If I had my child to raise all over again,
I’d build self-esteem first, and the house later.
I’d finger-paint more, and point the finger less.
I would do less correcting and more connecting.
I’d take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
I’d take more hikes and fly more kites.
I’d stop playing serious, and seriously play.
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.
I’d do more hugging and less tugging.
~Diane Loomans, from “If I Had My Child To Raise Over Again”
Don't you love it too???!!!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Back to School Blog Hop - My Students!
Today I'm sharing in the Back to School Blog Hop - this week it's all about our students! Yay! My favorite 'subject' to talk about!
I have been slowly but surely getting things ready for our coming school year. I will readily admit that we are trying to embrace every last moment of summer that we can at this point. So although I've been getting things ready - we are still not quite ready to start yet. We plan to start school on Monday, Aug. 30th. Until then, we're enjoying these last 2 weeks of summer fun!
That is why I missed the blog hop last week, because our school room is not quite ready for having photos taken of it! And that is why this week I don't have the student photos I had hoped to have. I wanted to take the girls and take some nice 'portrait' type photos - but sadly, no time - too busy having fun! So I decided to choose two of my fave photos of them from this summer. We'll be sure to take first day of school photos when the time comes!
This is Hope. She will be in 4th grade this year. This will be her 4th year of homeschooling {she went to K in public school} and she is a great student! As you can see by her picture she is NOT shy, she loves making new friends and trying new things. She loves to read, play soccer and swim. She loves music and is learning the piano. Actually, there isn't much she doesn't love - she's a kid who would try almost anything and has a lot of interests. She's not so keen on math, but prefers all things related to words and language {just like her Mama!}.
This is Joy. She will be in 2nd grade this year - it will be her 3rd year of homeschooling {we started homeschooling her in K}. Joy is full of life. She loves to smile and giggle and laugh. She loves to swim and ride her bike. Math comes more easily to her, but she is learning to be a better reader and finding books that she enjoys reading. She's definitely my shy girl, she takes a while to warm up in new situations. But once she's comfortable she's really very chatty and charming. She's still my snuggle bug and would snuggle in my lap all day if she could. She loves doing the subjects that we all do together like science and history.
And here is a fave picture of my hubby and I from this summer. One of the main reasons we started this whole homeschooling journey was because my hubby was working in the evenings and we didn't want the girls to be in school all day, then him leave for work and have them never get to see one another. But now hubby works mostly day shifts and we still love homeschooling so much that we have no immediate plans to change what we're doing!
I have been slowly but surely getting things ready for our coming school year. I will readily admit that we are trying to embrace every last moment of summer that we can at this point. So although I've been getting things ready - we are still not quite ready to start yet. We plan to start school on Monday, Aug. 30th. Until then, we're enjoying these last 2 weeks of summer fun!
That is why I missed the blog hop last week, because our school room is not quite ready for having photos taken of it! And that is why this week I don't have the student photos I had hoped to have. I wanted to take the girls and take some nice 'portrait' type photos - but sadly, no time - too busy having fun! So I decided to choose two of my fave photos of them from this summer. We'll be sure to take first day of school photos when the time comes!
This is Hope. She will be in 4th grade this year. This will be her 4th year of homeschooling {she went to K in public school} and she is a great student! As you can see by her picture she is NOT shy, she loves making new friends and trying new things. She loves to read, play soccer and swim. She loves music and is learning the piano. Actually, there isn't much she doesn't love - she's a kid who would try almost anything and has a lot of interests. She's not so keen on math, but prefers all things related to words and language {just like her Mama!}.
This is Joy. She will be in 2nd grade this year - it will be her 3rd year of homeschooling {we started homeschooling her in K}. Joy is full of life. She loves to smile and giggle and laugh. She loves to swim and ride her bike. Math comes more easily to her, but she is learning to be a better reader and finding books that she enjoys reading. She's definitely my shy girl, she takes a while to warm up in new situations. But once she's comfortable she's really very chatty and charming. She's still my snuggle bug and would snuggle in my lap all day if she could. She loves doing the subjects that we all do together like science and history.
And here is a fave picture of my hubby and I from this summer. One of the main reasons we started this whole homeschooling journey was because my hubby was working in the evenings and we didn't want the girls to be in school all day, then him leave for work and have them never get to see one another. But now hubby works mostly day shifts and we still love homeschooling so much that we have no immediate plans to change what we're doing! I know it's not something that every family would choose to do, but for us it's a wonderful choice and works so well for our family life. I'm thankful that Bob is so helpful and supportive in this journey. He doesn't do much of the hands on teaching stuff, but he's very helpful in keeping up with the house, yard, errands, etc so that I can have more time to focus on working with the girls. I couldn't have asked for a better partner to go through this life with!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Muffins that taste like Donuts.
I kid you not.
I saw this recipe a few weeks ago on the Pioneer Woman blog and just KNEW I had to try it.
These things are the real deal friends. They really DO taste like those heavy, cake donuts that are covered in cinnamon sugar. The only downfall - shock of all shocks my kids did NOT like them! They each took a bite and said 'I don't like that kind of donut!' Guess what? More for Mama!
Click here to go to the recipe! Enjoy!!
I saw this recipe a few weeks ago on the Pioneer Woman blog and just KNEW I had to try it.These things are the real deal friends. They really DO taste like those heavy, cake donuts that are covered in cinnamon sugar. The only downfall - shock of all shocks my kids did NOT like them! They each took a bite and said 'I don't like that kind of donut!' Guess what? More for Mama!
Click here to go to the recipe! Enjoy!!
PS. be sure to save some extra melted butter for drizzling over them just before eating ... mmmmmmmmm!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
QUICK - free photo book!
Don't even tell me you don't scrapbook, can't scrapbook or don't have time. I have an offer you simply CAN'T refuse. A FREE photo book from Picaboo. I figured there might be some type of catch but sat down and ordered mine tonight and I assure you - there's NO catch!
I chose about 80 or so photos from a couple of events and it took me a little over an hour to get it all put together in the book. Picaboo is super easy and user-friendly. You can customize your pages, colors, backgrounds, layouts, fonts, everything!
All I had to pay out of pocket was $8.99 for shipping. Soooo worth it if you ask me!
Click Here for all the details from The Mom Creative blog where I first heard about it. Don't delay though - this deal is only good until the 31st of August!!
I chose about 80 or so photos from a couple of events and it took me a little over an hour to get it all put together in the book. Picaboo is super easy and user-friendly. You can customize your pages, colors, backgrounds, layouts, fonts, everything!
All I had to pay out of pocket was $8.99 for shipping. Soooo worth it if you ask me!
Click Here for all the details from The Mom Creative blog where I first heard about it. Don't delay though - this deal is only good until the 31st of August!!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Dogs
Here are a couple new pictures of our two dogs .... I swear they both climbed up there and fell asleep side by side without our coaxing. They were so cute lying there together!
Here is our sweet, old, 11 year old Casey. She's moving MUCH slower lately, showing her age a little more every day. But she's still very cute and a real sweet heart.
And here is Trouble ... I mean Gracie. Heeheehee ... she has a lot of nicknames, mostly associated with the words 'trouble' and 'scoundrel' ... but she really is very sweet too. She's about 7 months old and growing taller and taller. She's almost as tall as Casey now, but still very thin. For the most part she has gotten better at learning the way things work around here - but she still needs some obedience training to work on some things.
Sometimes they drive us nuts ... but most of the time we sure love these two sweet pups!
Here is our sweet, old, 11 year old Casey. She's moving MUCH slower lately, showing her age a little more every day. But she's still very cute and a real sweet heart.
And here is Trouble ... I mean Gracie. Heeheehee ... she has a lot of nicknames, mostly associated with the words 'trouble' and 'scoundrel' ... but she really is very sweet too. She's about 7 months old and growing taller and taller. She's almost as tall as Casey now, but still very thin. For the most part she has gotten better at learning the way things work around here - but she still needs some obedience training to work on some things.
Sometimes they drive us nuts ... but most of the time we sure love these two sweet pups!
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Vacation Bible School 2010!
This past week our church hosted Vacation Bible school - we have it every year the first week in August. Our church does an AMAZING job thanks to lots and lots of wonderful volunteers.
This year the theme was EGYPT and it was sooo cool! My girls were both there and had the time of their lives. I was the crafts leader for the 6th/7th graders and we had a great time in our group too.
A few fun/funny things to note ....
See these masks below? My oldest daughter's group made these one night and were told that one mask would be chosen to be the winning mask and be in the skit on the last night. My daughter said 'I really hope they choose my mask!' - well guess what? They did! She was super excited! Hers is the one in the bottom middle with the blue feather on the chin.
Here is a cute pic of my youngest with one of her best friends.
And here is my smiley, happy oldest daughter ...
On Wednesday night we had 'water night' - they bring in big inflatable slides and the kids have a blast. They also serve cotton candy and it's just a really fun night. So I was sitting in the Bible lesson with my group when my Mom came by {my Mom was leading the kitchen crew all week} and said 'come here I have a story to tell you!'
This year the theme was EGYPT and it was sooo cool! My girls were both there and had the time of their lives. I was the crafts leader for the 6th/7th graders and we had a great time in our group too.
A few fun/funny things to note ....
See these masks below? My oldest daughter's group made these one night and were told that one mask would be chosen to be the winning mask and be in the skit on the last night. My daughter said 'I really hope they choose my mask!' - well guess what? They did! She was super excited! Hers is the one in the bottom middle with the blue feather on the chin.
Here is a cute pic of my youngest with one of her best friends.
And here is my smiley, happy oldest daughter ...
On Wednesday night we had 'water night' - they bring in big inflatable slides and the kids have a blast. They also serve cotton candy and it's just a really fun night. So I was sitting in the Bible lesson with my group when my Mom came by {my Mom was leading the kitchen crew all week} and said 'come here I have a story to tell you!' Apparently my Mom was outside near the cotton candy machine when this little girl said to her 'I've already had FOUR cotton candys!!' SO my Mom was like 'uh oh, your Mom sure won't appreciate that when you won't go to sleep tonight.' and the girl said 'that's OK, I'm sleeping over at Miss Kathy's house tonight!!' -- yep, it was one of my daughter's best friends who was going to spend the night at our house .... below you can see her happy, sugared- up expression! hahahaha! {Side note - the girls DID sleep that night, I think they went to bed around midnight!}
Here is a pic of the huge, inflatable slip and slide!
On the ride home each night I loved listening to the girls tell all kinds of fun stories about the things they did. They were really sad to see VBS end last night!
Here is a pic of the huge, inflatable slip and slide!
On the ride home each night I loved listening to the girls tell all kinds of fun stories about the things they did. They were really sad to see VBS end last night! There were about a dozen kids who accepted Christ this week which is amazing and definitely what it's all about!
The kids also brought in money to help support a missionary who is living and working in Africa and the money was going to help some orphaned kids so they could have shoes, school clothes and supplies. All together they raised over $1,200 for the orphans!!! Last night as we were driving home my oldest was gushing about how much money was raised and she said 'I am SO happy for those orphans that so much money was raised!' -- I love that she gets that VBS is more than just fun and games and that she has such a kind and giving heart.
All in all it was an amazing week. I will admit that I'm exhausted. I came home on the train on Monday night just in time to get to church for VBS, I've been battling a yucky cold and sore throat all week and it's very tiring getting home at 9 or 9:30 every night. But despite all that it's SOOO worth it and I can't wait till next year!
Sorry for the lack of pictures .... I was so busy all week that I didn't take ANY and had to rely on the photographers at church for the above images!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
I want to live in a fun house
Noooo, not like those crazy FUN HOUSES you go through at a carnival ... like a home that is fun to live in - where I'm more concerned with the relationships than the floors being perfectly clean. I want my girls to know it's OK to make messes, paint, use crafty supplies, have fun. I want them to know their boundaries, but know that their Mom doesn't take herself or her home too seriously. Sure, there are things I don't allow ... things like jumping on my couches and coloring on walls - but my children respect that and honor that and I'm thankful that they do.
Having said all that, I decided one day to give them a wall they COULD color on. A place for fun quotes, making lists or just drawing. And why not have it be a wall in the center of our home ... the very hub of where we all want to be?
And so .... I painted one small wall in my kitchen/dining area with chalk board paint ... oh gosh, I feel like it was months ago! I just forgot to post the pics!
Here is the before and after:
Before, yellow wall that separates the kitchen and dining areas:
And the small partition above the island counter. Sorry about the messy counters! haha
After, the chalkboard wall ...
The chalkboard paint goes across the partition too. I know my kids can't reach up there - but I can! =) {well, while standing on a chair, but still!}
We have used it to write messages to one another, to cheer on a fave sports team when they play, to draw pictures, to celebrate holidays, etc.
Here is my note to self one day when I really needed to prioritize my time!
I recently bought the chalkboard markers and they work really well too. It's been fun to have the chalkboard wall and I hope we don't outgrow the fun of it. {Because I'm sure re-painting would NOT be fun! LOL}
Having said all that, I decided one day to give them a wall they COULD color on. A place for fun quotes, making lists or just drawing. And why not have it be a wall in the center of our home ... the very hub of where we all want to be?
And so .... I painted one small wall in my kitchen/dining area with chalk board paint ... oh gosh, I feel like it was months ago! I just forgot to post the pics!
Here is the before and after:
Before, yellow wall that separates the kitchen and dining areas:
And the small partition above the island counter. Sorry about the messy counters! haha
After, the chalkboard wall ...
The chalkboard paint goes across the partition too. I know my kids can't reach up there - but I can! =) {well, while standing on a chair, but still!}
We have used it to write messages to one another, to cheer on a fave sports team when they play, to draw pictures, to celebrate holidays, etc.
Here is my note to self one day when I really needed to prioritize my time!
I recently bought the chalkboard markers and they work really well too. It's been fun to have the chalkboard wall and I hope we don't outgrow the fun of it. {Because I'm sure re-painting would NOT be fun! LOL}
What I've been reading this summer ...
I always say I'm going to keep a detailed list of all the books I've read each year and of course my stinkin' memory is already failing me for this year! I seriously can't even remember all the books I've read but here are a few recent ones:
Eclipse - #3 of the Twilight series - I can officially say I'm addicted. I loved this book, the ending made me so sad that I literally teared up on the train, and I can't wait to read the next one!
The Secret
The Missing
The Telling - All 3 by Beverly Lewis. I'm currently reading #3. This has been a fabulous series and I can't wait to see what happens.
The Gift of an Ordinary Day - Katrina Kennison. Still plugging through this. I've been busy lately so haven't read much of it. It's still one I'd highly recommend.
That's all for now. I still have a lot more lined up on my shelf just waiting to be read. All in due time I guess! I'm trying to embrace the fact that it's summer and squeeze in as many books as I can before we get back to the daily grind of school work. =)
Eclipse - #3 of the Twilight series - I can officially say I'm addicted. I loved this book, the ending made me so sad that I literally teared up on the train, and I can't wait to read the next one!
The Secret
The Missing
The Telling - All 3 by Beverly Lewis. I'm currently reading #3. This has been a fabulous series and I can't wait to see what happens.
The Gift of an Ordinary Day - Katrina Kennison. Still plugging through this. I've been busy lately so haven't read much of it. It's still one I'd highly recommend.
That's all for now. I still have a lot more lined up on my shelf just waiting to be read. All in due time I guess! I'm trying to embrace the fact that it's summer and squeeze in as many books as I can before we get back to the daily grind of school work. =)
Let's Talk Curriculum
This week I'm taking part in the Not-Back-to-School-Blog-Hop and this week we're talking about which curriculum we're using in our homeschools for the coming year.
I haven't completed ordering all my materials yet - but I do have things planned out so here we go!
This year we are taking things back to where it all got started and we're doing Abeka for most subjects. I know many people choose different curriculums for different reasons - but I'll be honest, I was given most of the Abeka stuff for free from 3 different friends and I really see that as the Lord's way of helping to provide for us so we are gladly going to use what we've been blessed with.
For Hope who is entering 4th grade:
Math, language, spelling, reading and handwriting - Abeka
For Joy who is entering 2nd grade:
Math, language, spelling, reading and handwriting - Abeka
Together:
Spanish - we're still working through Hooked on Spanish - UGH, this is one area we really slacked on last year and I hope to finish this program this year and move on to something more advanced - we shall see!
Geography - Daily Geography by Evan Moor - LOVE Evan Moor products and I'm so excited to start this unit on Geography this year! We also plan to learn about the 50 states and their capitols and will be incorporating that into our geography plans.
History - Evan Moor as well - I can't remember the titles - I'll talk more about this at another time.
Music - I am most excited about this. I have a good friend who taught elementary music before she decided to stay at home with her son. We are working on a plan where she will teach music theory and history to the girls for me, then will teach piano to Hope. We hope to do this once per week and I'm so excited! Since I'm not a musical person I am happy to hand over the reigns to someone who is talented in this area!
PE. - In the fall Hope will do soccer, Joy will do swimming. In the winter months we are planning to get the wii fit plus to go with our wii so we can keep up with doing something physical all year. We also always do swimming {until it gets too cold}, bike riding and hiking in the fall.
Science - We're going to start Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy - I am VERY excited to start this with the girls!
Bible - we are continuing to use the Alpha Omega LIFEPACS we ordered last year. Yet another area where we slacked - but they also learn a lot from Sunday School and Awana so I usually don't stress too much if we don't do it every day. However this year I do want to focus more on the discipline of daily quiet time - both for myself and the girls.
I think that is all for now. I'm sure once I actually get all my materials in and sort through it all I'll have more to say. I hope to use this blog to share more about our homeschool days this year. Thanks for reading!
I haven't completed ordering all my materials yet - but I do have things planned out so here we go!
This year we are taking things back to where it all got started and we're doing Abeka for most subjects. I know many people choose different curriculums for different reasons - but I'll be honest, I was given most of the Abeka stuff for free from 3 different friends and I really see that as the Lord's way of helping to provide for us so we are gladly going to use what we've been blessed with.
For Hope who is entering 4th grade:
Math, language, spelling, reading and handwriting - Abeka
For Joy who is entering 2nd grade:
Math, language, spelling, reading and handwriting - Abeka
Together:
Spanish - we're still working through Hooked on Spanish - UGH, this is one area we really slacked on last year and I hope to finish this program this year and move on to something more advanced - we shall see!
Geography - Daily Geography by Evan Moor - LOVE Evan Moor products and I'm so excited to start this unit on Geography this year! We also plan to learn about the 50 states and their capitols and will be incorporating that into our geography plans.
History - Evan Moor as well - I can't remember the titles - I'll talk more about this at another time.
Music - I am most excited about this. I have a good friend who taught elementary music before she decided to stay at home with her son. We are working on a plan where she will teach music theory and history to the girls for me, then will teach piano to Hope. We hope to do this once per week and I'm so excited! Since I'm not a musical person I am happy to hand over the reigns to someone who is talented in this area!
PE. - In the fall Hope will do soccer, Joy will do swimming. In the winter months we are planning to get the wii fit plus to go with our wii so we can keep up with doing something physical all year. We also always do swimming {until it gets too cold}, bike riding and hiking in the fall.
Science - We're going to start Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy - I am VERY excited to start this with the girls!
Bible - we are continuing to use the Alpha Omega LIFEPACS we ordered last year. Yet another area where we slacked - but they also learn a lot from Sunday School and Awana so I usually don't stress too much if we don't do it every day. However this year I do want to focus more on the discipline of daily quiet time - both for myself and the girls.
I think that is all for now. I'm sure once I actually get all my materials in and sort through it all I'll have more to say. I hope to use this blog to share more about our homeschool days this year. Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
By the numbers
449 pictures scrapbooked
112 pages done {56 layouts}
13.5 hours on the train
4 days away from my sweet husband and daughters
3 meals eaten out WITHOUT KIDS!
2 trips to Starbucks + countless more cups of coffee
1 trip to Micheal's to replenish supplies
1 trip to Coldstone for some yummy ice cream
1 strawberry daquiri shared with a friend
Hours and hours and hours of shared conversation and laughter
All equal a priceless weekend that I will not soon forget! I'm so thankful to Julie for having me all weekend and to my family who all helped with my girls so that I could have this time away.
112 pages done {56 layouts}
13.5 hours on the train
4 days away from my sweet husband and daughters
3 meals eaten out WITHOUT KIDS!
2 trips to Starbucks + countless more cups of coffee
1 trip to Micheal's to replenish supplies
1 trip to Coldstone for some yummy ice cream
1 strawberry daquiri shared with a friend
Hours and hours and hours of shared conversation and laughter
All equal a priceless weekend that I will not soon forget! I'm so thankful to Julie for having me all weekend and to my family who all helped with my girls so that I could have this time away.
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