October

Tomorrow is the beginning of October. I have to say that I think this is my favorite month of the year. It's the beginning of the end of hot weather around here. We start to get some cool breezes at night and even some cool days. Sometimes in September you think summer will never end. But October brings hope. The golden rain trees start to bloom and there are blankets of yellow underneath them and then the pink pods start. They are really beautiful. In our town they have scarecrows all over beginning at the beginning of October and lasting the whole month. Every year there is a theme. Last year it was something to do with songs. There was a "Singing in the Rain" display, a "Monster Mash" display, an "Under the Sea" display. They are fun and we always do the full scarecrow tour. I've seen a few up today but I can't figure out the theme based on what I've seen so far. Starbucks brings out the pumpkin spice latte. Wal-mart has the caramel apples rolled in nuts (Happy Apples). I can drink hot coffee at home again in the morning. We don't run our air much if at all in the summer so no hot coffee here. Our night walks are so pleasant and relaxing. No sweating. We start making Christmas lists. We start planning what we are doing for Thanksgiving. I think I will have to celebrate the beginning of Octobertomorrow. Maybe some pumpkin scones for breakfast.

Just call us Caroline and Laura

Hannah went to spend the night at a friend's house last night and Gracie was feeling sad. So, I decided to teach her to sew. I've been telling her that we would do this for a few days. I was surprised at how well she did. She picked it up right away and made two small quilt blocks. She plans to make a quilt for Hannah's stuffed dog. She added a third block to her collection today. She did this hand stitching while I worked on my Christmas quilt and she talked the entire time. She reminds me so much of myself. She was so into what she was doing and so excited about it. She is so happy to have a talent of her own that Hannah doesn't have (yet). She thinks all her friends will be so excited that she can sew. She thinks she may start a sewing club and she and some friends can get together and sew and then also bring projects that they've done to show each other (wonder where she got this idea). She also thinks that hand stitching is much better than machine stitching (she proclaimed this while I was having issues with my machine). She thinks it's best to do things the old fashioned way. I really enjoyed my time with her, working on our separate projects. A little note about my Christmas quilt--I'm keeping it under wraps until the big unveiling in November. At least that's my plan, we'll see if I can resist posting pictures. I will say that so far it is pretty crazy and a little hard on the eyes. I love it.

Going "Seaside"

Hannah is in a play coming up at the end of October. She is doing "Into the Woods Jr." and she is Rapunzel. If you are familiar with "Into the Woods" you know that it is a story that includes a lot of fairy tale characters who go "into the woods" and have some adventures. In Act 2 almost all of them die in some way or another so the Jr. version doesn't include Act 2. Anyway, all of this to say that Hannah has been cracking me up talking about her character. She said that her director told her that in Act 2 Rapunzel is the first to die, she commits suicide. So, Hannah keeps saying that she hates that her character "goes seaside" right after Act 1. I've corrected her many times but she just doesn't seem to get it.

I learned something new in science this week

This week's science was about yeast. We did this really easy and neat experiment. On Tuesday, we mixed yeast, warm water, and sugar and poured it into a bottle. Then we put a balloon on the bottle and put it in a warm, dark place. When we checked on it -we saw that the balloon had been partially blown up. On Thursday, we did the same thing but used salt instead of sugar. As you can see, it did not blow up the balloon. I have often wondered why bread recipes call for sugar and have been tempted to omit it. Now I see why you use sugar--it feeds the yeast. Without it the bread wouldn't rise as well. So, we both learned something this week!

Another random post

I have nothing terribly exciting going on here, no fun pictures to share, but still the desire/pressure to post something so we'll go with my random thoughts again--
Joe had a great time at cowboy day at preschool. He even cooperated with them and had his picture taken sitting on a haybale horse. Really cute. He said last night that preschool is so exciting, you never know what is going to happen there. He's already looking forward to next Friday--"Dinosaur Day."
The girls and I have had a great week of school. In fact, I just realized I do have a picture to share. I'll make that a separate post. We have had no trouble getting school done while Joe is at preschool. The girls are enjoying their curriculum and Grace is really learning to read so easily. We did manage to cover dusting, vacuuming, washing dishes, and sweeping. I set the girls loose in the Florida room with dust cloths and spray stuff. I think they did a perfect job--when I checked on them Grace was dusting the legs of the chairs. Go Grace!!! The next set of lessons in Home Ec for Homeschoolers has to do with sewing. I'm excited about that. Next week...
I made some yummola eggplant parmesan last night. I haven't made that in a long time and had forgotten how good it was. I changed the way I did it this time and fried the eggplant instead of baking it. Adds a lot more fat that way and we need to fatten up around here. :0)
The girls and I are reading "Little Women." I didn't think they would be ready for that book yet but they were begging me to read it. They had gotten a taste of the story from an Usborne book and they wanted to hear the whole thing. I am really enjoying reading it to them. It is one of my favorite books. We will watch the movie once we are done with the book.
Ollie and I watched the season premiere of the Office. It did not disappoint. Lots of funny lines!

Some random things

So, when Hannah woke up yesterday and saw my new totally fabulouso patch pants what do you think she said??? Mom, you're not going to wear those in public are you? Thanks Hannah. Actually I did wear the shorts in public yesterday and they were so comfy and wonderful. Another thing that Hannah said--Last night we were playing SkipBo and I was about to win so I started chanting the cheer, "V-I-C-T-O-R-Y, victory, victory that's my cry!!!" You see, I never win so I was pretty excited. Hannah said, "Mom, I just don't get you." Oh well, I don't really get me either.
I was reading ahead in our "Home Economics for Homeschoolers" curriculum and the section on vacuuming was just too much. This curriculum is christian based and the character is named Faith and I'm just sure she has a "gentle and quiet spirit" and all that stuff. I love how they tie in Bible verses and I've been really pleased with it. BUT--this is what I read last night--
"One of the most important tools that God has given us is a vacuum." This cracked me up. I don't really think of a vacuum cleaner as a gift from God. It goes on to talk about dust mites and allergies and how great it is that we have a vacuum cleaner to keep our homes free from these things. Pretty funny. I am trying to work our way through this book. I have a sweet friend waiting patiently for it. I was supposed to finish it this summer. Yeah right. Anyway, today we will be covering vacuuming, dusting, washing dishes, and maybe even making chocolate chip bars. Pretty ambitious but I have a McD's hazelnut iced coffee coursing through my body so I'm feeling ambitious right now.
I went shopping last night at Joann's and bought fabric to finish my Christmas quilt. Now I'm more confused than ever though. I just need to get started. I'm having a hard time visualizing what I want to do. Right now my only clear goal is to make it really loud and garish. With the fabric I bought I should succeed. :0) I did put back all the Peanuts characters singing Christmas carols but I may have to go back and get it.
Okay, the girls are waiting to start school so I need to let this go. I can't wait to tell them about all the cleaning they are going to be doing today!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday! They say that it is hard to imagine the unconditional love of your heavenly Father if you did not receive love from your earthly father. Well, I am blessed to say that I have never doubted how much my dad loves me. He is a great dad! It makes it easy to receive and truly feel the love that my heavenly Father has for me. Happy Birthday Pop!

Patch Pants and other ramblings

So, today was a full day and I finished it off with finally making my patch pants that I mentioned in this blog about 2 months ago. I even had leftover strips to make some shorts. Now if only I had something to wear with these crazy britches! I was thinking through my shirts (all my Target Ultimate Tees) and I don't think I have one that will really match. Of course, that has never stopped me before. I can guarantee I'll be wearing the shorts tomorrow whether I find a matching shirt or not. These were so easy and transformed a pair of too small pants into fits perfectly pants--you gotta love that!!
The weather here is slowly getting better. I actually went out twice today and spent more than a few minutes outside. We went to the park and then later for a walk/bike ride. Even IzzyB was happy and she hates to be hot. It won't be long until we have those perfect temperatures that we all dream of all summer. I also got some cleaning done today. I taught the girls how to sweep thanks to "Home Economics for Homeschoolers." Not that I couldn't have taught them without it but it's another thing I can check off. HEfH says to start at the edges and sweep towards the middle. Make your way around the room. Then go back and sweep those piles into each other in the middle. Then use your dustpan. Very self explanatory! I also had everyone dusting and windexing the big window. Things definitely go smoother and faster when we are all working together. Joe didn't cough again past about 10 am so he should be back at preschool tomorrow. I really should go to bed.

Stick Collector

Joe is an avid stick collector. And as you can see a collector of anything that might be a sword or light saber. He is always picking up new sticks and knows each one he has. I always dread the question, "Mom, where is my stick?" I can go around the house and find a dozen sticks but it still won't be the one he's looking for. He'll say, "You know, it's the one with a short part and then a branch like a shooting thing and then it curves and gets straight again, etc." So, need a cheap Christmas gift for Joe? Look no farther than your own front yard!

What's so funny?

Joe had to stay home from preschool today because he woke up coughing like a barking seal. He seems to be fine but still coughing intermittently. So, he has been watching tv as I try to school the girls. In this picture he and Grace are so amused by Scott Humston. He is a magician who travels the country doing school shows, church shows, camps, etc. We just happen to be great friends with him and his family and I think that makes his DVD that much funnier for the kids. Here they are getting all tickled watching Puff the rabbit. Joe even spit his water all over himself. Thanks Scott!

Update on Joe and preschool

Joe told me yesterday that he wished everyday was preschool. He doesn't like not going on Saturdays and Sundays. This is amazing considering I didn't really think he'd go in the first place. I was trusting God that he would go because I had felt lead to put him in preschool but it was one of those things that you have a really hard time believing will all work out. I am so thankful and blessed by him having such a great experience. It truly seems like they love him there and he has a great rapport with his teachers. Stay tuned later this week. Thursday is cowboy/cowgirl day at school! I hope to have some pictures to share.

My man can cook!

Ollie made us an amazing dinner Saturday night and then again on Sunday night. In case you can't tell what you are looking at in this picture--it's Chicken Souvlaki on homemade pitas with tsaziki sauce. This is a greek thing that we love to get when we go to a greek restaurant. Ollie's was easily as good as any I've had in a restaurant. Thanks Ollie!

Grace and Theology

Grace has been coming up with some funny things to say about God. I am happy that she is forming a relationship with Him and believes He has a personal interest in her. The other day she had gotten some new dolls called "Soda Pop Girls." She was really into them and came and told me that she thinks that God worked this all out for her. First she was interested in Littlest Pet Shop and got a lot of pets and now she has found out about Soda Pop Girls that play so nicely with Littlest Pet Shop. In her mind her great God had brought the world together for her and her alone to play with her LPS and Soda Pop Girls together. It's hard to relay exactly how she said all this but I hope you get the gist. It was really cute and sweet.
Tonight she was walking around with a quilt over her head. Later she came into the kitchen and said all excitedly, "Mom, I trusted God for something." I asked what for and she said, "That I was heading in the direction of the couch." Thankfully she didn't slam into a wall or that could've shattered her faith I guess.
Oh to have the faith of little children...

Shopping Day!

H and B took the kids shopping for costumes this weekend. Hannah chose Wonder Woman and Grace is a "Gothic Princess." It's so funny how my girls are changing. Grace is normally the tomboyish one but these days she is always in a dress or a skirt and loves anything beautiful. Hannah on the other hand chose to be Wonder Woman. It was between that and the most tackiest Southern Belle dress I've ever seen. I'm glad she chose Wonder Woman.






Joe decided he didn't want a costume once he found out that he could get Star Wars guys instead. Specifically Jar Jar Binks. He has played with this set since he brought it home. He even took the fighter jet thing to bed with him last night.

Tornado Drama

A tornado went through just about 8 miles away from us last night! Amazingly there were no injuries! We know one family affected by it and I think our church will try to help with some cleanup tomorrow. It's a mess out there and some lost their homes.

Rained Out!

Hannah was supposed to dance at the monthly thingy that our town hosts. Right before their turn the bottom fell out. There was a little lull in the storm and they did one dance. Towards the end of that dance I was getting concerned as thunder rumbled and lightning flashed. They finished their show under the awning by just singing and not dancing. It was disappointing but there's always next month.



Grace the Superstar!

Easy Bake Oven fun!

So, it was Easy Bake Oven day. Hannah got this for Christmas last year and asks to use it all the time and I usually say no because it seems complicated and those mixes they come with are nasty. So, the other night I found some recipes online and they actually seemed pretty good and doable. So I surprised her and a couple of friends with letting them do this. After a little squabbling over who was going to do what they jumped right in and pretty much did it all themselves.











Here they are right before digging in. I sampled it too and it was really good! Next we'll have to try "Jeweled Tea Cakes."

Dissed by my daughter

After dropping Joe off at school this morning Hannah said, "When I grow up I'm going to dress like Ms. Shawnee. I'm never going to wear t-shirts like you do, but you look good in them." I think that last line was her trying to make me feel better. I can't believe she doesn't aspire to grow up and wear jean shorts and Target Ultimate Tee's every day!

100 Things About Me!

Keeping with blogging tradition, this is my 100th post so here it is. I've been working on this list for a week, it's not easy!

1. I am 36 years old.
2. I am a christian and have been really walking with Jesus for about 15 years.
3. I was born and raised in Georgia.
4. I moved to New Mexico to go to school my Junior year of college.
5. I only planned to be there a semester on a student exchange program but stayed for 5 years.
6. That's because I met my husband there.
7. We lived there for a year after getting married.
8. When we decided to move we opened up a map and started talking about where we would like to live.
9. We almost ended up in Idaho.
10. We decided to move to Florida so he could grow tropical fruit trees.
11. We have about 40 different fruit trees, plants, and vines in our yard.
12. I have a black thumb and am no longer allowed to purchase plants for our yard.
13. I love to read.
14. I read about a book a week usually although not so much lately because...
15. I love to sew and am really into it now.
16. I almost always really mess something up the first time I try to make it because I dive into everything without really thinking it through.
17. I usually get it right the second time.
18. I am not at all a perfectionist but wish I was in some areas.
19. I like to keep my house neat but it's not always clean.
20. We lived in this house for about 3 years before I thought to clean the baseboards.
21. I can't remember the last time I really cleaned them.
22. Back to reading--I like to read a little bit of everything except romance.
23. I love suspenseful novels but seldom read them because I get interrupted so much.
24. Probably one of my all time favorite books is "Papa's Wife" by Thyra Ferre Bjorn.
25. Another all time favorite is "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith.
26. I've read both of those twice, something I basically never do.
27. I have a horrible temper.
28. When I get really mad I love to slam cabinet doors in the kitchen and throw things.
29. Ollie has mostly put a stop to that behavior.
30. He is probably the only one in the world besides my kids who have seen me lose my temper. I guess my parents and sister and brother have seen it to.
31. I pray about this a lot and daily pray for patience particularly with my sweet third child who seems to know the buttons to push.
32. If I lose my temper with my children I always apologize. I think that is very important. I never spank them in anger.
33. I just yell.
34. I hate when I yell and always feel guilty about it.
35. I love to cook.
36. I love to try new recipes.
37. I try so many new things that I forget to make things again when we all love it.
38. I am trying to start making some of the same things that we all love, it certainly is easier.
39. I cook a lot of Asian food.
40. I think noodles or rice, vegetables, some sort of meat, and the right asian sauce is the perfect meal.
41. I have endless varieties of the above that I make at least once or twice a week.
42. I don't bake much because I have very little self control when it comes to sweets.
43. I have no self control if I have good ice cream in my freezer.
44. My favorite ice cream is "Oh Fudge, Oh Nuts" at Publix.
45. I think it can speak to me from my freezer reminding me that it is there.
46. I am most likely to eat ice cream for breakfast, I figure I have all day to burn off all that fat.
47. I love cold pizza and cold chinese food for breakfast and ice cream of course.
48. I make a lot of Thai food for Ollie and I (not lately but I have in the past).
49. If Joe had been a girl his name would have been Lydia Rose.
50. If Grace had been a boy her name probably would have been Henry.
51. We knew Hannah was a girl so didn't have any boy names picked out.
52. I don't normally like to watch TV.
53. Almost nothing really keeps my interest for long, I have so many other things I'd rather do.
54. I did watch a season of 24 though but it was on DVD so I could watch a couple at a time.
55. It was still really hard for me to just sit and watch it so I put the little TV in the kitchen and watched it while I cooked and did dishes.
56. I love Little House on the Prairie.
57. I think I've seen every episode of The Brady Bunch. I watched it in the afternoons after school.
58. The only show Ollie and I consistently watch now is The Office. I loooooove it, it cracks me up!
59. I have now found my first gray hair.
60. As soon as I start to see more I plan to dye my hair a dark auburn color.
61. I've never dyed my hair before.
62. I worked at Baskin Robbins in high school.
63. I was a high school math teacher for 4 years before having kids.
64. I taught one year in New Mexico.
65. I taught three years in Florida.
66. My mom was 16 when I was born and my dad was 19.
67. They are still married.
68. I've been to Italy and Scotland.
69. My dream is to go to Austria and take the Sound of Music bus tour.
70. Ollie will probably never want to do this with me, anybody want to go?
71. We used to watch a lot of Rick Steve's travel videos.
72. I think it would be fun to plan a trip and do all the things he shows in his video, stay in the same places, eat at the same places, etc.
73. I have never been on a cruise but I'd love to go on one.
74. I do not usually wear makeup.
75. Partly because I am lazy and partly because I really don't know how to put it on well.
76. I have had the same long, straight hair for years now.
77. I don't know what else to do with it because I am lazy and unskilled so would never spend much of any time on it.
78. My favorite thing to wear is a soft t-shirt.
79. And sweat pants.
80. I almost never sweat pants, I look scary in them.
81. I do wear t-shirts almost everyday now thanks to my Target Ultimate Tee collection.
82. I love coffee and anything made with coffee.
83. I really love Starbucks but think there prices are ridiculous so I only treat myself when I have a gift card.
84. Now you know what to get me for Christmas :0).
85. I make a pretty good coffee at home but seldom have the yummy whip cream for the top.
86. I also love Chai tea.
87. Especially Dunkin Donuts' vanilla chai--yum!
88. I would love to be in some sort of stage show someday.
89. I can't act, dance, or sing.
90. The directors of Hannah's theater would probably humor me and give me some sort of dumb part if I asked.
91. Right now I don't have the time but someday.
92. I love to do line dancing because it requires no creativity on my part.
93. I'd love to learn the last dance in High School Musical--"We're All in This Together."
94. And the basketball dance.
95. I embarrass Hannah all the time.
96. I have started a tradition in our homeschool group of running over any remaining cake at our Happy Birthday Jesus party.
97. This really mortifies Hannah.
98. What really makes me laugh??? The Office and potty humor. It's awful. I need to grow up.
99. I used to want to be a clown so I could act stupid and get paid for it.
100. Do I still have any friends now that you know all this crazy stuff about me?

Hold onto your seat and get ready to laugh...

Joe is going to tell you some jokes! His bedroom has been giving him inspiration. He goes in there for an idea and comes out with some really hilarious jokes. Here are a few:

Why did the monkey cross the road?
To get the ice cream on the other side!

Why did the happy face cross the road?
Because somebody on the other side needed a happy face.

Why did the trash can cross the road?
Because somebody was going to eat the trash can.

Why did the rainbow want to end at the town?
To get candy and sweets.

Grace's favorite joke:
Why did the lady cross the street with her purse open?
She was hoping for a change in the weather. (That's the real punch line but Grace almost always messes it up and says something like "She was hoping to catch some of the change in the weather." It's cute!

IzzyB

I haven't posted a picture of IzzyB in a while so here she is. She was having a little tummy time!

Singing in the Rain....

and dancing, and running...It has rained here almost all day. It pretty much never does this in Florida. Our rains usually come in the way of a thunderstorm and we would never go play in the rain for fear of being struck dead by lightning (we are the lightning capital of the world you know). So, a couple of times a year we get an all day gentle rain and I just love it! I woke up to the sound of rain and knew it would be a good time. Of course, the sound could have also come from all the snot dripping out of my nose and hitting my pillow :0). Gross I know, let's just say the sinuses are flowing freely today. Back to the rain--I don't know what is causing us to get this great rain, I haven't heard of any hurricanes but since I never watch the news I probably wouldn't know there was a storm until it was bearing down on us. I guess if my neighbors started boarding up I would have a clue. It has also been wonderfully cool. I even felt a little chilled outside when I was taking pictures. I couldn't believe it.

A funny post

You'll have to check out my friend's blog for a funny post about her daughter, Joe, and another little girl at preschool. Oh the drama! Joe seems to be completely oblivious to it all which makes it even funnier to me.

www.homeschoolinginthesun.blogspot.com

Better End to My Day!

I thought I would post before heading to bed. The day did get better and I seemed to find my brain. I managed to remember to take Hannah to theatre and pick her up. I managed to remember that I had IzzyB in my house and took pretty good care of her. My turkey did get done and I used it in my family's favorite Turkey Rice recipe. I remembered to turn the stove off. I got some laundry done and got everything into the dryer before it had sat in the washer for a couple of days and had to be rewashed. I even got everything out of the dryer. Not folded yet but it's a start. I think I'll go to bed before I can do any more stupid stuff. Tomorrow is a new day and hopefully a less snotty one!

A couple of park pictures

Joe has been begging to go to the park after preschool so we went today and were met there by a few friends. Here are some pictures of them on the great new toy they have there!

What is my problem--I mean really??

I have completely lost my brain today. I am not a scatterbrained person in general but I am having serious problems this week. I have a cold so maybe all the snot is messing me up. Here is what I have forgotten/done just today and yesterday--

• I forgot Joe's folder that he's supposed to take back to school on Monday 3 times!
  
• I forgot to bring a fruit or vegetable for snack at preschool 3 times!
• I went to Wal-mart specifically to get a gift card and got a bunch of other stuff but no gift card!
• So, I decided to just send this friend $10 for her birthday. I wrote out the card and mailed it and forgot the $10.
  
• I tried to send Izzy's mom into anaphalactic shock by giving her pumpkin muffins laced in chocolate. I knew she was allergic to chocolate, we had just been discussing her allergies and I sent her off to work with some chocolate! She ate one (they were mini muffins) and then realized that it had chocolate. She had to make herself throw up and then take 2 Benadryl. So, now she's at work drowsy because of the Benadryl.

I think that's about it for now. I think it's certainly enough. As I am sitting here racking my brain I just realized that I haven't put the turkey in the oven that we are having for dinner. It needs to cook a couple of hours and I was supposed to put it in this morning so I could use the meat for my dinner recipe. Thankfully, I still have time to get it in.

I Dare You!

Hannah was eating some Whoppers that she got for her birthday. Joe came in to the kitchen and said, "Mom, I dare you to buy me some of those things Hannah is eating." I'm thinking he's testing out new words again. Too cute!

Quilt Swap

We had our quilt swap last night. We showed our Americana quilts and then swapped Christmas blocks. We reconvene in November to show our Christmas quilts. It was so fun to see what we all did with our Americana blocks.


Here we are--the Americana quilt makers. We all had fun and learned so much about quilting, binding, and our sewing machines. Everybody had stories to tell of frustrations that were overcome to get this done. I am looking forward to getting started on my Christmas quilt but I have some planning to do first. I've already decided that my Christmas quilt is going to be crazy and quite garish looking. I can't wait to get started with all those fun Christmas fabrics!

Joe Story

We were watching a movie together tonight and Joe made the comment, "I don't like fat women." I said, "That's not very nice Joe." Then he looked at me and said, "But I like your kind of fat I mean size." Thanks Joe, I think.

Now we have to talk about how beauty is on the inside and even fat women are special women created by God and we shouldn't judge based on size or looks.

Very Applicable Verse

On Friday I was reading in Proverbs chapter 14 and I came across this verse--
Proverbs 14:4 (New Living Translation)
"Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest."

Tiffany translation: Without children my house would be spotless, but I wouldn't trade a clean house for the joy they bring me.

This was so applicable for me this week as my house was less than spotless. I do have to say though that a clean house is important to me but I don't want to put it above time spent with my children or get all stressed out about it.

Major Catch Up Day

I spent all morning cleaning out my e-mail inbox and responding to everything! Wow, that felt good. So often I just check my e-mail and then don't have time to respond so I put it off and then the messages pile up. So, today I am caught up! This afternoon and evening we all cleaned the house. I was feeling stressed and overwhelmed by how out of control it seemed and how impossible it felt to get it ALL done. Ollie wanted to wash the outside windows and wanted everybody's help. This was so not a priority for me but he said if I helped him he would help me. Well, we got the windows done and then tackled the house. With five people all working together the main stuff was done within an hour or so. Ollie cleaned the bathrooms, washed all indoor windows and mirrors, heated up dinner, and bathed kids. I love a man who cleans!!! I put away clutter and really cleaned my room including filing! I discovered that I had not filed anything since March of 2006. That's really bad! Good thing we didn't need to find anything. I just had piles and piles stuffed here and there. I am planning to start a household notebook where I keep important info so that it's all in one place. We'll see when that gets done. I have put myself on a sewing hiatus until I can gain control of the house and meals, etc. This week I have planned 5 or 6 meals that I plan to double and freeze. That way we can eat for two weeks on one week's worth of cooking. I have done a ton of freezer cooking in the past but I just can't bring myself to do a major cooking thing right now. So, for now we will try this. Tomorrow will be church, rest, and some cooking. And of course the quilt swap--can't wait for that!!!

Done!

I finally finished my quilt, I am much happier with it since adding the stars. It feels good to actually finish something. Now I need to turn my attention away from projects for a while and get my house cleaned. It has seriously suffered while I have been obsessed with spending every spare moment on this quilt! Now what should I do with it?

I love my curriculum!!!!

I have started my first official curriculum this year and I love it! It's My Father's World, I actually used it last year with Grace so this isn't really my first year using it but it is my first year using it with both girls. It is going so well. It's so simple, yet meaty. Grace is learning to read and I love how they present it. She has been struggling with mixing up her b's and d's. I remember Hannah doing this and someone told me to write the word "bed" and make it into a bed and draw it at the top of her paper. This visual worked great for Hannah and has worked soso for Grace. Well today, her curriculum taught us a new thing. You make the b and d with your fingers. This was just what Grace needed--she is more kinesthetic and this really clicked for her. I've added pictures of her doing school today and holding her "b's and d's" fingers. Also--another milestone for her--she counted to 100 today! I know some kids do this at age 3 or something but she has struggled with it. Until just a month or so ago she couldn't get past 13. Actually she could get past 13 but always skipped it. I was so happy that she finally did it, and she was proud of herself as well. She wanted to go on past 100.

Funny thing Joe said

This morning Joe was wanting something to drink while I was loading the van and so my mom got him a juice box out of the fridge. He told her, "My mommy is not going to be okay with this." My mom said don't worry, I'll tell her I did it. So when I walked in Joe stood up and with his little hands outstretched said, "She idea'd this." It was too cute.

Apparently a lot of poop happens at preschool

S, just skip to the next post, you won't like this one.

So, Joe is tired of me asking him questions about preschool. He's asked me to stop and I just can't. I'm just dying to know what he had for snack, who he played with, what they learned about, has he actually used the potty at school yet, what job did he have, and on and on. Instead of ignoring me now he has started making stuff up when I ask him. Most of his answers have to do with poop. Like:

Me: "Joe, what did you have for snack today?"
Joe: "poop"

Me: "What do you like to do on the playground?"
Joe: "I go poop on the playground."

My mom: "What are your teacher's names?"
Joe: Ms. Poop and Ms. Peeps.

I think you get the picture. It's quite disgusting and I need to put a stop to the poop talk, we're working on it.

Hurry up and finish project day at our house

Today I was a not so good homeschool mom. We took Joe to preschool and then went to Joann's for backing and batting. We came home, I did minimal school with the girls, picked up Joe, went out for ice cream, came home, and sat them in front of the tv for the next 4 hours while my mom and I sewed. Not such a good mom today but my mom almost finished her quilt. Just a little quilting to be done around the squares. I am almost done with the binding for my Americana quilt. Maybe another half hour's worth to do. I put too much white between my squares so I want to try to applique some stars on, we'll see how that goes. It all has to be done by Sunday so time is running out! In fact, I am off to finish the binding right now!

Project Day at our House!

We had project day at our house today. It was one of those days that makes you feel like a good homeschool mom. Of course it's not uncommon for me to totally skip the project and just do the book work but I'm trying to reform myself and dive into those projects. I am going to attempt to have pictures and then captions but in case it doesn't work--here are the projects that we did today: made a wigwam out of construction paper, made a suncatcher out of wax paper and crayon pieces (no picture yet), I taught Hannah how to make pie crust and we used it to make a baked apple dessert, helped my mom make a baby quilt for my nephew that is due in February. Thankfully tomorrow should just be boring book work and reading--my favorite! Actually I just remembered that tomorrow we make teepees. They don't look terribly complicated so it should be fun. I'm loving using My Father's World. The projects are so doable that even someone like me is willing to give them a go. Here are the pictures:



This is the quilt top we made. We are going tomorrow for batting and backing. It has been so fun to see it come together. It is made of flannels and chenille and is so soft. I'm sure Baby Tobin will love it.



Here is Hannah getting ready to bake. We are doing "Home Economics for Homeschoolers" and I absolutely love it. We are still in the cooking section and at the top of the page there is a checklist--apron on? hair tied back? etc. Today we were learning to make pastry dough. The recipe was for cinnamon crusties and we made that (pie crust strips with cinnamon and sugar) and used the dough for our baked apples. So far she has learned to chop, peel, make a beef stew, and many other things. We have a few more cooking projects--biscuits, mexican pie, etc. and then we get to cleaning! Woohoo! It also includes some sewing and hospitality.



The finished apples were wonderful! We topped them with vanilla frozen yogurt and had quite a treat!





And last but not least, the wigwam! This went along with our history for the week. Tomorrow it's teepees.

You Know You are Old When...

You can't ride a simple roller coaster without sustaining some sort of injury. For the past two days I've had some pain in my neck that kind of goes down into my chest--like a sore muscle sort of pain. Me being the hypochondriac that I am at first thought I was having a heart attack but when I closely evaluated the times that I felt the pain I realized it could only be explained by a sore muscle and not my heart. So, I mentioned it to my mom this morning (still unsure as to why I was having this problem) and she said she felt the same way. The only thing we could think of that it could be was riding Thunder Mountain twice. You really have to tense up your body to keep yourself from flying all over the place. This is downright ridiculous that I would be sore from this. Can we say out of shape???? Speaking of the roller coaster--I forgot to mention that by the end of the second time Joe was hanging on to my mom for dear life with one arm and holding the other one high up like the cool people do on a roller coaster. Maybe that's why my chest is sore, I should've held onto the bar instead of being the cool cat that I just can't help being.

The Tentmaker

Here is a picture of my pastor singing at Disney. This is his "tentmaking" job. He and his group, sing before the Beauty and the Beast show at MGM Studios. They are an accapella (sp?) group and really very good and fun to watch. My pastor is the tall one on the end. When I am watching his show it's so hard for me not to tell everyone around me that that's my pastor! He's also a great pastor so if anyone reading this needs a church home with good teaching I can hook you up!

Quiet Evening at home

Here is storytime with Grammy. She took over bedtime stories while I finished up sewing two more dresses and worked on the binding for my Americana quilt. The kids enjoyed the stories and having Grammy read was a special treat. I enjoyed the extra sewing time. I am determined to finish all the projects I've started or just plan to do.

Future Playwright

Hannah had a friend over this weekend and they were writing plays. I don't think they ever got a full play written but Hannah had her character sketches done and they were soooo cute and entertaining and thought out that I just had to share. I am going to share them here exactly as they are written misspellings and all because that is part of the charm.

Lily
Very ms. prisey pants and always talking about meeting a prince. She is rich and almost famous she is not very merry but realy nice. Liley's father died that's how she became the Girly Girl

Ann
Ann has a very high opinyon but so sweet. She lost her mom when she was very young her dad is always gone. But if it wasn't for Betty there wondn't be a smile on her face. Very shy at times but mostley not.

Ella
Very beatfull. She wants to be a writter she wunts to see the world, do everything, loves books, loves to draw and as sweet as can be.

There is also an opening song and dance that goes with it but I'm not sure where it is. Watch out Broadway, here she comes!

Happy Day!

We had a great day at Disney yesterday. The highlight was that we got to ride Thunder Mountain Railroad twice. That's one that the line is always way too long so we usually skip it. Well, yesterday we got a fast pass and then got in line anyway because it didn't look to long and we didn't want to wait a half hour until our fast pass time. The line ended up being longer than it looked so we were in line for a half hour. We got off of the wild ride and Joe yelled, "Let's do it again!" We realized that it was our fast pass time so we got right back in line and rode it again. Joe was so proud of himself. He said to me, "Be sure to tell Daddy that I rode this twice and that I've been so happy today." I definitely told Daddy. Joe was so happy all day yesterday, no fits, no fussing and complaining. It was a beautiful thing. When Gracie got off the ride she said, "Whoa, I feel lizzy." I think she meant dizzy! :0)

Words of Wisdom

My great aunt Clara is 93 years old and in great health. My dad was visiting her this past week and they were eating in a restaurant when they saw someone Clara knew. The woman was commenting on how great Clara looked and asked her what her secret was. Here it is ya'll and it's some great advice so get a pencil and take notes--
1. Watch what you eat.
2. Memorize Scripture
3. Use face cream.

When is it going to start????

Here we are waiting for the parade. We had some shade for about 5 minutes and then it moved and we were in the sun. The parade was great though, worth the wait. Even Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker were in the parade--that was thrilling!

Watch out Woody--here comes Joe!

We picked up my mom at 11:30 at the airport and we were at the gates of MGM by 12:05. Of course that included practically running through the parking lot but we made it. We spent a few hours at MGM and then headed to Magic Kingdom. MGM was seriously hot, it was the middle of the day but by the time we got to Magic Kingdom it had cooled down a very little bit. At MGM we saw Woody from Toy Story. Joe walked right up to him and kicked him in the boot. Ugh! I hate when my kids embarrass me like that. Woody had on one of those big plastic heads. We couldn't see his face but I'm sure he was giving us some dirty looks behind that big plastic grin. At least he didn't touch Woody's privates. When Joe first got his picture taken with Jasmine a couple of years ago he accosted her. She opened her arms wide to welcome him and give him a hug and he walked right up to her and grabbed both her hahas. The whole line nearly fell out laughing. It was really funny but embarrassing. Here's a picture of him kicking Woody and then one of him being sweet with Woody.

Okay, those pictures were supposed to go under the writing. Somebody please tell me how to get my pictures to go inbetween my writing????? They will only go to the top of the post. I want to be able to do captions with each picture. Help!

By Popular Demand (actually just M)

The recipe for Lentil Loaf!!!

2 1/2 cups dry lentils
3 c. cooked rice
3/4 c. pecans or walnuts, toasted and chopped
2 eggs, beaten
1 onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
2 1/2 cups bread crumbs or oatmeal
1/2 cup olive oil
2 1/2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. dry mustard
3 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. thyme
ketchup

Boil lentils in water until soft, about 3o minutes. Drain and combine with the remaining ingredients. Season to taste. Add enough ketchup to achieve a thick paste but not enough to overpower the spices. Place in a greased pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.
Caution: this makes a lot of lentil loaf! It does freeze well though. I actually halved it when I made it. Enjoy!

Blast From the Past!

Recognize any of these kids???