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Friday, November 30, 2007

Tea Cup and Tutus



There are two things I would like to show you today. The first item is this tea cup. In antique people or collectors opinions, this tea cup isn't worth much. However, it means a lot to me.
Growing up, my Dad traveled frequently due to business. One day, when he was on an especially long business trip, the door bell rang. Mom opened the door and there was a flower delivery man with a huge bouquet of bright beautiful flowers for my mom. On the card it said something to the effect of my dad missed my mom

I was admiring mom's flowers, when to both of our surprise the flower man said he had another bouquet in the truck and he would be back in a moment.
When he came back, he was carrying this tea cup with daises and pink carnations arranged inside of it. I felt so special after receiving those flowers! I can't remember what the card said, but just the fact that my dad also thought of me besides my mom made me feel so warm inside.
I can't remember how old I was when I got those flowers. Not very old. I am thinking around 12 or 13.
My Dad is such a sweet, caring, and compassionate guy. He sure helped me to know what kind of qualities I should look for in a husband. Thankfully, my husband takes great care of me too. :)
Still, my Dad is there for me. He sometimes even babysits my kids. :) On his own, without any help. He amazes me even. Three times now he has put on Tiny Boy's diaper, backwards. Perfectly. ;-)

The next thing I would like to show you is part of my Tackle It Tuesday Post. Remember when I said I was going to try and make two tutus that night? Well, I got one done instead of both. I just finished the other one tonight.
I made these for my girls for Christmas. Bean is starting to be interested in Ballerinas so I thought it would be fun to make these. Sweetie also will like it. They were very easy to make. All I did was tie tulle around a piece of elastic that fits around their waists.

Sweetie's is on the left, and Bean's is on the right. Thanks for looking! To read and look at what other's are showing and telling about today, click on the Show and Tell Button at the Top of my Post. Have a good day! :)

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Let's Get Honest

I really don't know why I am posting this on my blog. Last night I lost it. (no not my mind; almost, but it is still here) I lost my emotions over something so dumb and stupid. (Could be that AF showed up yesterday) (For those of you who don't know who AF is, comment me, and I will tell you. ;-) )

Anyway, I lost it over the girls toys. I had posted about this on a backwards Works For Me Wednesday day. I still haven't found the solution. People gave wonderful ideas, but I've tried them all. Or they won't work in our situation. The girls really don't have that many toys comparably speaking. But yet, it gets soooo out of control.

Yesterday because AF visited me, I wasn't feeling very good. So I helped them pick up. Like I *always* do. After it was all done, I told them they could play, but to take one thing out at a time. Later on, their doll house was open, there were a minut amount of toys on the floor, and one of their toy buckets (still full of toys) was slightly pulled out of the closet.

When I saw that I lost it. I burst into tears. *Why* can't I figure out a solution? I hear in my mind all these voices and see all these flash backs of years gone by. And I see the future too.

In the past I see a mother; one I was glad I didn't have. She was my neighbor's mother. I sounded just like her.

The voices that I hear, are "You are a terrible mother"

And the future that I see, I am arguing with Sweetie over some boy she isn't allowed to date.

All of this because of TOYS!!

I cried out to the Lord about this. And all this other stuff came pouring out of my heart. This morning as I was visiting some blogs I came across this. What perfect timing!



Drudgery

"I must admit I feel a lot of pressure with two children under two years of age. I am committed to do it until they are in school, however, and feel it is God's will. At times like this--when I wonder if I will even be able to finish this letter with both of them screaming for something--or when I miss going to lunch or getting dressed up, everyday life seems a drudgery. I worked hard to get through college--to be a scrubwoman, ha!"

I understand this mother's cry. So does the Lord. He has given us this word: "No temptation has come your way that is too hard for flesh and blood to bear. But God can be trusted not to allow you to suffer any temptation beyond your powers of endurance. He will see to it that every temptation has a way out, so that it will never be impossible for you to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13, PHILLIPS).

"A way out," I can hear her say, "What mother has a way out?"

The New English Bible translation throws light on this: "a way out, by enabling you to sustain it." Think, too, of Jesus' words, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:29 AV). He is willing to bear our burdens with us, if only we will come to Him and share the yoke, His yoke.

I saw this principle in operation when I visited the Dohnavur Fellowship in India. There, day after day, year in and year out, Indian women (most of them single) care for little children, handicapped children, infirm adults, old folks. They don't go anywhere. They have none of our usual forms of amusement and diversion. They work with extremely primitive equipment--there is no running water, for example, no stoves but wood-burning ones, no washing machines. In one of the buildings I saw this text: "There they dwelt with the King for His work." That's the secret. They do it for Him. They ask for and receive His grace to do it. I saw the joy in their lovely faces.


So this is my encouragement from the Lord that I cried out for. Thank you Lord. God will give me the grace. It is sufficient. Just keep plugging on Mommy. :)

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Christmas Meme



I found out about this Meme from Mary, at Mary's Writing Nook. I thought it would be fun to participate in it. I am making plans on decorating my blog for Christmas, but I don't like jumping from one holiday to another. Saturday is the day for decorating! Anyway, here is the meme.

1. Christmas is Family Togetherness. [fill in the blank with ONE WORD] (sorry, couldn't do it in one word! ;-) )

2. In memories, what was the best part of your Christmases past? Well, I think the best Christmas was when we went to visit my Grandma who lived in New Jersey for Christmas. My cousins also came, and my Grandma's family were there. It was a HUGE affair, and so much fun! Everyone dressed up in their nice clothing for the occasion. My cousins and I played games like Hide in Seek in my Grandma's HUGE house. My grandma was the best grandma a grandchild could have. She never lost her patience with me, and bought me red lipstick at the tender age of 7!

3. Was Santa ever good to you? [describe how and what] Santa was always good to me! I thought in my mind, I deserve coal, but why do I keep getting really nice gifts? Looking back, I think Santa created a self righteous spirit in me. After all the wonderful things Santa gave me after being naughty so many times, I assumed, I must not be *that* bad.

4. Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or both? Sometimes on Christmas Eve and Sometimes both. It just depends on our schedule for that Christmas. We stay pretty flexible

5. Is there something you make each and every year? I try to make those roll out sugar cookies and decorate with icing. It depends if I am getting too stressed out with other preparations. Then I just buy good ol' pillsbury boy dough! ;-) [craft or recipe]

6. What is your favorite five[5] Christmas songs/hymns? 1. O Holy Night, 2. Away in a Manger in the alternate tune, 3.Let it Snow,4. Sleigh Bells in instrumentals, And of course Jingle Bells!

7. Is there a new tradition for Christmas since your childhood days? I don't quite understand the question. I think it is saying is there any new traditions that I do that I didn't do when I was a child? Yes, I have a little manger for the kids. Each day of Christmas we put a piece of straw in the manger. On Christmas day, before the children wake up, I try to put baby Jesus in the manger. Some years it doesn't happen because we might be in another state.

8. Describe one of your Christmas trips. [whether it's across town or across country] Last year we went to Michigan for Christmas. It is about a 1,000 miles away from where we live. We have an older van, that *sometimes* (cough, cough) has problems. Especially on long trips. It is also very tiny. We have three children. Last year my children were four, two, and one years old.

I bought those huge zip lock baggies (the ones that you can fit balls into) and packed the kids clothing in that. I stuffed them under the seats in the van. We had packed the van very tight; so much so that everyone was pretty much hidden.

The kids did really well on the way up. We stopped twice to sleep. Once at my sisters house, and once at a friend's house. This friend was the person that introduced me to Jesus.

When we left our friends house, all of the sudden our heat stopped working. We didn't know what was going on. Thankfully our friends only lived about four hours away from our destination, and we weren't too cold for too long. When we finally were able to see what was wrong with our van it was the water pump. $600 dollars later it was working just fine! :) This year we will be riding with my brother in law in his nice new Suburban.

9. Do you have a special Christmas outfit to wear for the day? When I was a teenager, I made a Christmas dress, but it doesn't fit me anymore.

10. Have YOU or any of your family members sat on Santa's lap? When I was a kid I did. But we don't do Santa here. Even if we did, there are too many creeps in this world. I don't trust a strange man dressed as Santa and have my kids sitting in his lap. Besides, I look at all those poor babies that scream their heads off. Why put the poor thing through so much trauma? ;-)

11. What is/or will be on your Christmas tree this year? A Hodge Podge of ornaments. I don't do a theme on the tree. I like all the different individual ornaments. My mother in law gives a new one to each of the children each year. I also have white lights on the tree. I think white lights look so romantic. Colored lights look too commercial and junkie to me. Now that is my own personal taste and opinion. If you like colored lights, please don't take offense. :)

12. Do you/or have you decorated your yard for Christmas? Not yet. Planning on doing that on Saturday. :) I keep things pretty simple. A Christmas Wreath on the door, and Candles in the Windows.

To participate in this meme, click on the meme button at the top. Merry Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday~ Seeing Ducks Up Close for the First Time

For more Wordless Wednesday pictures, please click here.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Am I Crazy?

I have so much to do today it isn't even funny. The main thing that I MUST tackle today is getting all of this fabric cut out into the desired projects that I am trying to complete before Christmas.


I know I am crazy, but I seem to sew better when I am under pressure for some reason. I got four projects cut out already, but I need to finish cutting out two more. Last night I was cutting out a project and cut two of the pattern pieces on the wrong fold, so now I have to run back to the store and find some fabric at a decent price that will work. It was ALOT of fabric too! I was so upset. But I decided to give this problem to the Lord. I am not going to stress out on my mistake and make everyone miserable around me because what *I* did wrong. I am just going to have to go with the flow.

Tonight when the kiddos are in bed, then I am going to try and get done two tutus that I am making my girls for Christmas. This *should* be an easy project. All I am doing is tying tulle onto a piece of ribbon.

I will post pictures of all the cut out projects and the tutus. Hopefully tonight.

For more Tackle it Tuesday Projects visit Five Minutes For Mom, by clicking on the the button above my post.

I got a blog award!



Being Mrs. Mama blessed me with this blog award. I found her blog through the Thanksgiving Meme, and discovered that both she and I home school, and like to use learning folders in our homeschooling adventures.

I would like to pass this award out to some of my bloggie friends also. :)

First off, I would like to give this award to my sister in law, Proud to Be A Mommy. She just started blogging, and so far she is doing great at it. She is also a real life friend, and a sweet person to boot. :)

Second I would like to give this award to Mary at Mary's Writing Nook. She was the first person to add me to their blog roll, and was a real encouragement to me in my blogging adventures. She commented on a post that wasn't apart of a meme; it just tickled me to death that a complete stranger would like to read my blog. :)

Third Person I would like to give this award to is my new blog friend at A Cup of Joy. I "met" her also through the Thanksgiving meme at Kelli's House, and later found out that we had a lot in common. We both know some In Real Life people that we are friends with, and she also knows my Mother In Law's cousins that were missionaries with New Tribes Missions. Meeting her brought me much encouragement. We both have an understanding of the importance of giving a clear gospel message.

And the fourth person I would like to give this award to is Mrs. C. at Riverbend Ramblings. I knew Mrs. C. from a church that we both attended before we both moved away. Mrs. C. was one of the first people that knew about my blog. Unbeknowning to me, she also had a blog. I emailed her letting her know I had started a blog. So she has been reading my blog from the first post.

She also has been a big help to me in learning how to do special things to the blogger template. And she has been a great encourager in my writings. She is really good at English. I am not, and for her to compliment my writing meant a lot to me. :) .

So those are the lovely people I would like to pass this award on to. Enjoy!

Sunday, November 25, 2007

2007 Campfire Traditon

This past Saturday we had our Campfire Tradition. Originally, we had made plans for my pen pal to come, but her little boy got sick suddenly the day that they were supposed to come. :( The girls were so disappointed, but we had had a good time anyway.
My Grandma who is almost 90 years old, got to come too, which was a special treat for the girls. They really were happy that she could come, even though their friends couldn't.

Grandma, me, and Little Tiny Boy. The face on Tiny Boy just cracks me up! :)
Daddy Stoking the fire.
For lunch we roasted hot dogs over the fire. For sides we had chips, and macaroni salad. For dessert; it wouldn't be a campfire without samoores. ;-) That is our good family friend that has been at each and every camp fire helping Bean roast her hot dog.
Bean thinks she isn't allowed to have these. She grabbed them, and went and sat in the corner to eat them. These were her favorites. She called them the yellow chips. She also stuffed my Grandma, (who the kids call G.G.) with these chips. Hey, at least she was sharing! :)Tiny Boy trying to see what is going on at the table.Here he was being camera shy, but I caught him just in time!

Everyone gathered around the fire.Tiny Boy, trying to bribe his Nana of some chocolate! :)
Sweetie telling Nana that everyone was a baby except Adam and Eve. Nana's new little doggie also came to the camp fire. Isn't she cute? :)

The neighbor kids showed up, which turned out to be a big blessing. With my pen pals little children not being able to come, this made up for it. They had a good time roasting marshmellows and hot dogs too.
A bit of exploring is being done by Sweetie and Tiny Boy
Nana spotted some grape vine growing in our back yard, so she made tiny grapevine wreaths for us. :)
And just a cute picture for the road. After everyone left, Daddy and I roasted more hot dogs for dinner. Then we gave the kids a bath. After that, we went outside and sat around the fire some more. We had a nice relaxing time talking with the kids for an extra 15 minutes before we put them to bed.
After bed, Daddy and I went back out to the fire, and enjoyed each other's company for an hour longer. At one point, Bean came back out and asked for a cup of water. When Daddy got back, he said that Sweetie was crying because she saw us sitting by the fire from her bedroom window, and it looked like we were having too much fun! ;-)















Our Thanksgiving

Thursday morning, I didn't have to get up and roast a Turkey; Great Grandma was doing that at her house. ;-)
Instead, I slept in till 9:00 am, wow! What a glorious feeling that was, to wake up late like that. I tried to watch the Macy's Day Parade with the girls, but in my opinion (sorry folks) it was dumb! When I was a kid I remembered them showing a lot more of the parade. This time, it was more of Holly Wood gossip. The girls lost interest real quick, and I didn't blame them. It was nothing like I remembered as a kid. :(
Pretty soon, we started to get ready to head to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa's house. It is about an hour and half drive, so we had lots of stuff to pack to keep the kids entertained.
When we arrived, the house smelled wonderful from the turkey roasting in the oven. My sister in law and brother in law also came with their new little guy.
We had a delicious menu of:
Roast Turkey and gravy
Sweet Potato Casserole
Cranberry jelly and relish
Marshmellow delight salad
Fruit Salad
Fruit Dip
Cheese ball with crackers
Corn bread casserole
Mashed potatoes
Turkey stuffing
Bread
Homemade jam
Green beans fried in bacon grease with bacon pieces
peas
Turkey Cookies (the ones that I showed on my Thanksgiving posts)
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Dump Cake
(And probably more that I am forgetting! :))

We spent the rest of the afternoon talking and sharing good fellowship. The girls, (oh my goodness) started coloring, Great Grandma's concrete porch floor! We gave the girls consequences, (like no pumpkin pie, but we later found out that Great Grandma gave them some anyway ;-) ) and I cleaned the floor.

However, I was really excited about one thing. HOURS later, Sweetie came up to me and apologized, on her own, for coloring on Great Grandma's floor. She then went to Great Grandma and asked for an apology. This is the first time, that I know of that, she came on her own free will and apologized like that.

The girls then watched movies galore. Aunt Mommy brought a few Thanksgiving movies, and I too, had a few movies for them to watch. This kept them busy for a while. :)

And, poor Little Tiny Boy. In the middle of our feast he came down with a fever. He spent most of the day crying, or in my lap, or laying down on Great Grandma's guest bed. :( If you look to the right of Little Tiny Boy, you will see a train engine. That brought him great comfort in his illness. :)

We had a great day, with lots of fun! Great Grandma and Great Grandpa got to see their newest great grandchild for the first time I believe

Isn't he a cutie! :) That is my new little nephew!





Wednesday, November 21, 2007

My Laundry System



I am a lazy laundress. With three children, at one point four and under, I may of found a laundry system that is not very stressful, but also not very much according to proper house keeping rules.
First off, I do laundry every other day. I do only one load.
Now I am going to break rules. Once I know that the fabric won't bleed, I throw all my colors together. I wash in cold water most of the time, which doesn't bleed fabrics as easily.

Most fabrics these days are colorfast, however I always question red. So I always wash those separately; until I know that it is color fast.

My wardrobe is very simple I have two jean skirts. One to wash, one to wear. Unless my children's clothing is very dirty or soiled, I make them wear one pair of underware a day.
I put the wash in the morning, and throw it in the dryer later in the day, then fold and put away.
My baby sleeps in the clothes that I dress him in the morning with. Unless he has had a bath, or it will be cold, then I put him in a footed sleeper.


If someone has been sick, then I will wash in hot water. I only wash sheets every few weeks.

I put vinegar in with the laundry soap, and a few drops of tea tree oil.


If I get behind at all, and have a mountain to climb, then I will divide my clothes the proper way. But for now, this is what works for me. Shocking?
For more ideas that work for others, click on the button on top of my post. :)

Wordless Wednesday~ Roses. For No Reason. :)


For More Wordless Wednesday Pictures Click Here.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Rowing~ The Glorious Flight

It took me a while to get my blog up about The Glorious Flight. This book was just a lot of fun. We reviewed many things that we learned with Storm in the Night. Onomatopoeia's, Similes, and the like. We also explored:
France
The History of the Airplane
Vocabulary
How Airplanes Fly
Attempted to make a French type Sandwich with Gruyere Cheese, and Ham. (The girls were not very fond of that :) )
To never give up
Parts of an Airplane
Ordinal Numbers
The differences between a jet and a propeller airplane
Air Traffic Controllers
Pilots
Different Ways to Travel
Roman Numerals
And a bit about helicopters

The Glorious Flight is about Louis Bleriot, the first man to fly across the English Channel in the year 1909.

While I was reading this book to the girls, I showed them the English Channel on the map. The next day I asked Sweetie, "What is the English Channel?" Sweetie replied, "That is the channel on TV where they speak English." :) She does now know what the English Channel is. :)

When I tried to make those Cheese sandwiches with ham in them, I also made Brownies to go with our meal. Here are a few pictures of the children, "helping" make Brownies

Then, in perfecting timing, there was an air show a few hours away, featuring The Blue Angels on the Saturday after we finished The Glorious Flight! We all got up early Saturday Morning and headed out, stopping for Breakfast at Chick-Fil-A. I was having a horrible time staying awake on the ride there. I suppose my husband notice how groggy and out of it I was, for when we stopped for gas, he bought me an ice cold Frappuccino, yum!

We choose to park in a special parking lot that had Free charter buses. The parking was $20! But good news! The air show was "free". :)

All in all, that wasn't a bad price for me, my husband and the three kids. And girls LOVED riding the buses. To them it was a lot of fun.

When we got off of the bus, Tiny Boy, saw the air planes in the sky and started to make the sign for planes; along with the appropriate sound effects. :)

We arrived and set ourselves up, then began to watch the planes. Pretty soon, Bean and Sweetie got bored with it all. I was showing the girls how the planes had propellers on them, just like Lewis Bleriot had on his plane.

Things started to perk up a bit, when they saw a lady wing walker. Especially when she waved to the crowd; the girls just loved that. The Red Barron's drew a heart in the sky, and the girls thought that was pretty exciting. :)

Then the jets came, and Tiny Boy promptly began to cry from the noise. Thankfully, we had some sound muffler head sets to put on both Bean and Tiny Boy. After we put them on him, he was fine for the rest of the time.



In between fly bys, Bean would socialize with an older man telling him about her whole life. He made the mistake of speaking to her first. After that, there was no stopping her gabbing. I think she was distracting him from watching the show. I told her when they planes went by, to stop talking!

Sweetie had her mind on other things besides the air show. She was perfectly content with discarded Styrofoam cup, and sand. :)The Blue Angel's finally arrived after about an hour or so of waiting and watching the other planes. Bean was pretty interested in them. Sweetie, on the other hand, we had to *make* her look when they did a stunt. Tiny Boy, by this time, was sound asleep in my baby carrier. :)

Here is a short clip of one of the stunts that they did:






And what is a field trip without a souvenir? There was a Blue Angel cockpit that Daddy, the girls and Tiny Boy got to sit in and take their picture. I do not have a scanner, so please forgive my picture of a picture. But all the kids loved sitting in the cock pit!
Then we got a die cast Blue Angel. It has already suffered some damage, but it still serves it purpose. Tiny Boy is the one that gets to play with it most. He LOVES it. He can play for hours with it. After we bought our souvenirs, we tried to find the bus stop that we got off at, but we got all confused, and walked around in circles until we did find where it was.
We finally got on the bus, and Bean, Miss Social, started jibber jabbing to the strangers behind us, telling them everything that came to her mind. Some of the stuff she was saying was kind of embarrassing. Sweetie told the lady in front of us that the air show was kind of boring, but she liked playing in the sand.
On the way home we stopped by Cracker Barrel to eat, since we hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. All of us were really thirsty too!
Not a single child was awake when we got home. It was a great family day! The weather was beautiful too. Not too hot, and not too cold. And not a cloud to be seen anywhere.

Right now, in preparation for Thanksgiving we are Rowing Cranberry Thanksgiving. But before I write about that, I will do a post on the girl's learning folders from The Glorious Flight. I am not sure what book we will be rowing after that, but I'll let you know. ;-)