Our Vacation

Finally, the pictures are here! YAY! Once again, there are not a whole lot because I spent most of my time playing instead of taking pictures. LOL
Orlando is full of fun things. We spent a day at Downtown Disney. The kids loved it. Its free. Unless, of course, you bring Grandma and then she buys things for everyone. LOL.
Here is Jonathan enjoying the water fountains by himself. The big kids got to do lots of stuff and I asked them to let Jonathan do this.
This one is about to splash him right in the nose.
Here is the huge toy store they have. Kelsie is playing on the Mr. Potato Head computer designing a Mr. Potato Head.There was a table right behind her where you could play with the Potato Heads. They also had a My Little Pony dress up table.

This is a picture by the Rainforest Cafe. Its a bit pricey but we may save our money next time to ear there. It looked neat.

Keslie with a new friend!
A huge mechanical snake at the front of the Rainforest Cafe store. Jonathan was not very sure about it!
Crazy Tamara the alligator tamer!

As you can see we enjoy scaring our baby with snakes! Ha! Jokes on you he picked out a huge snake for grandma to buy! He loves that thing and greets me every morning with it. He says, "SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS bite you mommy!"

My mom has some other pictures I will steal next time I am over there. We spent time at the Lego store as well.

On vacation we tried to go swimming every day. The kids did a craft with grandma at the craft center one day. We also went to Arabian Nights dinner theatre one night. We had a nice relaxing vacation!

Be Blessed!

We are ok!

I just wanted to post quickly and say that everything is ok for now. We have not heard anymore on our situation. It involved a former foster child that lived here over two years ago. We have a peace. Your prayers are still appreciated. I will be back either later this week or Monday of next week.
I am going to spend some time reading through blogs and catching up today. We had a busy weekend so we are having a down day today. Movies, books, games, rest....
Be Blessed!

If you think about it...

Please say a prayer for my family today. I would rather not go into detail right now (don't you hate when people say that! LOL) but our family is under attack right now. It could turn out to be nothing at all, but right now it is something. I am very distressed about it. Please pray for us. God is the author of my faith and He knows what He is doing.
I may not blog the next couple of days because I have to do some stuff around here in regards to whats going on. As soon as I everything is cleared I will post more about it.

Be Blessed!

To be continued...

Ok so I was going to post my vacation pictures but I did not save them right so now I have to go through and redo them. I will post later. :)

My Man Rocks!

Bren, has this up on her blog. I love my man and could not resist talking about him!

1. Who is your man? The Hot Guy Above

2. How long have you been together? 8 years in December.
3. How long dated? We met for the very first time March 7, 1999

4. How old is your man? 37
5. Who eats more? Usually him, but it depends on whats being offered. LOL
6. Who said "I love you" first? He asked me once how do you know when you are in love. I wrote it on a card first. I think he verbally said it first. We'd been dating about 6 months.
7. Who is taller? Sometimes he is. ;)

8. Who sings better? He would say I do, but I love listening to him sing.

9. Who is smarter? By far it's him! He is the smartest person I know. His brain is full of facts.
10. Whose temper is worse? Mine, hands down.
11. Who does the laundry? I do.
12. Who takes out the garbage? The kids.
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do.
14. Who pays the bills? I do for the most part.

15. Who is better with the computer? He's a real computer nerd. He knows lots about computers.

16. Who mows the lawn? He does.
17. Who cooks dinner? I do.
18. Who drives when you are together? Mostly him.
19. Who pays when you go out? He does. Except on our very first date. The place we were at did not take credit cards. He was so embarrassed. :)
20. Who is most stubborn? Depends on what is being discussed.
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? I am.
22. Whose parents do you see the most? My mom lives right around the corner from us. His live in another town.

23. Who kissed who first? I'm sure it was him. But I don't really remember.

24. Who asked who out? We met online. I think he asked for the first meeting.

25. Who proposed? He did. Its a great story!

26. Who is more sensitive? Oh, so ME! He is not the sensitive type.

27. Who has more friends? I do. He is more introverted.

28. Who has more siblings? He does. 3 older sisters.

29. Who wears the pants in the family? He does. I much prefer skirts. ;)

30. How did you meet? Online.

This was so fun. Thanks Bren for posting it!

Taming The Monster Challenge 1- Finale

They said it couldn't be done!
They said it would be better to just burn the place down!
They wanted to condemn it but....


BEFORE
BEFORE
AFTER
AFTER


I proved them all wrong!

Sing it with me...
"We are the champions, we are the champions of the world!"

Of course in a family of 7 the laundry will never be done, but I declare this area tamed! Thanks!

Stay tuned for the next Taming the Monster Challenge.
What does your bedroom closet look like?

Be Blessed!

Summer Swap

My partner for The Simple Woman's Summer swap was Lori at Beyond the Garden. I had a great time with this my first ever swap!
She sent all of my stuff in a great basket (I LOVE BASKETS) with these beautiful linens (I LOVE BEAUTIFUL LINENS!) my camera died before I could get a proper pic of them. Lori did you make those? My girls are dying to know!
She also sent me a self watering flower pot and Texas Bluebonnet seeds. Two candles that made the whole box smell great and those cute candle holders. A cute little box of stationary and some homemade peach preserves. I forgot to get a picture of them before I put them in the fridge. Imagine the squeals of delight when my children saw their gift... WATER BALLOONS! how fun, Lori. Your the best! I thought it was funny that I sent her something for her and her girls to enjoy and she sent me something to enjoy with my kids. Great minds think alike! :)

This Week

We had a great vacation. I have a few pictures but I found myself so caught up in the fun that I did not get a lot. The good news is I went to my mom's house last night and downloaded them so they are on my computer awaiting editing.
I loved having the list to look at the week before last and decided I would try it again this week.

Monday: Menu, store list, one small basket of laundry from the trip, finish unpacking, cleaning training with the kids, Read and illustrate Matthew with the kid, Proverbs memorization with the kids, Poetry memorization with the kids, Verses with the kids, read alouds with the kids, phonics with Adrian and Tamara, sewing with Karly, Math review with Kelsie, Kay Arthur Bible study with kids, finish sorting through clothes, post pictures from swap from Lori, post laundry pictures, work out night schedule for this week, begin work on homeschooling schedule through the end of the year. When Roy gets home: dinner, library, grocery store, catechism, Bible reading.Tuesday: Cooking for the week, cleaning training, read alouds, phonics Tamara and Adrian, read and illustrate Matthew, Proverbs memorization, verses, poetry memorization, work on homeschooling through the rest of the year schedule, Kay Arthur Bible study with kids, finish up my bedroom cleaning/decluttering, edit post pictures from vacation. When Roy gets home: dinner, then he is off to his Elder's meeting, the kids and I will play a game, Kelsie and I will read aloud, when Roy gets home we will have Bible reading.

Wednesday: Finish cooking/baking for the week, cleaning training, Proverbs memorization, poetry memorization, verses, home ec day, clean/declutter my closet, finish up anything left in my bedroom. Kay Arthur Bible study with kids. When Roy gets home: dinner, History, and Bible reading. Go to mom's and download pics from home ec day.
Thursday: Cleaning training, poetry memorization, Proverbs memorization, verses, read and illustrate Matthew, Kay Arthur Bible study for kids, phonics Tamara and Adrian, sewing Karly, Math Review Kelsie, finish closet, clean/declutter bathroom, work on plan for homeschooling through the rest of the year, edit and post pictures from home ec day.

When Roy gets home: Dinner, Latin, Bible, and catechism.

Friday: Cleaning training, read and illustrate Matthew, Proverbs memorization, poetry memorization, verses, Kay Arthur Bible study for kids, phonics Tamara and Adrian, finish bathroom, plan out homeschool for rest of the year, plan out garden for September, budget for rest of the year. When Roy gets home: Dinner while listening to Jonathan Park, discuss Jonathan park study guide, Grocery store, Read aloud dad and Karly, Bible.
Saturday: Farmer's Market for honey, some beach time since we are down there for the farmer's market, move book cases, watch Martin Luther video with kids, reading with kids, game with kids. History and Bible. After the kids are in bed: Date with Dh (brownies and milk as we talk about all sorts of things), some reading with Dh. I will also work on our menu for the week.
Sunday: Church, rest, reading, quiet play. Martin Luther study, Latin, and Bible.

What does your week look like?

Be Blessed!

Back In A Week!

I did not get as much blogging done this week as I would have liked. I had a great time at our Homeschool Convention this week. A time of refreshment and renewal. I am finishing some packing now and then church, lunch and bye-bye! I have lots of books packed. I can't wait. The kids have some games and crafts and stuff packed. Combined with the pool and a trip to Downtown Disney we are all looking forward to some fun.
Dh will only be with us on part of the trip because of work but we just plan to enjoy that part all the more when he gets there. :)

Be blessed my friends and I will see you all in a week!

Real Quick

Good news I downloaded pictures.
Bad news I don't have time to edit them and post them right now. Maybe tomorrow evening.

Be Blessed!

In the beginning...

At what point do you give up on your first garden? When do you start over again? As far as I can tell August/September is the next planting time in Florida. Should I take out all the non productive plants and be getting ready to go again? The green and the flowers are beautiful. The lack of produce is discouraging, but I am going to keep on. I will back up and learn from my mistakes and then try again.
But again, when do you start over?

A Kitchen Post

Alas, I did not make it to my mom's last night. So there are no pictures of my beautifully empty laundry baskets. Soon though. I promise. :) Before I leave.
Today I thought I would share with you something I just started doing around my kitchen. It's working out great.

On Friday I will do our grocery shopping for the next week. It will be in the morning before DH leaves for work, in the mid morning if we walk to the store up the street, or in the evening after DH gets home.
On Saturday I will come up with a menu plan for the week based on what is in the pantry and what I bought. I made up a master list of what I need to have on hand for meals. Funny thing, with just few staple items you can make a lot of different things.
Sunday I will clip coupons and sort them. I will look through sales ads from the Sunday paper for good deals. I will also do this on Wednesday when the store fliers come in the mail, finalizing my grocery list for Friday.
Monday I will bake the bread, make up as much of the meals for the week ahead as possible, cut up veggies for salads, make any desserts we plan to have, stew up some broth, cook beans... you get the picture. Monday is a down day for me. Coming off the weekend and all. Using this time to get all my cooking done for the busy week ahead is a life saver.

Yesterday I made four loaves of bread, put together a cabbage bake for Thursday, cooked a meat mix for crockpot stroganoff for Friday, made all of our oatmeal for the week, made marinara sauce for tonight, and roasted a chicken which I will use the rest of to make broth today.

I did not get all the cooking done. Today I have to make rice for the week, put together another meal for the crockpot Saturday, and cook some side dishes.

It looks like a lot but these are all things I can do while cleaning up my kitchen, reading to the kids, or doing laundry. I am slowly learning how to combine things while I work. I will post some more about that later either today when I have some free time or this week.

Do you do any precooking? Do you have any suggestions for my plan above?

Be Blessed!

At Home This Week

Monday: Today I am going to cook and bake for the week. Sort the clothes from my almost finished laundry. Do some cleaning training with the kids. Take pictures of my almost finished laundry. Maybe even finish the laundry. Clip and sort out coupons. Reading with Tamara and Adrian. Sewing with Karly. Get on to Kelsie half a dozen more times because she has three math sheets to correct and so far nothing. Read alouds. Work on Proverbs Ch. 1 memorization with the kids. Start the Kay Arthur How to Study the Bible for Kids book with the kids. Memorize some poetry and the name of the Disciples with the children. Bible reading from Matthew with kids. Register for the homeschool convention this weekend. When DH gets home: Go to the library. Eat dinner. Latin. Read alouds for me and Kelsie. Bible.
Tuesday: Finish up one or two meals for the week. Organize my home management desk. Take pictures of my HMC (Home Management Central) and notebooks. Post pictures of laundry. More cleaning training with the kids. Clean my bedroom. Send out monthly women's email to our church family. Reading with Tamara and Adrian. Read Alouds. More Proverbs Ch. 1 memorization. Read the Bible in Matthew with the kids. Poetry and names of the Disciples memorization. Kay Arthur Bible study with kids. Urge Kelsie to finish her math before vacation. More sewing with Karly. Work on budget for July and August. When Dh gets home: I will go to mom's co-op planning meeting. Kids will clean out van. Dh will do read alouds him and Karly and Bible with the kids.
Wednesday: Check weekly ads with coupons. Make list of trip meals and supplies to bring and buy before we get to Orlando. LORI, from Beyond The Garden, if you are reading this please email me your address. Remember, to ask Lori from Beyond the Garden for her address so I can mail her swap stuff. Pray over stuff and hope Lori likes it... I tried really hard. LOL. Clean my closet. More Proverbs Ch. 1 memorization with kids. More poetry memorization. Review names of Disciples. Home Ec Day. Post pictures of HMC. Take pictures of Home Ec day. Bible reading from Matthew with kids. Kay Arthur Bible study with kids. When Dh gets home: Eat dinner. Science with kids. Catechism with kids. Bible with kids. Thursday: Pack for trip. Check out schedule for homeschool convention and finalize which seminars I want to attend. Finish up my bedroom and closet. Start cleaning kids rooms. Post pictures of our Home Ec day. Maybe a post about what I am bringing and preparing for the condo as far as food. More Proverbs Ch 1 memorization with kids. Bible reading in Matthew with kids. Poetry memorization with kids. Reading Tamara and Adrian. Read Alouds. Is Kelsie done yet? Kay Arthur book with kids. More sewing with Karly. When Dh gets home: Eat dinner. Latin with kids. Read alouds DH and Karly. Bible with kids.
Friday: Homeschool convention. Finish packing. Last minute cleaning. Does Dh have food for the days we are gone and he is home? Ship Lori's swap package. Grocery shopping for week of condo.

Saturday: Homeschool convention. Finish packing. Last minute cleaning. Spend time with family.

Sunday: Church. Lunch. To Orlando! YAY! :)

What does your week look like?

Be Blessed!

Our Vision

Here is our vision as described in the post below. I gave this to DH on Valentine's Day 2005. It's not fancy or pretty but he still tells me to this day its his favorite present. *Blush*
It sits on our mantel in the living room.

Does your family have a vision? Proverbs 29:18, "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."

Be Blessed!

Faith and Family

I have been planning something for awhile. It's called our Faith and Family wall(s). It used to be one wall now I'm thinking it will be one wall in all the rooms of our home. On it there will be pictures of our family and friends as well as Bible verses, our family vision, quotes to live by... anything that inspires our family to press on toward the mark!

I have heard time and again how important it is to have scripture around your home. For a long time I have wanted to write, Deuteronomy 6:5, "And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." , on the wall around my front door. You know from the rest of the verse... Deuteronomy 6:6-9, "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." I will do that as well.
As I read through my Bible I find more and more verses to include. I want everyone who lives here and who enters our home to know what our family is about. To know who we are and where we are going. DH and I have a vision for our family. It's on our mantle. I will post the picture of it after I finish this post. Mainly we want our children to love God and be more obedient to Him than we are. Someone once told DH, if you want to know how much faith your children have look at your grandchildren. That blew him away. Oh that our family will live on in Heaven with us for many, many, many generations.
Here are just a few of the verses that we are going to use..

1 Peter 3:15, "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:"

Deuteronomy 5:32-33, "Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess."

Deuteronomy 7:9, "Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;"

Joshua 1:8-9, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."

1 John 2:6, "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked."

1 John 2:15, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

1 Samuel 16:7, "But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart."

2 Samuel 7:29, "Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O Lord GOD, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever."

These are just a few of the verses we have chosen. I will share more later. It will probably be at least a month before I can start on our walls. I need to repaint and do some other things around here first, but the wall is always on my heart and mind.
The very first verse I choose, except for the Duet. 6:5 was 2 Samuel 7:29 (see above). It matched our vision perfectly.

What verses would you put on your faith and family wall? What would your faith and family wall look like?

Be Blessed!

Grr!

Breaks my heart and makes my blood boil at the same time. Just for the record I knew when this vaccine came out that my girls would not be getting it. At least not as long as they live here. When they are adults it's up to them. For now their heath and well being is my responsibility.
Please join me in praying for this family and young girl.


Jenny's story

From U.S. News and World Report
Is HPV Vaccine to Blame for a Teen's Paralysis?
About a month after being vaccinated against the cervical cancer-causing HPV virus, 13-year-old Jenny Tetlock missed the lowest hurdle in gym class, the first hint of the degenerative muscle disease that, 15 months later, has left the previously healthy teenager nearly paralyzed, Deborah Kotz reports. Did the vaccine, Gardasil, cause her condition? Her father, Philip Tetlock, a psychology professor at UCBerkeley's Haas School of Business, has embarked on an odyssey to find out whether the vaccine or random coincidence is to blame. In addition to contacting top medical experts, he started a blog that reveals his anger and frustration.
Kotz discusses reports of adverse reactions to Gardasil in her On Women blog. U.S. News's Bernadine Healy previously reported on the mounting evidence that the mercury-based vaccine preservative thimerosal could trigger autism in certain susceptible kids.

My new favorite ABC book

I love this book. I just got it from the library the other day and I have read it to my little ones at least a dozen times. It's beautiful. I am going to buy my own copy.
Just wanted to share!! Click on the picture for more information.

Be Blessed!!

JULY!!

It's July! That means summer is almost over, right? RIGHT? Ok I confess. I do not like the summer. It's just too hot. You walk outside and your breath is taken away (and not in a good way!). You get sweaty from the house to the car. Three steps! But it is a torture I will endure... I suppose! :)

Our July is jam packed with fun, sun, excitment! We are probably staying home for the fourth of July. We might go to the beach with family, but that is our big plans.
July 11 and 12th is our local homeschool convention. On the 13th we leave to go to Orlando for the week. We are staying in my mom's condo. We don't do much down there. See my above thoughts on the heat. :) We try to do one or two cheap or free things while we are there. Last year we went to Downtown Disney. That was awesome. They have a Lego store there and the kids spent lots of time while it rained under the covered area where the lego tables were. They also had this cool toy store. You could dress My Little Pony or design a Mr. Potato Head. All for free. It was fun and free! LOL
We also went to Wonderworks last year. That was fun and fairly cheap. Handicap people get in free. They let my mom in free. They also had a book that you could use for educational purposes.
One year we did a dinner theatre. That was pricey but fun.
On my mom's condo site they have free putt-putt and they are supposed to have a free water park this year. They also have crafts in the activity area for $1 or $2 dollars. You can rent paddleboats or bicycles. There are pools all over the place. All in all it's not a bad vacay.

We are planning some fun family stuff this month as well. We are going to try to take a weekly trip to the beach for a picnic and a little fun before the sun goes down. It's a lot less crowded on weekdays. Our church is going to a water park in St. Marys, Georgia later on in the month.

I am also thinking we will get Museum passes again this year. We do zoo passes for about October to April, maybe May, sometimes June. Museum passes from June through September. Remember, the heat?

I am taking July off from academics. We will be doing Bible study this month. I got How to Study Your Bible for Kids by Kay Arthur. I have already studied the first week and it looks great. I will have to modify it a little for the younger kids but the older ones should get it just fine.

We have been reading through Matthew and the kids illustrate it so we will continue doing that. We are memorizing Proverbs and will continue with that. We are still on chapter 1. I checked out a lot of books from the library to read to the kids. I got some ABC books for Jonathan and Tamara and Adrian. I will read one a day to them. I also got some fun math books to read through. Its all on the preschool/kindergarten level. With a story book or two my kids are ready. I am also upping my teaching them to read. God has impressed it on my heart lately that reading is one of the most important things I can give my kids. When they can read they can read the Bible.

Kelsie has to finish up some of her work from June but for once Karly is all caught up and loving it. She got some drawing books from the library and has been having fun with that.

At night we are going to be working on History/Science, Latin, Bible and catechism, studying Martin Luther, and reading. Rotating nights and weeks.

Tonight for instance we have Bible, catechism, and science. I am using Christian Kids Explore Biology and a lot of living books. This week is the creation so I have a bunch of books about the creation ready to read. I'm also going to read some Dinosaur books I got from Answers In Genesis. The only place I get my dinosaur books. :)

We decided to pick a different Hero of our faith to study every quarter. Dh picked Martin Luther for this quarter. We have had a lot of fun reading through his stuff and learning about him. I found quiet a few reasonably priced kids books from CBD about him and ordered those.

For catechism I found A Baptist Catechism For Boys and Girls online that we have been using. It works perfectly for us. We are reading through a story Bible right now. I think once we get through the Gospels we are going to lay it aside and work on a book that teaches salvation and the true meaning of it to little ones. It's called Leading Little Ones To God. We have one or two who are ready to make the decision and we want to make sure they know what they are committing to.

I am excited about all the things going on this summer. I am hoping we will make it more of a routine. And it will continue on past summer. That's my prayer at least.

Speaking of routines, I have been working on mine since I posted about wanting to. I will show you my notebook so far. Slow and steady. Right now I am working on my morning routine and menu planning. I have some great ideas I'm implementing to save me time and money. I will share it all with you this week.

We are having Home Ec day this week so be on the lookout.

Be Blessed!

Taming the Monster Challenge Week 3

I wish I had pictures to show you. I have not been to my mom's house at all this week. I will try to go over there tomorrow or Thursday. The good news is I can see the light! I have almost the whole side of "special" clothes done. I am resorting to get the most out of each load. I can't wait.
Dh revented the dryer so it dries better now. I don't know what he did but the house smells like clean laundry.
The new problem is that with all the laundry gone the garage is really showing us how badly it needs to be cleaned out. We are going to work on it a little this month, but with the heat it's hard to do much out there during the day.
I plan to finish up the regular laundry this week and sort out clothes.
This monster is almost tamed!! LOL

Be Blessed!