Nov. 24, 2008 - Simplifying Christmas Part 2: Something to Eat

In case you missed it, I am now blogging here.  Check out my newSimplifying Christmas post here.  Thanks!!

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Nov. 11, 2008 - I'm Moving

Hello everyone, I have moved my blog here.  Thanks so much!

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Nov. 11, 2008 - Simplifying Christmas

This past year my husband and I (mostly me) have really felt the need to simplify.  In an effort to do this, I've done and accomplished several things.  The biggest was going through my house room by room and asking myself a few questions:  What is the purpose of this room?  What is here that is hindering that purpose? and How can I make it easier and/or simpler to accomplish that purpose?  Anyway, you may think I'm silly, but you'd be surprised at what you can cut out and/or get rid of. 

So...with the theme of simplifying, I began to think about Christmas.  I've always prefered a quiet, simple Christmas and I don't think we've gone overboard in our past celebrations, but there are ways that we can cut back and still have a great holiday season.  I've been reluctant in the past to push this "cutting back" idea on my husband, because he LOVES Christmas.  And lest you think he is extremely materialistic-let me explain.  He grew up in what you could call a "dysfunctional" home.  One day, while we were talking, he told me the reason he loves Christmas so much is because when he was a child, that was the one day of the year that his family and home seemed normal and happy.  His mom got up and cooked a huge, delicious breakfast.  He and his brothers, sister and parents gathered in the living room to open boatloads of gifts that were beautifully wrapped under a sparkling tree.  They laughed, had fun,  and spent time together.   But, when I approached him with an idea I had for this Christmas, he was really receptive and supportive-so I will share with you a little of what we will be doing this year.

I found a poem on another blog that I liked so much that we decided to adapt our gift giving for our children to it this year.  I don't know the title or the author-or I would give credit. 

Something to eat,

Something to read,

Something to play with,

Something you need.

In the next few weeks, I hope to share with you what we've decided to do for each of the lines in the above poem.  I hope you enjoy and feel free to share your Christmas traditions as well-I'd love to hear them!

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Nov. 7, 2008 - Family Night

For Family Night this week, we cooked some brats (from the freezer that  I wanted to use up) over the fire pit in the back yard, and worked on these Thanksgiving table runners-which by the way, would make great Christmas gifts for grandparents. 

You can sew your own table runner if you are crafty enough.  OR if you are like me, you can save yourself a trip to the fabric store, hours of trying to figure out a pattern, cutting it out, messing with the bobbin thingy on your sewing machine, and order them from Oriental Trading Company.  We made a personalized family of handprint turkeys.  (we used poster paint for the turkeys and fabric paint for the names) We then added a border using corn on the cob.  Use paint to make different colored rows on your cob of corn.  (easier if you break it in half)  Then "roll" the corn around the table runner.  Don't forget a Thanksgiving greeting and the year you made your table runner!  Have fun!  

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Nov. 6, 2008 - Counting Your Blessings

When I was a kid, every year at Thanksgiving, my dad would sit us down to "count our blessings."  This is something I've tried to continue with my children.  Several years ago, I saw this idea (see picture) and wanted to implement it, but just never got around to it.  This year~I did!!  I cut a branch from one of the trees in our yard, put it in a vase and anchored it with some small rocks.  I wrapped the vase with burlap and a ribbon.  I also attached an envelope and put leaves cut from construction paper, pre-cut lengths of ribbon and a pen in it. Every morning at breakfast we will all take a leaf, write down something we are thankful for and tie it to our "Blessings Tree"  I hope to keep all the leaves and from year to year we can go back and read them.  How about you?  Does your family have any special ways or tradtions that you use to count your blessings?  If so, I'd love to hear about them!  :)

In case you are wondering, the card on the envelope reads:

"For each new morning with it's light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food, for love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Oct. 31, 2008 - Don't Let Her Fool Ya!

Lest you think this wide-eyed petite pixie is just the picture of innocence-let me tell ya, this sweet little girl can make as much mischief as the best of 'em.  Check out this little naptime activity:  Shred up a book into as many pieces as possible and spread them as far as you can reach.  Thankfully, this book was in a box with a bunch of other "twaddle" that I was getting rid of-but a lesson in respecting property was certainly in order here.  It took FOREVER for her to clean it all up!! Is it just me or does she look like she's enjoying this a little too much?? Hmmm.....

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Oct. 28, 2008 - Let's Go Camping...Again.

Since our first attempt at camping didn't teach us anything..we decided to do it again!  This time, however, we did a few things differently:  We paid a VERY reasonable price to stay in an adorable, cozy family cabin (instead of a tent) complete with things I like. (electricity, heat, and indoor plumbing) We took all of our own food and cooked in the little kitchen.  We had a WONDERFUL time, and I'm telling you-if you read this and you live in Indiana (which I'm sure most of my readers do! ;) you have to visit here.  There are several really nice trails-along the creek and to the Falls, down to White River and one to Wolf Cave.  I believe they also have some that you can bike on-but we haven't tried any of these yet. 

We spent the day hiking (down to White River) and though it was a teeny bit brisk, we enjoyed ourselves.  We went back to our cabin to rest for the afternoon and Danny and the kids had some rousing rounds of Hungry Hungry Hippos while Mommy took a nap. (!)  We took another short walk before dinner and collected items to make this little "wild" turkey:

After dinner, we went across the street to visit our "neighbors"  (hubby's brother, my sis-in-law and their two boys!)  We had a great evening playing Life while the kids quietly watched a movie,  ran around like maniacs and spilled like 200 something drinks before the evening was over, but had GREAT fun playing with their cousins. 

It was so nice to "get away from it all" and we will certainly go again...now this trip is defintely my kind of camping!  :)

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Oct. 23, 2008 - For the Love of Pumpkins-Part 1

   I love fall and I absolutely adore pumpkins.  They are so pretty to decorate with and yummy to bake with.  So during this "pumpkin season", I thought I would share with you some of the ways I use them!

Sweet Pumpkin Dip                                                                               

2-8oz pkgs. cream cheese, softened.

1 can or 15 oz of pure pumpkin puree

2 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

Beat cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth.  Add sugar, cinnamon and ginger-mix well.  Cover and refrigerate for an hour.  Serve with fruit, graham cracker sticks, gingersnap cookies, muffins or bagels.

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Oct. 23, 2008 - Countdown to Thanksgiving!

Go visit Country Home Magazine's website and you can download and print these adorable napkin rings to use at yourThanksgiving table!  Hope you enjoy!

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Oct. 22, 2008 - To Plan or Not to Plan??

Every Sunday evening ( I like to wait until the last minute possible), I sit down and sketch out rough lesson plans for the week.  I'm trying to decide if that's even worth it, since every week since we started school, something seems to come up to thwart those not so carefully laid plans.  Two weeks ago, it was the nice surprise that Daddy would be home-and who wants to follow the plans when he's around?  This week, we decided to get sick.  (Pretty sure I didn't schedule that!)  It's a shame too...'cause I had lots of fun things ready to do with my littles.  This week was "Letter D" and we were going to do all sorts of stuff-we did manage to get our posterboard letter Ds decorated with dots.  (nice alliteration, huh?)  But..we didn't get to the "Make Way for Ducklings" book or the "Five Little Ducks" flannel board story.  We did however, get in lots of movie watching time, as I've spent most of the past two days on the couch, sleeping-with one eye open-gotta watch that two year old-she can get into some pretty interesting predicaments if she thinks no one is looking! (NO Ally-a glue stick is not the same as chapstick!)Thankfully, my oldest is at the point where he can do most of his work independently..so he won't get behind. 

It wasn't all bad though...we did get to spend a wonderfully beautiful day at the park, playing, walking and gathering leaves, acorns and other "treasures".  We had perfect weather and the kids always love to be outside.   This park day reminded me of a conversation I had with my oldest son a few weeks ago.  We were talking about school, and he told me he wouldn't mind going to a "real" school, as long as he could come home right after lunch-"why?" I asked,  "Because, kids have to play!" he answered.  :)  So true!

                                                           (Yes, sometimes we do have school in our pjs)

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Oct. 18, 2008 - Family Night

Benjamin didn't feel well Friday evening, but he had perked up quite a bit by Saturday so we decided to make Mini Caramel Apples-an idea I saw on FamilyFun.  (A website/magazine that I love getting ideas from!)  They turned out well-much better than I thought they would!  I've never been a big fan of the big caramel apples-but these were the perfect caramel/apple ratio and MUCH, MUCH easier for little hands and mouths to handle! 

First we melted caramels, used a melon baller to make "mini" apples, pushed mini popsicle sticks into them, dipped and rolled!  We put them in the fridge right away to help them "set".

Aren't they cute??  After we finished we went out to the patio to enjoy the cool fall weather, a nice warm fire and our caramel apples. 

FYI:  Several commenters on the website had problems with the caramel not sticking to the raw apples.  We didn't have this problem-but a good suggestion was made to roll the apples in flour or confectioners sugar to give them a "dry coat" first. 

Also-save the leftover "big" apples after you've melon-balled them-you can simmer them on the stove with cloves and cinnamon sticks for a nice "fall" aroma in your house!

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Oct. 14, 2008 - Psalm 100

Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

Know ye that the Lord he is God:  It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving , and into his courts with praise:  be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

What are you thankful for this week?   I used to have a journal and every night I would write down five things I was thankful for that day.  I've gotten out of that habit and I should start it up again...but here are my five things for this week.

1.  Seeing my older son read a book to his little brother.

2. Precious family time on Wednesday evening.

3. My hubby helping me do grocery shopping last night.

4.  Encouragement from another homeschool mom.

5.  The Lord providing another job for the business.

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Oct. 14, 2008 - Alphabet Books

This is a fun way to preserve school memories and review the alphabet!  We learn one letter per week, make a cut out of that letter and decorate it.  I take a photo of each of them holding their letter and put it in their ABC photo album.  If I was creative, I would have them hold their letter in one hand and an object that started with that letter in the other when I took the picture  (i.e.  an apple etc.)-but I know there are some letters that I wouldn't be able to find objects for.  Unfortunately, I don't have any Zebras or Xylophones lying around the house! :)

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Oct. 10, 2008 - What to do with those Toddlers???

It's been awhile since I did a "homeschool" post, and since this is primarily a homeschooling blogs website I thought I'd throw one out there.  Our year is going suprisingly well.  I was a bit overwhelmed during planning for this year because I wasn't quite sure how I was going to manage to teach second grade, keep two toddlers occupied without sitting them in front of the t.v. (which I HATE) and having a baby here twice a week.  Plus, just to make things interesting we threw a once-a-week co-op into the mix.  During planning, I set about researching blogs and websites for ideas on what to do with my toddlers.  The best ideas I came across were:  Have quality time w/ your littles BEFORE you start any school with older ones.  This has worked out well for us-reading books and playing.  The little ones are then "filled" up with mommy time and are a lot more happy to occupy themselves after that.  During actual teaching time, I utilize "busy boxes"-an idea I read about in several sources.  Our boxes are just shoe box size that I got at Wal-Mart for .97 each.  I filled 4 of them with activities and we rotate them daily.  We have a water box (I fill it with water, spread a towel out on the kitchen table and they go to town with measuring cups and turkey basters etc.), a play doh box, a stamp box (filled with super cheap stamps on clearance @ Michael's, paper and washable ink pads), a box with those painting books that you just use water to "paint" with.  As you can probably guess, the messiest boxes are the most popular and the ones that keep them occupied the longest!  :)

Two weeks ago, however, after requests from Benjamin to "do school" too, I decided to do a little more "school stuff" with my little ones.  We will be going through the alphabet, one letter per week.  So far we've done "A" and "B"  and they both recognize and can tell me what sound those letters make.  Here were our "lesson plans" for this week:

Monday: Introduce Letter B: I cut the letter B from poster board for each of them and gave them crayons, buttons and stickers to "decorate" their letters.  We then took pictures of each of them holding up their letter and I will print those and put them into their "Alphabet Books"-mini photo albums that I got for .50 each at Joann Etc. 

Tuesday: We read "Blueberries for Sal" and had a "blueberry hunt"  with little tin pails and blue pom-poms.  We then counted everyone's blueberries (math)-and I found out that my 3 y/o. can count to 10.  (not sure who taught him that.)

Wednesday: Co-Op  (usually on Fridays)

Thursday: My plan was to make letter B cut-out sugar cookies, but my house was such a disaster that everyone got the day off so I could find it again.

Friday: Again, my plan was to make a butterfly craft, but Daddy was home so we went to the Children's Museum instead!!!!

Next week: Letter C-Anyone have any ideas????

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Oct. 9, 2008 - Complete and Total Randomness

Okay...so here are my totally random thoughts, feelings, and useless facts you may never want to know for today:

*I'm cleaning my house..and the saying "Cleaning your house when you have kids is like shoveling snow before it's done falling"  keeps running through my head...and yet, I still do it.

*My baby sister and I can have complete, meaningful (only to us) conversations using nothing but lines from Jane Austen novels.  (Yeah...I miss her.)

*I am amused when people think we have money b/c my husband is a business owner.

*My three-year old is taking me for a ride on the moon later today. 

*I REALLY wish my daughter would stop taking her diaper off at nap/bed time.

*I love this season-it makes me want to bake so my house smells cinnamony,pumpkiny and appley.

*I'm somewhat shocked that my hubby is going to be home again this weekend.  That's two in a row.  Since April.  :)

*I thought the last presidential debate was extemely boring.  (and the one before that, too)

*I haven't gotten dressed yet today.  (I'm cleaning..what's the point?)

*I kind of wish I had gotten dressed so I could go check my mail.

*I'm kind of sick of getting e-mails informing me that Barak Obama doesn't wear a flag pin.

*If someone wanted to give me one of those Merry Maid services..like for Christmas or something..I would totally take it.  :)

That's all folks!!!!

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Oct. 6, 2008 - Polar Bear Ice Cream

In our reading lesson today, (BJU Press)  we had a short lesson on following directions.  The activity looked like fun, and if your children are anything like mine, reminders to follow directions are always useful.  So...to that end..we made "Polar Bear Ice Cream"  The entire time we were following the directions for the recipe I was praying that it would turn out....I've had experiences of following the recipe exactly and then it didn't look or taste anything like it was supposed to!  I wasn't quite sure how I would explain that -sometimes, even if you follow the directions, it doesn't work?  I was quite relieved that I didn't end up having to give any explanations!

Here are the directions for "Polar Bear Ice Cream"

1/2 cup of milk                                                                  

1/4 teaspoon of vanilla

1 Tablespoon of sugar

1 quart-sized sealable bag

1 gallon sized sealable bag

ice

6 Tablespoons of salt

a hand towel

1.  Mix the milk, vanilla and sugar in the smaller bag and seal it.

2.  Fill the larger bag half full of ice.  Also put in the salt and the small bag.  Seal the big bag.

3.  Wrap the big bag in a towel.  Shake it for 5 minutes.

4.  Take out the little bag and wipe it off with the towel.  Eat the ice cream. (Makes 1/2 cup)

**It said the ice would last for mulitple servings...but we just made the one." 

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Sep. 30, 2008 - If Only They Would Listen.....

The following is an entry put together by my friend Jada, over at "What's A Girl Gonna Do?"   So good I just had to share!!

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Sep. 24, 2008 - A Few More Good Reasons to Homeschool Your Children....

A "creative" way to "teach" creative writing....

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=75087

There are no words to describe this....

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=63978

Spelling isn't important, is it?

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=74772

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Sep. 24, 2008 - We Love Reading!!

     Every night during the week, before we tuck the boys in for the night, I read to them for about an hour.  (although, we have gotten carried away and stretched into two!)  We just finished reading Farmer Boy, by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Both of the boys really enjoyed it.  I was kind of surprised that even my 3 year old understood the majority of the story and asked lots of questions and contributed to some discussions we had. (I hate to brag-but hearing him pronounce "Almanzo" is just down right adorable, too!)  I'm always guilty of underestimating the level of comprehension my little ones have-they soak up and understand a LOT more than you may think! 

     I read last year sometime while I was randomly browsing blogs of a lady who started a Reading Journal when her kids started kindergarten-just to keep a record of all the books they read.  She kept it up through out their school years and when they graduate, they'll be able to look back at all the wonderful books they read and memories they created as a family.  So, copy cat that I am, I started one this year too.  :)  We finished our Farmer Boy page today and filed it in our notebook under the Family Read-Alouds section! 

      Finished pages:

We've already read the first chapter of our next book:  Rascal, by Sterling North.  We should finish that one pretty quickly.  Now...to ask the readers-do any of you have suggestions for good books to read to little boys????  I've got a TON of ideas of books to read to my daughter, but am having a harder time finding good ones for the little guys!  Thanks in advance for any suggestions! 

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Sep. 22, 2008 - The Preacher of The Sermon on the Mount

Yesterday, during our early service, my dad preached a great message...it was so encouraging to me that I just had to share the highlights.  (Although most of my readers were probably there to hear it for themselves!)  We just finished up a series on the Sermon on the Mount, and my dad said he was pondering whether or not he should move on or do one more study on the few verses after.  I'm so glad the Lord laid it on his heart to lead us to consider the Preacher of the Sermon on the Mount.  The text was from Matthew 8:29 "For he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes."  The previous verse describes the people's reaction to this sermon...astonished (or amazed), the reason for this astonishment comes in vs. 29- because he taught them as one having authority.  So...what does the Sermon on the Mount reveal to us about Christ?

First...it reveals to us Christ's claim to our loyalty.  (Matt. 5:11-12)

Second..it reveals to us Christ's authority to represent us.  (Matt. 5:17)

Third, and my favorite... it reveals to us Christ's willingness to care for us.  Matt. 6:25 "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, not yet for your body, what ye shall put on, is not the life more then meat, and the body than raiment?"

And last, it reveals Christ's authority to judge.  (Matt. 7:22)

If you want to hear the whole thing (unabridged and much, much better than my feeble effort above) you can go here. (SemonAudio)  Hopefully, my dad will get it uploaded within a few days.  :)  Hope it blesses your heart as much as it did mine. 

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