of our lives together! The closeness and togetherness that homeschooling has given our family is wonderful. I also have a home-based business making and selling hair bows and other accessories called Three Little Princesses. Thank you so much for visiting my blog and I hope that you find a friend in me! I love comments and they are always welcome. From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another. John 1:16 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:01:00 -0600 Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:01:00 -0600 Today was day one of my craft festival.  I am SO extremely tired!  I made tons of sales, but they were all for the majority very small.  I did sell a few of my new earrings, a burpcloth, and a few other new items that I was excited about.  I am very thankful that this fair is close to home, because traveling far distances for these things a few days in a row can be exhausting.  Today my 8 year old daughter accompanied us, and tomorrow my 9 year old daughter is coming.  Our booth spaces are very small, so that's all we can accomodate, and their is no room to run around.  Amazing soaps and candles that looked like pies, cupcakes, fudge, etc. were in the booth next to us, and the mom that made those is pregnant with her 7th child!  I might have to break down and buy some tomorrow... : ) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/744762/ Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:01:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/744762/ Today is going to be a busy day for the family.  Between homeschooling, I have to finish about 25 bows for a craft festival tomorrow, as well as make tutus for the festival and to send off for orders.  My two oldest girls have really become independent learners this year, which is wonderful.  I go over new concepts and discuss their work, but so far, they seem to grasp everything without much help from me.  Then from 6-10 pm tonight the girl's gym is hosting a Parent's Night Out which is free to team members.  They are SO extremely excited about this, and we are going to let them go, even though we are actually just going to be home with the two littles.  They have fun games, scavenger hunts, open gym, pizza, cookies, etc.  My husband wishes that they would just stay at home b/c we have to leave the house before 6 am tomorrow morning, but the gym only hosts this event only twice a year so I'm going to let them go enjoy themselves. : ) They love gymnastics!  Here they are at their National gymnastic meet over the summer in Savannah.  My oldest daughter had just broken 2 fingers on beam so was unable to compete, ( or swim for long periods of time for that matter, she was so disappointed.)  My 7 year old did great, with a 9.450 on floor, 9.425 on vault, 9.250 on beam and a 8.0 on bars (with a fall.)  We have stopped dancing completely at this point.  It was really too much for us to try to do, and my husband and I had issues with the make up, some of the music, costuming, etc. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/744395/ Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:54:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/744395/ It has been quite some time since I have blogged on this site, and have felt lead to today.  How I have enjoyed reading through friend's blogs!  I have become very busy (too busy actually) with my business lately, and stopped blogging in order to help keep up with orders and still homeschool.  I am also pregnant with baby #5 (a BOY!!), who is due on February 22, 2010.  We are so excited about his arrival, but I feel not at all prepared, because of all of our busyness!  I have put one of my sites on hold for a few weeks, to help out with orders coming in, and I plan to leave it that way for several weeks.  After the new baby's arrival, I plan to stop attending craft festivals indefinitely as well.  I love creating things and bringing in extra $ for the family, but my children will always come first.  We are going to Disney in a little over a week, and I'm not at all prepared for that as well!  I'm going to be miserable, b/c I can barely make it through a few hours at Six Flags lol.  I also waited too late to book a Character breakfast, and I have been avidly looking for cancellations the last week or so!  We are always at gymnastics, my two oldest girls ages 8 and 9 just finished up their Level 5 USAG season, and are about to begin working on their Prep Op 2 AAU routines for the spring.  After that, they will be competing Level 6 USAG, and they are so excited!  They both need to get their front tucks on floor and fly aways on the bars, but they already have most of the other skills needed under their belts.  We are still homeschooling, and are just really enjoying life! A few pictures..(ha ha, I was able to copy and paste from my Facebook!) HALLOWEEN. : ) My 3 year old wearing an apron knot dress that I made for her. My son at his soccer awards.  He's the little guy in the front. Great job girls!  Their team won first place at their gymnastics meet in Anniston, AL this October. My two oldest girls next to their butterfly clips that they sell at craft festivals. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/744280/ Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:43:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/744280/ My business, Three Little Princesses, has a new blog!  Check it out for all our newest information and products.  I will announce giveaways and specials on this site as well as freebies from time to time. : ) It can be found at www.threelittleprincessesboutique.blogspot.com. Blessings, Nicole http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/686253/ Wed, 6 May 2009 12:08:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/686253/ Ok, I wanted to announce that I am hosting a hair bow giveaway! To enter, simply become a fan of Three Little Princesses on facebook. If you need a link to our facebook page visit www.threelittleprincesses.com. This giveaway will end on May 31st. How easy is that? : ) Also, www.momdot.com is having a blog party! Visit them to meet new bloggers and enter cool giveaways. Blessings, Nicole http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/684858/ Fri, 1 May 2009 17:19:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/684858/ I have really been enjoying this weather! It finally feels like spring has finally arrived. The kids spent 5 HOURS outside playing on the new swingset yesterday. I cut our grass today with a migraine just because I wanted to be outdoors. I'm loving our clothing as well. I hate all of the layers of winter! I actually took the girls to gymnastics today wearing only their leotards. Ah, so easy. The only problem that we have been having with being outside is a pair of martins who have decided that they want to build a nest on our porch. They dive bomb us whenever we walk out the front door. They are persistent little things. This has been going on for a few days now, and my husband is going to move what they have built this far this afternoon. He wants me to be close by with a baseball bat in case they attack. : (. Not looking forward to this one bit. On a different note the girls just had their gymnastics state meet. My 7 year old placed 8th on floor and 9th on beam. My oldest scored a 8.7, 8.1, 8.0, and 7.75. My 7 year old scored a 9.15, 8.95, 8.7, and 8.55. These weren't their highest scores of the season and their were a few bobbled (and a fall) but overall they did well. And...the coach wants to move them both to level 5 USA. This will be so much easier on me. I hope there is not too many mistakes in this post. I'm sending it from my iPhone for the first time. : ) Blessings, Nicole http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/684153/ Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:14:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/684153/ This week has been relaxing thus far compared to our last one!  I'm not sure what the problem around here was last week, but the children were completely wild!  This week they have been well-behaved and things have been flowing smoothly.  We are almost finished with school for this year!  My oldest daughter is all but done, and my next daughter in line needs to finish up some LA and Reading and then she will be finished as well.  I plan to work with my son a bit more through the spring and into June since he is a young kindergartener, and I have taken thing slowly with him. I believe that we have finally fixed all of our computer problems!And...I am getting an iPhone today!! (I'm excited, can't you tell?)  We wanted to purchase 2 refurbished ones online, but Apple doesn't allow that, so we purchased one for my husband, which came in yesterday, and now he is going to take it to AT&T today and purchase a new one for me.  It will make business things for me SO much more convienent now.  I might actually have some time with my family when we are home (just joking).  But seriously, Three Little Princesses has begun to take up a lot of my time (and downstairs.)  It hasn't totally taken off yet, but it's getting there, and I'm trying to promote it and make a lot of things for upcoming festivals.  I need to take a picture of our dining room table.  It is piled so high with supplies, I don't know how I find anything on it!  I have also opened up one of my craft fair tables in a corner of the living room to use.  I desperately need a workshop...and a play room, and a school room... I have had a difficult time posting pictures lately because my blog space is completely full.  I have been using photobucket, but it involves too many extra steps for me.  I promise to post some updated pictures soon. Blessings, Nicole http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/681966/ Thu, 23 Apr 2009 05:54:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/681966/ Lately I have been EXTREMELY busy with Three Little Princesses stuff and it takes SO long because we have dial up on our computer.  My husband was sweet enough to order DSL for us a few days ago.  He attempted to install it last night and it is refusing to work on our computer.  My husband called AT&T and was on the phone with them for about an hour while they instructed him on how to manually enter everything.  He finally was told that Norton was not allowing him to do it.  He took off Norton.  This morning it still won't work!  Well, I guess it is somewhat working because I am on here but it is in "safe mode" and most pictures aren't pulling up.  The speed is much faster though... Hopefully it will be fixed by tonight!  I need my pictures! I thought I would post an excerpt from my devotion since I haven't done that in a while. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.   Psalm 119:105 "I want to witness for God, but I just don't know what to do or say!  Here's the antidote for those feelings: Let God guide your steps and your words.  Ask Him to direct you to someone who needs to know about Him.  Ask Him to give you the correct words to say.  Spend time in His Word so you know it and can share from it the truth that every person is a sinner, Christ died for our sins and rose again.  Know His Word so you can share the plan of salvation from it.  Be able to share examples of how God has guided your footsteps through His Word." Blessings, Nicole http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/679359/ Wed, 15 Apr 2009 06:08:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/679359/ Oh my, how time flies!  I cannot believe that my baby turns 3 today.  I actually cried last night as we were decorating for her birthday.  She has grown up so quickly.  She is also so funny.  The "theme" that she picked was Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  We have been extremely busy with so many activities lately that we had a small cake for her at Babyland General, and we are having a small celebration for her at home today. Yesterday we went to the store and she picked out a Kung Fu Panda cake.  My oldest daughter was horrified because she said it was a boy cake.  I thought it was funny and we purchased it because that was her choice.  After we give her a few small presents we are going to take her to Build A Bear.  We were planning on visiting Six Flags, but severe storms are predicted for the entire day so that is out of the question. Last weekend we went to Toys R Us and purchased a huge swing set which is to be counted towards all of the kids birthday's this year.  It was $400 off, plus we received another $100 for opening a credit card.  I then put several hundred of my bow money towards it and the rest is coming from the kid's birthday $.  The instructions state that it takes about 14 hours with 2 people to assemble, so wish us luck! Happy Birthday Sweetie!! Blessings, http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/677746/ Fri, 10 Apr 2009 07:21:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/677746/ Three Little Princesses products can now be found at Young and Stylish in Los Angeles, CA. www.youngandstylish.com         Blessings, http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/677741/ Fri, 10 Apr 2009 07:12:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nicolec/677741/