Nov. 22, 2009 - Cheeks
How 'bout those cheeks...
Nov. 22, 2009 - holiday time advertisement!
The girls, Neko, and I attended a holiday craft boutique on Saturday. One of our friends was selling her hand crafted notecards, gift tags and a few other nifties. I was so impressed. Seriously, these are so well done. Actually two good friends have their own online stores, selling paper goodies. Just wanted to mention it with the holidays arriving, check out these adorable Christmas cards and tags!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/kristinsanchez
http://www.etsy.com/shop/mypaperhabit
Nov. 21, 2009 - Awesome giveaway!
5 Minutes for Mom is giving away an INCREDIBLE HP TouchSmart 600 computer for Christmas! Check it out here!
Nov. 20, 2009 - Spinach Salad: A Yummy Recipe
Spinach Salad
1 pkg. spinach (10 oz)
1 (12 oz.) carton small curd cottage cheese
½ c. chopped pecans
½ c. sugar
3 T. vinegar
2 tsp. prepared horseradish
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. dried mustard (very important, and I always use more than ½ tsp.)
Directions:
In a large serving bowl, layer half of the spinach, cottage cheese, and pecans. Repeat layers.
In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Drizzle over salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately. Note: If you don’t plan to use this immediately, just add the dressing right before serving.
Nov. 20, 2009 - hard things to bear
Trials come in all sizes and shapes. What may feel nearly crushing to me, seems to another, like nothing very much at all. We have been reading in Proverbs chapter 3, that the son/daughter whom the Lord loves, He disciplines. None of us likes trials or discipline, for that matter. We'd prefer to learn our lessons without the hard things. But, what our family is learning, is that, the Lord has the most amazing love for us. He wants us to be like His wonderful self and sometimes the best way to accomplish that, is by giving us difficulties. These are intended to bring us closer to Him, to cling to Him and thereby, become like Him. Wouldn't we all like to be more like Jesus? I would.
As you know, we now have Neko in our family, and truthfully, we are overwhelmed with joy for this little boy. My daughter Chloe has been praying faithfully for almost a year, that God would give us another baby. She hasn't given up although, it lead to many a discussion as to why God doesn't answer our prayers when we want Him to...
When we found out that Neko was to be a part of our family, it would be difficult to describe how Chloe responded. She saw God answer a prayer right in front of her eyes. Then, came the hard part. She had had a rash for a couple of days, but it seemed to have gotten worse, so I sent her to the doctor's with Grandpa and Grandma. The doctor felt that it was a highly contagious rash that could easily spread, particularly dangerous to a baby. Of course, that meant that Chloe couldn't hold or kiss her new little brother. She was devastated. We couldn't stop her tears for almost two days.
The first week was one of great sacrifice for Chloe. She already loved Neko, and understood that though she selfishly wanted to hold him, she wanted him healthy more than that, and so she was choosing to give up her right. She began to pray for Neko's family, knowing that their sacrifice was greater than her own, and beginning to understand in a small way, how love sometimes causes us to do great, hard things. For some children, this trial would have been minor, but for Chloe, it was huge. Happily, for all of us, Chloe's rash was nothing more than a really icky rash that needed ointment to help it go away. She gladly held Neko after the alloted time, and I think with a much more thankful heart than before. Here is my beautiful Chloe holding Neko in the sling for the first time. How very thankful...
Nov. 20, 2009 - Cute Quotes
Here's a couple that make me smile:
Later in the day, after we told the kids that we would be having another baby, my 5yr old son piped up with:
"Mama! You're going to need four arms! You're going to have to grow another pair!"
"I am?"
"Yeah, for the new baby!"
He's probably right!
My sleepy 3yr old daughter wandered through to breakfast the other morning and said:
"Is it Christmas time?"
"No, not quite yet."
She replied "After breakfast will it be Christmas time?"
(Congratulatory flowers from my mom!)
Have a wonderful day!!
Nov. 18, 2009 - just the boys
For some reason our bed is the local hang-out spot in our house. It seems like most mornings we end up with a ton of little people in bed with us. Feet and arms and heads every which way, everybody clamoring for a spot, wrestling, pillow fights - then Dad sounds the alarm so the chores must begin...
Sometimes, even when it isn't morning time, I find people using the bed as a fort or book reading nook. You name it, the bed in our room is a hot spot!!! Here are some little cuties I found there today...
"My, what big eyes you have."
Nov. 17, 2009 - Some Holiday resources
Thanksgiving Activities and Games for Kids |
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| About Thanksgiving Background on the holiday - origin, history, and current celebrations. |
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| When is Thanksgiving 2009? Need to know the exact date of Thanksgiving this year? Here's a chart that shows what day Thanksgiving is celebrated from 2005 - 2014. |
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| Thanksgiving Coloring Pages - Readers Use your interactive crayon to paint these fun "talking" coloring pages of the Thanksgiving theme - The Mayflower, Native American, Pilgrims, turkeys, harvests, turkey dinners, cornucopias, prayers of thanksgiving. Coloring friends help beginner readers and ESL students! Click on the words under the coloring picture to hear the sentence that describes the picture. |
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| Gobble up these Thanksgiving Jigsaw Puzzles! Interactive jigsaw puzzles that kids can play online. Some of the puzzles animate when last piece is put in place! |
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| Native American Activities - Native American games, songs and dances, short stories, poems, coloring pages, and plays. These cultural activities include Native American names and naming ceremonies. | |
| What's Different Games Compare the pictures to find all the differences. |
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How to Carve a Turkey Tips on carving Tom Turkey and serving your guests. |
| Thanksgiving Crafts Great ideas for Thanksgiving crafts, party favors, recipes, invitations, etc. |
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| Thanksgiving Craft Books Thanksgiving craft book reviews. Tons of craft ideas for Thanksgiving fun! |
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| Thanksgiving Worksheets and Printables Thanksgiving worksheets and printables include a word jumble, word searches and placing vocabulary words in alphabetical order. |
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| The Mayflower Compact A text copy of the original Mayflower Compact with the names of Pilgrims that signed it. |
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| Thanksgiving Prayers - Giving Thanks Some before and after Table prayers for kids. |
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| Thematic Reading List - Thanksgiving Books for Kids Book descriptions and reviews for preschool and elementary reading. Use this reading list to integrate literature into your lessons. |
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| Thanksgiving Short Stories Printable stories for the classroom or home. Includes some classic Thanksgiving tales and The First Thanksgiving. |
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| Thanksgiving Poems Includes a collection of childrens' favorites. |
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| Thanksgiving Wordsearch Puzzle Where are all these vocabulary words hiding? Play this interactive word find. |
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| Thanksgiving Wordsearch Puzzle Challenge Can you find all the vocabulary words in the interactive word find puzzle that are associated with Thanksgiving? |
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Nov. 17, 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
Nov. 16, 2009 - welcome party
On Sunday we brought Neko to church. He slept through the whole service! It was fun to introduce everybody to our sweet guy!
One of the families of our church hosted an after-church party following the service. We all met in the home for lunch and fellowship. Several of the ladies worked to make everything come together. They all purchased a gift for Neko and of course everybody who wanted to, got a turn holding him. It was a special "welcome Neko" celebration. Our church has been supportive and encouraging throughout the years of our many adventures.
On another note, Charity has become quite the big girl since Neko arrived. We weren't totally sure what she would do as she's been known to be, shall we say, a little over-exuberant in her loving! We have been pleasantly surprised...she LOVES baby Neko and strokes his head while "holding" him. Here's a shot of the two of them...
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