My Favorite Books

As most of you know, I'm a total book nerd. I love to read, love books and just can't get enough of them. A friend recently asked me for some of my favorite reads ... and books I'd recommend for growth. Oh boy do I have a lot! There are two main areas of reading that I enjoy most. First is Christian fiction. I have loved Christian fiction since I was a young girl. As a young teen I began reading Janette Oke's 'Love Comes Softly' series and fell in love with that type of book. Since then I have gone on to read hundreds more Christian fiction books.



My second area of interest is non-fiction - something that I guess I would label as 'self-help' ... though I admit I don't love that title. I basically like books that help me learn and grow as a person, Mom, wife, Christian, friend, etc..



So, here is my list:

For Christian fiction books I have read most {thought not all} books by the following authors ~
Janette Oke
Beverly Lewis
Karen Kingsbury
Neta Jackson
Lori Wick


Although these books are fiction, I have still learned through them and experienced real life growth. Just because a book is fiction does not mean the story lines won't affect you. Through many of these books the characters face suffering, death and difficult times and their faith and perseverance have encouraged me through many of my own tough situations in life.


My three all time favorite Christian fiction series are:
#1 The Yada Yada Prayer group by Neta Jackson. She also has a spin off series which currently has 2 books and another on the way this June. I have truly grown and learned so much about my own faith and prayer life through these fiction books!

#2 The Love Comes Softly Series by Janette Oke. As I said, one of the first sets I began reading as a young teen - made a big impact on me at that time and some day when I get the chance I hope to re-read them!
#3 The Redemption series by Karen Kingsbury - which also has 2 spin off series from it making it a total of 14 books altogether!



On the topic of parenting I have read many, many good books. Books that enforce Biblical standards and have really helped me as a Mom as I seek to train and teach my young ones in God's ways. I believe this is going to be an ongoing journey throughout my life as a Mom, and believe that I will always have to learn and grow. I can never get comfortable and say that I have done enough or that because they are obeying more that my job is done. There will always be new challenges and ways for me to grow.



Some of my fave parenting books so far have been:


Taking Care of the Me In Mommy by Lisa Welchel ~ this is one we are currently doing with our MOMS group at church. I can't stress enough how important it is as a Mom to take care of yourself! Your spirit, soul, physical needs, etc ... all these things will help you be the best Mom God has intended you to be. Lisa's book offers great suggestions and in her typical funny, real-life style she will make you feel at ease right away.

Creative Correction by Lisa Welchel ~ a great resource book that I refer to time and time again. She offers scripture to back up each correction for each behavior which I love!

Don't Make me Count to Three by Ginger Plowman ~ it's been awhile since I read this one but I remember it being very easy to read and very applicable to raising Godly kids.

Dare to Discipline by Dr. James Dobson ~ one of the first books I read on parenting - a classic. Dr. Dobson is right on the money.



Making Children Mind without Losing Yours by Dr. Kevin Leman ~ another great man of God who has wonderful parenting advice. He has several other books on parenting and all are worth a look.
Becoming the Parent God wants you to be by Dr. Kevin Leman ~ this one is a study guide - I love that you can work through it by answering the questions. I think I need to pick this one up again and read more about the middle years stuff!

The Power of a Positive Mom by Karol Ladd ~ the title says it all ~ our kids deserve a Mom who is positive and encouraging. This is one of my all time faves and I know I will read it again and again.

Mom and Loving It by Sharon Lovejoy Autry and Laurie Lovejoy Hilliard ~ another fave of mine. Helps you see the joy even in the little things and tough moments of Mom-hood.



On the topic of marriage or being a Godly wife my faves are:



A Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George ~ this is one of the single most influential books I've ever read. She also writes about A Wife after God's own heart - but most of the concepts are the same in this book. I have learned SO much about being a Godly woman, wife and Mom from this book.

Created to be His Helpmeet by Debi Pearl ~ I know some have thought this book a bit extreme and I will admit some of her thoughts are a bit far out for me. However the general concept that we were created to be our husband's helpmeet and that no matter what he does, or doesn't do - we are obligated to GOD to be the wife we were called to be is something that I will never forget. I used to be a wife that thought 'well if he won't romance me, I won't give him sex ... or if he won't bring me flowers, why should I help do his laundry' ... I now think - God has called me to obey HIM and do all for HIS glory. I am Bob's wife and I need to honor God by being the proper wife I was called to be - regardless of what I gain in return from Bob. Definitely a big change in my thinking - but totally wish I had read this book when I first got married - might have saved me from making so many silly mistakes!

The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian~ this is something I'm currently reading. I admit that I haven't been a faithful prayer warrior for my hubby for years. I'm trying to change that now. I think this is something I will read a little of every morning and try to read over and over again and just keep on praying and praying and praying for my hubby.



For Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn~ this book will truly open your eyes to the way men think and why they are so different from us. For example - did you know that your love is not enough for him? However respect means the world to him. Respect means more to him than even your affection does! That's the way God wired men to be! To quote the book, "men would rather feel alone and unloved, than inadequate and disrespected." There are so many good things to learn from this little, easy to read book.



On the topic of homeschooling:



Help for the Harried Homeschooler by Christine Field ~ don't let the title fool you, it's not about being 'harried' ... it's more just a really encouraging book about homeschooling. I loved it.



50 Veteran Homeschoolers Share ~ Things we Wish We'd Known ~ another very helpful resource - lots of great wisdom here from parents who have homeschooled for years.



So You're Thinking about Homeschooling? by Lisa Welchel ~ I read this when I was considering homeschooling and found it to be immensely helpful in making our decision. And once again, I love Lisa Welchel and anything she's written.


For personal quiet times I really enjoy using some type of guided prayer journal. I also usually keep a blank journal for adding other prayer requests, thoughts, etc ... But two of my fave guided prayer journals have been:
The Yada Yada Prayer journal by Neta Jackson


And The Busy Mom's Guide to Prayer by Lisa Welchel
A couple random final book faves of mine are:

The Duggars, 20 and Counting. Say what you wish about this very large family - but I for one admire their faith and Godly example even more after reading their book. I choose not to have that many children, but I do not in any way judge them for their choice. This book helps illustrate even more how their faith in God has carried them through all the ups and downs of life. They truly live out their faith in every way. I was skeptical about things like how they could possibly spend time with each of those kids - but reading this book made me see even more what an amazing family they are.

And a final fave is The Invisible Woman by Nicole Johnson - sorry I thought I uploaded the image of it but guess I was mistaken. There are SO many times I feel invisible. Like just going through the motions of being a wife and Mom is so mundane and that no one would even notice if I was gone. This book is amazing and will encourage you to keep going, keep pressing on. Just like the helpmeet book it helps you see that it's for HIS glory, not my own. That's something I needed to be reminded of DAILY! It's a very small book and you could probably read it in a day or two at most - so worth it!

One final note. I will be the first to admit that I'm not faithful with my quiet time with the Lord. I'm a lowly sinner who messes up constantly! I make poor choices and I fail - A LOT! But when I am faithful to include quiet time in my day I do find so much more strength and peace in my life. SO let me encourage you {and myself} that it's totally worth it to make time for quiet time with the Lord. If you can't manage it in the morning - do it in the afternoon. Some days I do it while my girls are having their quiet reading time. They have to read on their beds for an hour - so I take that opportunity to sit and quiet my heart before the Lord too. Besides praying and reading my Bible - this is the time when I read many of these books for growth. Even spending 15-20 min reading something each day will help you learn and grow so much! You can use some of these books as a Bible study - many of them include scripture - just take the time to jot down the scriptures in a notebook, then make time to look them up, write them out, ponder them, pray them, etc.. This is a great way to grow in your knowledge and in the Lord.

And that's all I can think of for now! I would love to hear what your fave books are too - if you write a post about it please comment here so I can come check it out!

Have a lovely weekend friends!




I'm linking this post to Kelly's Show Us Your Life - Favorite Books ... click on the button to go to Kelly's blog and see more SUYL posts!

History

This year in History we are using a product called 'History Pockets' by Evan Moor. Basically the book is broken down into 8 small units and you use the printables and activities to make lapbooks for each unit. I bought 3 of these books and we're still using the first one - so I anticipate that they will last me another school year. And then I can decide on whether we want to order more topics for the following years. I wanted the girls to start by learning a lot about American history, before we went on to study world history.

The 3 books I bought were:
Life in Plymouth Colony
Native Americans
Colonial America

In the first book, these are the units we've done so far ... I bought the colored folders for about 2 cents a piece back when school supplies were super cheap - so I have a TON of them. So we just use a new one for each unit and each child gets one.
Each unit has a section of vocab words called "words to know" and they cut & paste the pics to match the words, then write out the description. And color if they wish ...

Then there are various activities that go along with each topic - some are coloring, some are cutting and pasting, some are acting something out ... you can make it as simple or as complex as you want ... here are a few of the things they've done ...

We keep all of our lapbooks and folders in one large bin. It's neat to go back and see what we've worked on over the last couple of years!

In our last unit which was called 'home sweet home', the girls learned all about what the pilgrims homes were like. Back around Thanksgiving time we had gone to visit an old village where they could see what a real home would have looked like - I think they are very grateful to live in this day and age with all our modern comforts! With this unit we made dioramas of the pilgrim houses ... we used an old box and they colored and decorated the pieces to go in the house. I thought it was very cute and creative that they decided on their own to make furniture out of cardboard! They made tables and beds to go in their houses ...

So that's about it. History has been a lot of fun. I am learning so much right along with the girls! I had also bought The Story of the World for history, after hearing so many good things about it from other homeschoolers - but after getting started with it last year I felt it was a bit much for my girls at the time. And again, I decided to start with American history .... so, I HAVE all the material for the Story of the World, and one day, when we're ready, we'll get going on that. I figure I still have about 2-3 yrs worth of history resources! Gotta love that!

Science

Above is pictured the science curriculum we are currently using. Last year we were blessed to be a part of a wonderful co-op for science class ... there the girls learned SO much more than I would have ever taught them on my own. This year it didn't work out for us to be a part of that group so we are 'going it alone'. But the problem with that is that I move through the topics at such a slow pace with the girls! We had planned to tackle one unit per month - but instead we've only just finished our second unit for the year! This is one area that I am trying to step it up a little. Science has NEVER been my thing - although it does fascinate me. But the girls absolutely LOVE it. And so I'm working on making it more of a priority. I will say though, that even though we've only tackled two units - the girls read tons of great books about all kinds of animals, insects, sea creatures, shells, etc ... We are blessed to have a large amount of resource books in our home and they love looking through them, writing up little reports, etc. I love that they do this without me even asking, to me that shows how much they love learning about the world around them and the things God has created!

So, anyway, this book is wonderful, it has enough information that we will probably use it for 2-3 years. We ordered the student book - which has worksheets that you are able to make copies of for multiple students - and the teacher's guide which gives the step by step directions for what to teach. Both books together cost me $30 - not too bad! It's done in a way that you can easily adapt it to many grade levels. The topics covered in the book are:
1. Creation
2. The Universe, Stars and Planets
3. The Earth
4. Non-living things: Rocks and Minerals
5. Weather
6. The Plant Kingdom
7. The Animal Kingdom
8. Animal Anatomy & Physiology
9. Man: Made in God's image

Some of these topics were covered last year in our co-op - but I'm sure we could go over them again and learn even more. So far this year we've covered insects and weather. Our insect study was actually found in another book of curriculum that a friend gave me for free! It's called 'Christian Kids Explore Biology' by Stephanie L. Redmond. In this book the following units are covered:
1. Biology Basics: Creation, cells, taxonomy, the biosphere, food webs
2. Plant's in God's world: photosynthesis, plant reproduction, fruits & veggies, trees
3. Birds of the earth: taxonomy, bird diets, bird structure
4. Mammals in the wild: monotremes & marsupials, canids, felines & bears, monkeys & apes, aquatic mammals
5. The Human Factor: the human body, our five senses, human reproduction
6. Reptiles all around: snakes & lizards, alligators & crocs, turtles, tortoises & terrapins
7. Insects high and low: butterflies & moths, bees & wasps
8. Water creatures: mollusks, sharks, crustaceans, freshwater life, amphibians

SO, between these two amazing books, we have a wealth of information that will last us a couple years. We usually tend to get a lot of books from the library as well when we're working on a unit. And since I'm a big fan of lapbooks, we put all our materials, worksheets, ideas, etc into a file folder or 'lapbook' for each unit.

Now, as I said - I don't do enough with the girls as far as science goes. I'm trying to be better about that. So in the last couple of weeks we've done a couple of 'hands on' projects. They were actually very fun and the girls loved them. I know I need to incorporate more of this kind of stuff into our teaching time.

Here we made windmills as we've been talking about weather and wind lately ...

Another day we experimented with creating water vapor and 'rain'. We started with some ice cubes in a pan - then heated them up ...

The more the ice melted, the more vapor was created ...

It's very hard to tell, but that is vapor rising ...

Then, by holding another pan above the vapor - the steam begins to collect just like it would when a cloud is formed ... after enough vapor has gathered on the pan above, it began to get heavy, and eventually fell back down like rain!

So that's about it for science. We haven't done much yet this year, but I'm working on doing more.

Green Mountain Coffee

For Christmas I got a Keurig coffee machine ... I'm seriously in love with it. I don't know what it is about it, but it makes the most amazing, hot, fresh coffee. I was not in love with the idea of buying those expensive k-cups though. {Although I figured it out and it's still only about 50 cents per cup - which is a LOT less than DD or SB}.

Anyhow, my friend who has had her Keurig for a while now told me she orders her k-cups online - right from Green Mountain coffee. So I went on and found their website and I'm so glad I did! Not only is it cheaper to order them this way, but I got free shipping, and when you sign up for their cafe express plan they will automatically mail you more when you need them. You can set it up for any amount or flavor of pods, plus make the shipment anywhere from every week to every 12 weeks!

Just as an example I order 104 pods and set it up so that I'll get my next shipment in 8 weeks. But if I decide I want a different flavor, or need them before 8 weeks, or am not even close to using them all by 8 weeks - I can go on my account and change all that.

Also, the delivery was FAST! It said they would arrive in 5-7 days and they arrived in TWO! I was literally jumping up and down with excitement when I saw the boxes on the porch! And for my first order they sent me a free travel cup!

My mother in law also LOVES Green Mtn Coffee - she uses the regular ground stuff though - but they have that too on their website! So with my next order she plans to order some too. Nothing quite like fresh, amazing coffee at a great deal!

My only problem now ... it's TOO good ... that machine beckons me at all hours of the day now. Which wouldn't be so bad except I love me some cream and sugar in my coffee and I'm TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT! hahahaha ... oh well, it's all about choices, right? There are just some things I'm not willing to give up ... :)

School Days Part 2

If you're reading this post and haven't already read my post on School days go back and read that one first.

SO this is the post where I tell you about exactly what we do. What we use for curriculum, what materials we use, etc.

One of the most valuable things I have is this HUGE teacher's plan book. There have been several times I've stopped using it simply out of laziness, but every time I begin to be thorough again and use it faithfully I LOVE it. It has LOTS of space to write down everything we're doing or plan to do. I use to just write things after we'd done them, but now I'm trying to plan in advance which days we will do which subjects. I find that having them written on the planner makes me more apt to stick with the schedule.


For our Bible time we are using Alpha Omega's LIFEPACS. You get 10 LIFEPACS for the year and we've just finished doing our first one. I know that may seem lazy but I know the girls get so much Bible time with Sunday school and AWANA that I don't stress too much about them getting a lot at home. Besides our whole life and home is infused with the Lord so it's more than just learning from a workbook. We chose the 2nd grade level books since I have one girl in 1st grade and one girl in 3rd. Second grade is right in the middle and allows us all to work on the same thing at the same time.
We do have some classroom rules. Most days none of these things are an issue. But having something written down and understood by the girls just makes things run smoother.

Sorry these photos are out of order ... this is a peak inside the huge planner ...

Although we do have a room designated as our 'school room' ... it's small and also serves as a home office, craft room, etc. So we mostly use that room to store all our things and we often do school work on the kitchen table where we can totally spread out. The only problem is that come meal time we have to clear the mess! So I decided to keep the books and workbooks we use the most in this large plastic bin and everything can be put away nice and neat and it can even be kept in the dining room - this still allows us to use our table to eat when we need it.

We also have a small bin for the tools we'll need each day. Pencils, pens, crayons, scissors, sharpeners, etc. We have a LARGE craft supply but we only keep this small amount of things on the table for every day use.

For language/phonics/spelling Joy is doing Abeka. She has 3 workbooks. One is spelling and poetry, one is language {which has grammar, creative writing and reading comprehension}, and one is letters and sounds which is about phonics. For spelling I have her write the list of words out {which helps practice handwriting}, then I give her a few days to study the words, then later in the week I test her on spelling the words. I let the girls take their spelling tests by writing the words out on the white board. I call out the word and they write it down. They love using the white board so it works well. For language and phonics she does one page from each book each day. Some days we miss one, some days I might let her skip just for a break. But most days she does both.

For math she also uses Abeka. She has a workbook and does one page per day.

Hope is using a program called Switched on Schoolhouse by Alpha Omega publications this year. It's our first year trying it out and so far she really likes it. All of her math and language are done on a program on the computer. No workbooks. She loves to use the computer and is very happy to have a break from workbooks this year. The program also gives her a grade at the end of each lesson and she loves to come and tell me 'hey Mom I got an A, 100 today!'

One area that we tend to slack on is handwriting. I see the value in it, I really do. It's just not something that I'm super worried about stressing about for now. I do ask the girls to write things as neatly as they can, and I will go back and ask them to re-do something if it's written poorly. But I'm very inconsistent as far as making handwriting a regular practice. Some days we do some handwriting sheets - but many days we do not. Some days I tell them that if they write their spelling list as neat as they can - then that can be their 'handwriting' also.

The next post will be about the extra stuff ... thanks for sticking with me as I write all of this out!

School Days

Ever since we started back to school after the holidays I had been feeling totally overwhelmed. See the beauty of homeschooling is that you have freedom. Freedom to choose your curriculum, freedom to take days off whenever you want. But that freedom is tough. See I'm a girl who likes to enjoy freedom, but struggles with feeling the need to 'follow the rules' too. And having this much freedom in our homeschool becomes overwhelming to me. I'm not sure if that makes ANY sense at all but it does in my mind.

I love having the freedom to take days off, sleep in, take an extended school break at Christmastime, etc ... But sometimes I also wish someone would just 'spell it all out' for me. I crave having someone tell me what to teach, when to teach and how to teach. Then again ... I don't really want all that pressure on me and I want to enjoy the freedom we have to make our own choices ... but I get worried and fearful and overwhelmed. I worry that I'm not doing enough, that I'm missing teaching the girls things that they need to know. I fear that if the Lord should ever call us to send them back into 'regular' school that they will be behind or overwhelmed.

So coming back from Christmas break I was feeling this intense sort of pressure. I felt like we'd never catch up on the things we were a little behind on. I felt we were not doing enough and were only covering the basics, which didn't seem to be enough in my mind. I actually entertained the thought of whether the girls should go back to school. I felt like maybe I'm just not cut out for this.

When Martin Luther King Day came and went it struck me that what was missing was the 'extra' stuff. I was making sure the girls covered the basics like reading, language/phonics and math {and a small amount of history and science} -- but I was neglecting the subjects that can be really interesting and fun - social studies, history, science, foreign language, celebrating of holidays and special events, etc ...

Another problem was the order of our day. I used to think we had to order our day much like the regular school kids do. Get up, eat breakfast, get dressed, start school by 9, etc ... But many days my girls would not even wake up until 8 or 8:30am and then I would be rushing them, yelling at them and trying to get them moving quickly so we could 'start school'. And because I'm home with them every day I was not making time for exercise for myself - so many days I would stay in PJ's or grubby clothes all day - hoping that later in the afternoon I could get some exercise done and THEN take my shower. But it made me feel yucky and grubby all day and many days I'd get busy doing other things and never take care of my own health. So I would rush the girls through their schoolwork just so I could get on with the rest of my day. Almost like doing school was a chore I needed to complete.

I knew this wasn't working well. And it wasn't what I wanted our homeschool experience to be. I still felt God calling us to continue this journey. I just knew that it was ME who needed to change. I began to seek the Lord for guidance on bringing order and organization to our days. And then I sought out the help and advice of some other teachers and homeschoolers I know. I felt overwhelmed {in a good way this time!} with their help and wealth of resources!

So, having said ALL that - and sorry this post is getting so long - we now have a NEW plan which has been working SO well!

First of all ... I've stopped thinking we need to order our days by a certain time schedule.

*I let the girls sleep until they are well rested - whatever time that may be. Today it was about 8:15. Most mornings I get up before them and have my coffee and quiet time while everyone is still asleep. Some days they wake up before me and then I just ask them to play or read quietly in their room until I'm done with quiet time.

*Then I eat a super quick breakfast like cereal or yogurt. Then I go downstairs to exercise for 20-30 min while the girls eat their breakfast and get themselves dressed. If they are done eating and getting ready they can play for a while.

*I take a shower and get myself dressed - at this point the girls are playing. In a weird way I have found that letting them play for awhile in the morning actually helps when it comes time to sit and pay attention to school work.

*When I'm all ready we start school. Some days it may be 10 or 11am at this point but hey, whatever works, right? Sometimes we have our snack at this time - I let them eat while they are working on school stuff.

*We do school work until we're done - stopping for a late lunch when we get hungry. Today we finished school work around 2, had a late lunch, then the girls did a 1/2 hour of quiet reading time on their beds. So by the time all that is done it was around 3pm.

*After school work they can play, make crafts, read, etc ... some days they can have privileges. Privileges are things like TV time, computer, wii or nintendo DS time. One daughter had a 1/2 hour of computer time today but the other one lost her privileges for today due to behavior. {More on the subject of privileges another time.}

*In the afternoon I ask them to help with some simple chores like putting away laundry, straightening up their room, feeding the dog, etc...

*Dinner is around 6 ... some days a little later when hubby gets home a little later than that. After dinner we try to do something together - wii, a board game, reading, etc ...

*Then showers on the days they need them, ready for bed, reading and bedtime.

OK, this is getting super long winded ... hope I haven't bored you all to tears! I think I'll continue this post as part two because I have lots more to share which deals more with what curriculum and such we use. Also I have pictures for the second post so stay tuned!!!

Easy Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas

Our family loves Mexican food ... chimichangas, tacos, burritos, you name it, we're there! Here is a simple and fast recipe for Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas. We had them last night and we all loved them!

1 can condensed cream of chix soup
1 cup salsa or picante sauce
1/2 cup sour cream - which we omitted b/c hubby doesn't like it and it still tasted fine w/out it.
2 tsp chili powder
2 cups cooked, chopped chicken
1/2 cup monterey jack cheese - we used mexican blend and increased it to ONE cup
6 flour tortillas
chopped tomato and sliced green onion optional {for garnish}

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl mix soup, salsa, sour cream and chili powder all together. Add chicken and stir. Add in shredded cheese and stir again. Divide chicken mixture among the 6 tortillas and roll them up so all sides are closed. Place them in a baking dish with seam side down. Cover with foil and bake for 40 min. You can also reserve a small amount of the sauce - before you've added the chicken and cheese - and pour a bit over the top before baking. Top with fresh chopped tomato and sliced green onion before serving.

Apple Pie Pita Pocket

We've been trying to plan our menu lately and have all the ingredients on hand. And I've also been trying some new recipes and loving several of them. Here is a relatively low fat dessert one that we've used this week - I'll be posting more in the coming weeks. PS. You could make this healthier with a whole wheat pita, less sugar and fat free cool whip.

Apple Pie Pita Pocket {say that 5x fast!}

1 apple - peeled, cored, sliced thin
1 pita pocket
spray butter
brown sugar
cinnamon
raisins / nuts - optional
whipped cream or vanilla ice cream

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Slice your pita open on one side. Mix your apple, sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl. Add as much or as little brown sugar and cinnamon as you wish. I found that a TBSP of br. sugar and a small dash of cinnamon worked well. Add some raisins or nuts if you desire. Stuff the apple mixture into the pita pocket. Lightly spray both bottom and top of pita with spray butter. Wrap the whole thing up in some aluminum foil. Bake for about 20 min - depending on how soft you like your apples. I like mine very soft so I left it in about 30 min. Serve warm with cool whip or ice cream on top. Yum!

Diaper Cake

My friend just had her 4th baby and I wanted to bring over a little something for her new baby girl so I decided to try making this super cute baby diaper cake. It was SO fun and so easy! I know there are probably tutorials out there on the web and I know I could have followed one but I knew I could figure it out on my own if I just tried. So I assembled my tools and supplies and got to work ...

Start by cutting a large circle out of cardboard ... I used a large bowl to trace the size I wanted.
I stuck some pretty {girly} scrapbook paper on the front. Just cut the same circle shape from your scrapbook paper - well maybe just a teeny smidgeon bigger.

Start assembling your bottom layer. I could have rolled the diapers, but instead I just kept squeezing them together until they were in a large circle - then I very carefully tied a large ribbon around the whole bunch. This was rather tricky - it would help to have an extra pair of hands for this!!! I was trying to wrangle the diapers AND get the ribbon secured and it was quite comical!

Do the same for the next layer, except make it slightly smaller and use a different ribbon - I actually used this white ribbon and then changed my mind and switched it out to use it for the top layer.

I got these cute little bibs and onesies, which I used for the top layer. I rolled each up, then bunched them together and held them together with a ribbon just like I had done with the other layers.

This is how the 3 layers ended up looking ...

Then, in order to 'fancy up' my cake base - I used my circle punch to cut out lots of small circles for the outer edge ...

Flip your cake base over and tape or glue the circles around the edge so they are side by side.

When you flip it back over, this is how cute it will look!

Then, because I'm a perfectionist - I flipped it back over one more time and put another white sheet of paper to cover the circles - just wanted it to have a finished look and not messy. I know I'm crazy as this is the bottom and no one will ever see it - but it's the perfectionist in me what can I say??

Then I made a cute little card and attached it to a wooden pick - just cut out some cute circles and make it look like a flower - then add stickers to spell out the baby's name ... add a little ribbon to the bottom of the flower too ...

This is the finished product - I'm so happy with how cute it turned out!!

One last thing - you can add some cute words around the baby's name too if you want ...

And that's all! Cute, easy and inexpensive!

This morning

This morning I'm mourning over the fact that I've just finished my Yada Yada prayer journal - it has been a wonderful friend for the past 6 months and I'm sorry to see it end.

This morning I'm loving the bright, cheerful sunshine pouring through my windows - it may be winter, it may be cold - but God gave us the sun to warm our days!

This morning I am loving watching my girls curl up with book after book after book and begging me - Mom, can I please read just one more chapter? {now who could say no to that?!}

This morning I love my wii ea sports active workout. It makes me sweat, it makes my muscles burn, but it's fun and makes me feel great too.

This morning I am trying to re-think the order of our days and the way in which we homeschool ... many thoughts and ideas going through my head - which I hope to share more on soon.

This morning I am in love my my amazing husband. He takes care of so many of the little things like trash and oil changes and dog poop clean-up ... things that I would rather not tend to - and don't have to because he does it all faithfully week after week.

This morning I am thinking about which new book I will start. I finished my second novel of the new year last night and am loving reading more than ever.

This morning I am enjoying my Keurig coffee machine - too much I'm afraid - it makes it so easy to make a fresh cup of joe any time I want which makes me crave said cup of joe many, many times throughout the day!

This morning I need a shower ... so with that said I'll sign off for now. Have a great day friends!!