New Year and New Beginnings!

We are getting ready for the new year 2011.  We have had a good (very busy, but good) Christmas holiday and we are gearing up for a new year with Church, Family and School.

I have a few changes that we need to do for School.  We are going to revise our Bible study/reading, some of our History (we are still going to use the Mystery of History, just add to it), and penmanship/writing.  I talked to some other homeschool Mom's and met some new friends over the holiday's and they gave me some ideas that I would like to try.

There are some new things that I would like to try for Allen Jr. as well, in hopes they will help us all.  I make lesson plans for Makaela and Allen on the computer, but he cannot read so I'm going to try and use his picture symbols for his plans.  He needs a stable plan for each day and I have not provided that.  Therefore we have had a few upsets over the last few weeks, so now on the revising and improving.

I would also like to do lessons (i.e. Bible, History,etc) that he can be more involved in.  That is the reason for revising and making new plans.

I personally would like to devote more time to read my Bible and in prayer.  Not sure how this is going to work, but I may have to do it at the end of my day instead of the beginning.

Well, that is just a few things planned for our new year.
Happy New Year!  Looking forward to 2011

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We have already had our family Christmas and we are leaving in the morning to go and visit family for the Christmas holiday.    The children are excited and happy to see family we have not seen in two years.   This is the longest we have not gone to see the family since my parents and I moved to Texas in the 70's.
We were not sure about going and have been playing it by ear.  A week ago, Makaela fell down the stairs at my In-Laws and twisted her ankle (or so we thought).  She ended up having dislocated a bone (that had to be reset) and banged it up really good.  She is now having to wear a brace for two weeks.  In addition to that we had a scare with her eyes.  The eye Doctor said she needed to see a pediatric specialist, so this past Thursday we had her at Texas Children's, thankfully they said the pressure and depression with her optical nerve, that her Doctor saw was not a major concern.  The pressure was somewhat normal and the optical nerve, they would just keep an eye on it.  We are to take her back in three months.   That was a blessing.
With all of that going on, we were just not sure and then on Wednesday night, during our Christmas celebration, Allen Jr. had a seizure.  It is his first one in at least 8 years or more.  He has been seizure free for a long time now and has been off his seizure medications for the last 8 - 9 years.   It did not last very long, so we just kept him home.  Called all of his Doctors on Thursday morning to make them aware and would keep them posted if anything changed.
Through all of this we still feel very blessed and we are thankful for all the Lord has done and continues to do.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Makaela's Piano Recital

Makaela's recital was back in October, but I'm just getting around to posting her pictures.  She and all of the girls did wonderful.  We are so thankful that she wants to learn the piano and music. .

This is all of the girls and their teacher.  They all glad it was over.  

Allen wanted to give his sister and the other girls a rose after the recital.  

Another Good Devotion

Okay here is another devotion that I enjoyed.  I  can see myself in this, and with the Lords help, hope to change.   I tend to get unrealistic expectations at different times in my life, not just around the Christmas season.

http://devotions.proverbs31.org/2010/12/unwrapping-his-christmas-presence-2.html

An Interesting Devotion.

I have been getting these devotions for a while and some I enjoy more than others.  I want my "fragrance" to draw people to Christ!

http://devotions.proverbs31.org/2010/12/whats-that-smell.html

Spaghetti Squash

I made Spaghetti Squash for dinner the other night.  My family loved it and they would like us to eat it again.  Here is the recipe:


1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
2 tablespoons veg. oil (I used olive oil)
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (did not have this used shredded cheese)
3 tablespoons sliced black olives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (did not have and did not miss it)


Directions....
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet.


2. Place spaghetti squash cut sides down on the prepared baking sheet, and bake 30 - 45 mins in the preheated oven or until a sharp knife can be inserted with only a little resistance.  Remove squash from oven and set aside to cool enough to be easily handled. 


3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Saute onion in oil until tender.  Add garlic, and saute for 2 - 3 mins.  Stir in tomatoes, and cook only until tomatoes are warm.


4. Use a large spoon to scoop the stringy pulp from the squash, and place in a medium bowl.  Toss with the sauteed vegetables, feta cheese, olives, and basil.  Serve warm.


I added chicken to make it a meal.  Otherwise it is more like a side dish.  We were able to get two meals out of this.  

Thankfulness Habit

Around this time of year is when we start to think of the things we are most Thankful for.  I have been talking with my Sunday school class (ages 5-7) for a few weeks on being thankful and grateful.  We have named the most obvious things: family, house, God, Jesus, the Bible, clothes, toys, food, etc.  I even had one child mention the Fruits of the Spirit.  I thought all of these things are wonderful and we should be thankful for them.  I also told them we should learn to be thankful for these things ALL year round, not just at Thanksgiving.  I then talked to them about habits and how you can break a habit or form a habit. I told them it takes 21 days to form a habit (of course I put it in terms they would understand better) and as a Sunday school class maybe we should work together to form a Thankful habit that would carry on all year.

A few months back Makaela and I started a Gratefulness journal and I am sorry to say, I have laid mine down and have not written in it for over a month.   So I will be getting mine out and plan on writing in it every day or at least at the end of each week.  (That is probably more realistic - to do it once a week)  :o)

I will end this by saying that I'm thankful for my parents (how they raised me and brought me up to love the Lord), grandparents (the heritage they have given my family). extended family, and my wonderful friends that I have made over the year.  I do not feel like I would or could be where I am today with out all of these people or the more importantly the Lord.

Many Blessings!

What we have been up to the last few weeks......

My Family at
Horses

Makaela working on her mosaic project.

Makaela and Smut

   Makaela has been doing a Mosaic project for an auction.  We are finally finished with that.  Allen painted some wood to make a Texas flag.  They both worked hard on these projects.
We have almost finished Makaela's room, just a few final touches(will post pictures soon).

Allen happy to be done with his Critical thinking page!

Allen Jr. and Cheyenne

We have been enjoying the fall weather, eating breakfast, lunch and snacks on the back deck.


We even played games out there just so we could enjoy the nice weather.

On Columbus day, Allen Sr. was off work, so we took advantage of this and headed out of town for the day.  We drove to east Texas, went to Livingston, Lufkin areas.  We went to the Lufkin Zoo, it was small but we had a good time.  We also visited the Texas Forestry Museum.  That was educational and fun.  Then we found an small "hole in the wall" restaurant and ate before heading back home.  Over all it was a great road trip.

Allen enjoying the fall day!

The Texas Forestry Museum....we had fun!

one of the Forestry machines

Allen checking out the newspaper roll

So that is what has been happening around our house for the last few weeks.

Recipes

Over the last month or so, I have been looking for easy crock-pot recipes for our family.   I love using the crock-pot because it frees up a lot of time in the evening (no rushing around to figure out what we are having for dinner) and it is something Allen and Makaela can help with too.   Here are two recipes we have tried over the last month and the family likes them both.

Cheesy Chicken Cutlets with Arugula (Spinach is what we use instead)
4 ounces spinach
1 med. tomato (I used 1 can diced tomatoes)
1/2 pound fresh mozzarella (here I use just shredded cheese)
8 (4-ounces) chicken cutlets
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Place chicken in crock-pot, then tomatoes, spinach, then cheese.  Season with salt and pepper.   Put on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 4 hours.

______________________________________

Creamy Mexi-Chicken
3 - 4 Chicken breast (I use the tenderloins - frozen ones)
1 can Rotel
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
4-8 oz cream cheese
1/2 packet mild taco seasoning or some type of seasoning that you like.

Place rotel and chicken in crock-pot and cook.  Approx 6 hours on high, or 8-10 hours on low.  You can shred chicken about halfway through cooking time.  If cooking from frozen, towards the end leave a small gap with the lid to let liquid reduce.  In the last hour of cooking, add beans.  When tender, turn heat off and add cream cheese.

This is great in lettuce wraps, low carb wraps or just topped with some cheese in a bowl.

My Dad

Yesterday was my Dad's birthday.  Still to this day, I miss him very much.  Most times it is in the little things and other times, it is when something major is going on and I would love to discuss it with him.  The children and I went to the cemetery and put some fall leaves/flowers there.  The fall season, the leaves changing colors, was Dad's favorite time of the year.

I'm thankful that we had my Dad with us as long as we did.  We have many memories to draw from.

School Pictures

Allen loves his school work (so far) and he likes to have his tea with us when we work.

In one of these pictures Makaela is doing her Spelling Power Activity.  She loves those cards. 

In this last picture you will see all of our mess.(behind Makaela)  We are in the process of painting and re-doing Makaela's room........so all of her things are in the corner of the school room.

She is doing her Scriptures. 

Our First Week of School

We officially started school on Monday.  It actually went well and we had a good day.  Allen Jr. kept asking for "hard" test.  Not sure what he is really asking for, but he enjoyed his school work.  It is fun to watch his face light up when I pull out a different activity or paper to do.  I was worn out on Monday and Tuesday....will have to learn to adjust to teaching more than one.  I know most homeschool Mom's teach more than one, but since I have not had that challenge yet it will take me time to adjust.  

Makaela and I jumped in head first with her new Spelling Power program, we love it and she is really enjoying the activities that go with it.  She likes her other subjects too, but this(Spelling Power) is the newest one for us.

Wednesday was a light day for me, that is when one of Allen's therapist comes and he goes with her for about 3-4 hours.  That is good, it gives him a break from just sitting at the school table or activities that we do everyday.

Tomorrow, we have our first "Super Friday" classes.  Makaela is looking forward to them and seeing all her friends again.

Will post pictures later when I can load them on the computer.

Homeschool Tracker up and running! Yea!

I'm well on my way to getting our schedules done.  I have been working on the Homeschool Tracker and inputing all the information.  Allen loaded it to my netbook (which ended up not working and had to load in on the desk top).   I'm feeling much better about being able to start in a few weeks.  Of course, I just realized the second day of school, Makaela has a dentist appointment, one that I have already rescheduled once.   Oh well, we will just take school work with us if we are not finished.  I'm going to try and do something a little different this year....well, actually, Allen said I did it last year, maybe I did.  I can't remember back that far right now.  :o)  What I plan on doing is starting our first two weeks with just the basic core subjects and then adding one or two things a week until we are doing all of our subjects.  That way if I need to change something I can and it won't be a major deal.

Looking forward to this school year and what the Lord has in store for us.

Another Chorus..."I Believe in a God"

This chorus was also sang Sunday night.  "I Believe in a God, who is mighty and great! I believe in the works he has done.  I have felt the power of his holy spirit and I believe, yes I believe in God's dear Son."

When Makaela was born, we went through a lot medically with her.  Each time we would end up in the hospital or ER not knowing what was going to happen with her or if she would make it, was a difficult time for me.  I had to learn how to cope, of course we would pray and I knew others were, but sometimes I would just have a song in my head/heart.  I often sang or hummed to Makaela while rocking her.

This chorus was one that I would sing to her quite often, usually when we were in the ER.  Because we had dedicated her life to the Lord and I wanted him to know I believed in Him and needed his attention for my daughter.  There were other choruses or children's songs I would sing her, but this one has always stood out in my mind.  I'm so glad that I Believe in a God who is Mighty and Great!

It's a Good Life the Lord Has Given Me

On Sundays with teaching Sunday School I usually miss what is going on in the service and when I come in it is hard to follow the flow and what is going on.  Well....last night it was a really outstanding service and I was able to come in and get right in the service.   One of the men was up talking about his health and the trials his family had been through, but he was saying no matter what "It was worth it all!"  He was saying it was a good life and he was blessed, the Lord was good to him and his family.  I later found out some of the others that talked were also along that train of thought.  After he talked we had the song...."It's a good life the Lord has given me.  I don't have to serve this world anymore.  I have a family who cares and a God who never fails.  Oh praise his name, I want to live my life for him."  There was such a sweet and wonderful spirit during that song.  It is a GOOD life the Lord has given me, many things to be thankful for and appreciate.  Regardless of all the trials and tests we may go through it is still a good life.  So I'm very thankful to the Lord.

Happy 20th Birthday Allen Jr.!

I can't believe my little boy turned 20 this week.  In my mind I can see him still little and running around here playing.  On Monday, my Mother-in-law, took Allen, Makaela, Summerr, Zachary and Ollivia (family friends) bowling, out to eat Pizza, then cupcakes and ice cream at her house, games too.  Then brought them all home.  He was in Heaven so to speak, he had the best time and just loved doing all of those things.  Summerr, Zachary and Ollivia are all good with Allen and interact well with him, so they had loads of fun.  While they were doing that, I ran around and finished his Birthday shopping, and came home to get dinner ready.  My Mother came over and we had him a little dinner and presents at our house.  He enjoyed that.  It is fun to watch him open up presents...he will sit there and tear one little piece of paper off and then looks at you and says Ohhhh! with big eyes and smiles, like he can really tell what is under the paper, but he can't.  It is funny.  I'm so thankful the Lord let me have my "Little" man in my life.  He is very special and means a lot to me.

Happy Birthday Allen!  I Love you!
Mom

THSC - survived the weekend!

Well, we went to the THSC conference this past weekend and survived.  I always come away from this type of conference mentally drained.  It was good to see old friends and meet some new ones.  I did enjoy some of the speakers and gained some ideas and knowledge from them.  Most of our curriculum we already had and so we did not buy alot in that area, we mostly bought books to read.  Makaela picked out some for her and I purchased a few.  Picked up 10 of the Heroes of History.  Going to use them for part of her History this year, since she loves reading so much.  The highlight was Carol Barnier....she was so funny, but gave quite a few ideas to start with and was helpful.  I'm reading her book "The Big WHAT NOW Book of Learning Styles", a Fresh and Demystifing Approach, so far so good.    Well, that is all, still working on organizing and getting everything together.  Waiting on our computer that crashed to be fixed so I can get to my "Homeschool Tracker" system.  May end up loading it on my netbook.  Just waiting and praying.

Catching up and on the move!

After VBS, we have been busy and just have kept things moving around here.  We have been cleaning out the garage (still working on this one), moving furniture around, cleaning a few things out as well as fixing somethings around the house.   Allen Sr. is officially back at work this week and we are getting back to our schedules.  We went to the IBLP seminar last weekend and we are headed to the Homeschool Conference this weekend.  After that I'm working on getting our school schedule done.   Almost have the school room organized a few things need working on, but it will come with time.

This will be a new experience for us having Allen Jr. home with us this year.  My plans are to Homeschool him as well.  I have a few ideas on what I want to do with him and hopefully will get more at the Conference.

I have made a few trips to IKEA over the last few weeks and hope to make one more trip in a few more weeks.  I just love their organizational/storage things.  Of course, Allen also took me to our one/twice a year shopping at the Container Store.  I think we would continually be broke if we lived closer to one of those.  I love container, boxes, gadgets, etc.

One thing we have already bought and Makaela has started on is Teaching Textbooks---we love this Math curriculum for her right now.  It may not something we use from now on, but right now it is what she needs.  She has been doing it over the summer to get use to it and see how it goes.  She should be through with it before Christmas, and we will just purchase the next grade.  She is playing catch-up with her Math anyway, during the time of my Dad's illness (Feb. - June), I let her Math go that year.  It was the last subject we need to finish, so we just picked it up in the Fall of that year.  She is doing 5th grade math right now instead of going into 6th grade on her math.  That is okay with us and she will catch up in time.  I really don't like the whole "What grade are you in?" question.  I like the idea of just going with what works for your children and their learning styles.

Well, that is what we have been up to the last few weeks.

Last week at VBS!

I might be finally getting caught up from last week with VBS.  We had a wonderful week and already looking forward to next year.  We did a theme this year with Pilgrims Progress - "Young Christian's Journey".  We had a  fun each day learning about the different pieces of  the Armor of God.  By the end of the week, the children had each piece down.  Our stories and crafts centered around this and reinforced it for the children.  On Saturday night we had our program and I must say it was great.  The spirit of the Lord moved in on the last song and it was a great ending to our week.  In fact the whole weekend was about our journey and making it with the Lords help.  At one part in the program, it one of  children (Grace) says "it does not matter who gets to the Celestial City first....just so long as you get there."   I just love that part.   Once again, very thankful for all who made VBS possible and helped us out.

Vacation Bible School this week!

Well, we are gearing up for VBS this week.  Still a few things to be done, but we are looking forward to a great week.   This will be a difficult week due to Sabrina's passing, our hearts are heavy and we are in prayer for the family, but we know that she would want VBS to go on.  She loved coming and helping, Sabrina was a blessing to be around and she will be missed.

Going to go and finish getting ready...for Pilgram's Progress and the Armor of God!

Allen Jr. - Your Graduation!

Well, we finally made it through your Graduation.  You were so happy and excited.  Of course I was nervous and excited as well.   This will be a new experience for us and a new road to travel.  It was so special to see you walk across that platform and  get your diploma.  After you walked, we left and went to eat with Uncle Greg, Aunt Belinda, Summerr, Zachary and Ollivia.  You just loved that....almost as much as Graduating and being done with school.   We are very proud of you Allen.  I look forward to our next stage in life together.

Love,
Mom

Leaving a Legacy to our children....

During our "Weekend to Remember" one of the last things they talked about was leaving a legacy to our children and future generations.  I have been thinking about this over the last few weeks and what all that means.  Recently a friend has been working on "Heritage" information and photo's on our church history on Facebook.  It has been real interesting and fun to see the old photo's and information he has put on there so far.  I have seen several of my family members on there and it has really got me to thinking.  My Grandparents, Great Aunts and Uncles have given me and my family a great heritage and legacy in the Lord's work.   They have stored up much mercy for us and I'm very thankful for that.  I have been looking through my families photos and I'm thinking that I want to start putting together a book or something for my children so that they can look back and see where several generations came from.  I just love history, so this is great and of course will take me a while.

Well...that is not quite what I was writing about.  Back to where I was originally headed.  I want to leave a legacy with my children in the Lord.  I want them to know the Lord and have a personal relationship with him.
My husband and I are trying to raise a Godly family, which requires us of course to live by his principles.  This is a daily and weekly thing for us, we make adjustments all the time, which I'm sure most families do as well.  I just pray that with the Lord's help and guidance that we can leave them with qualities that they can pass on to their families.

What you do today will affect future generations!

Our "Weekend to Remember"

We had a good time this weekend and really enjoyed the conference.  There was so much information and fun packed into this one weekend it is almost too much to share.  If you ever get to attend one, make sure you pack tissues..if your anything like me you will end up crying before the weekend is over.  Not sad tears, happy, joyful tears.  It is a weekend to share, grown and learn more about each other and your marriage.  The main thing is if God is not at the center of your marriage and family well there is a problem.  We are thankful to have the Lord in our marriage and family, that does not mean there will not be rough times, just that with the Lords help you can make it through them.  At the end of the conference...the couples renew their marriage vows (well it is a short version) and that is very powerful.

There was a couple there that had only been married 20 days.  Then the oldest married could there had been married 49 years and 8 months.  That is an amazing testimony that they still are working on their marriage.   I hope the Lord will allow us that many years and then some.

Allen and I are looking forward to future weekends to remember (on our own) and date nights.

This was a picture of a card I had made him for our date night.  They recommended a gift to your spouse or something special and so we did exchange gifts on Saturday night.  I bought him a note pad (Post-it Notes) for his office, he loves post -it notes (actually we both do) and some coffee.  Allen added to my collection of Willow Tree, I have the couple that is "Promise".  

Learning Gratefulness

We have been studying the character quality "Gratefulness".  During the study we have been looking at the different Bible people that have shown Gratefulness or were Grateful, such as Job, when he lost everything, he still praised the Lord and was Grateful.  The definition we are using is: "telling God and others in what ways they have benefited my (our) life".  Makaela and I have been doing some more research and looking into this more for part of our school work.  We looked at how Jesus demonstrate this character quality and how we can learn from that to show others.  Makaela and I have studied how to be grateful to your parents, to your conscience and next we are looking at being grateful to your church elders.  There are other areas to be looked at and I'm not sure how far we will go, but these are just a few of the things we are looking at now.  In this study we have learned how to redirect praise and about smiles: a grateful smile, a obedient smile, a ministry smile and a joyful smile.  Really there is only three types of smiles.  I was teaching Makaela that there are sometimes when we don't feel like smiling, (Obedient Smile) but we smile any way..the scriptures tell us to "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say Rejoice" (Phil. 4:4).   This is something that is easy to say, but hard to do sometimes.   I know that I don't always feel like smiling and I sure don't when things are going haywire, but in order to set a good example for my children, I have to try.

Today as we were looking at being grateful, our booklet suggested a "Gratefulness Journal", so Makaela and I are going to start one.  I want my children to have a heritage to look back on and know that I loved the Lord and them with all I have.

"A Weekend to Remember" for my Husband and I

Well, we are going on our "Weekend to Remember" this coming weekend.  I'm looking forward to it and need to get started packing.  I know it is only in Sugar Land, but we are going to stay down there during our seminar.   Several couples we know have been to this before and really enjoyed the retreat.   Thank you Denny and Michelle for sharing this information with us.

The link for this is:  http://www.familylife.com/site/c.dnJHKLNnFoG/b.5846045/k.F479/Attend_a_conference.htm

A Life (Eating) Change for the better.

I recently had a check up and my Doctor ran some blood test due to some medical issues I was experiencing.  The test came back a week ago (Monday) and I was not prepared for the results.  Two of the panels were not good and require me to change some areas of my life.  In saying that, I have been very stressed and down over the last week trying to make sense of it all and figure out what course of action would be the best.  It became very overwhelming to the point I just did not care.   What my Husband was so kind to point out was that I needed to take it one day at a time and ask the Lord for help to make it through just that day.  What a blessing and a peace that has come with asking the Lord for help.  I went to our chiropractor for my free birthday adjustment  this week and while there I told her everything that was going on...she immediately told me that I need to change my eating habits and that with a routine, I could turn those numbers around.  Well, that was a major relief and something Allen had been telling me over the weekend.   So I will be starting the "Atikins" diet or what I like to call my life plan of eating healthier over the next few weeks.  I'm trying to phase out the not so good foods around here and bring in the ones that are healthier for our family and with the Lords help this will be a blessing for our whole family.

Reflection on Mother's Day!

Had a wonderful weekend with my family and enjoyed Mother's Day.  It was a very full weekend as there was a lot going on, but very thankful to have my Husband and my children.  They are a blessing from the Lord and I'm grateful he has allowed me to be in their lives.  

A Family Reunion, Birthday and Oklahoma.

We took a very fast trip to Oklahoma this past weekend for Allen's Uncle Don's 70th Birthday and family reunion.  We had a wonderful time and enjoyed seeing family members we had not seen in a while and meeting new ones.  The weather was crazy for awhile on Saturday, but the Lord was great and held off the heavy rains until after everyone had left.  We stayed with Uncle Don and Aunt Suzie on their Sumter Ranch in NE Oklahoma.  Allen Jr. and Makaela really enjoyed being there and having loads of outdoor fun.  On Saturday, we were able to see some Canadian Geese in their pond before everyone showed up.  Later on, the entire family got a kick out of watching a water snake on the banks of the pond.  Don and Suzie have horses which the children loved to see and visit at their barn.  On Sunday we had been loading up and getting ready to leave, I went out to put two things in the van and my Mother-in-Law called me back to the house.  I thought, that is strange, she knows I'm just putting these in the van...well, she said, "Come back, there is a skunk!"   I scurried to the porch and sure enough it was going right by our van.  Suzie took care of it with the shot gun.  That was an experience to say the least.  Glad we were able to go, but very glad we are back home.

Happy Birthday Makaela!

Eleven years ago on a Sunday morning...a lot like this one, you were born.   What a blessing, the Lord gave your  Dad and I that day, well really the whole family.  We have enjoyed watching you grow up into a young lady.  Through all of the ups and downs of your (our) medical journey, the Lord has kept you.   I know he has a special plan for your life and as you mature, you are realizing this.  You have been reading your devotionals and your Bible, that makes me thankful you have a desire to learn more about God.  When you were a baby, your Dad and I dedicated you to the Lord, he gave you to us to help raise and guide, but ultimatly you belong to him.  I pray that as you continue to grow, that I can lead you closer to the Lord and his ways.  Just wanted to let you know, how much I love you and I'm thankful for you.  Happy Birthday Makaela!

A Little Overwhelmed....Allen Jr. Graduating and finishing up Homeschooling.

Well, I have been busy with getting Allen Jr.'s Graduation pictures, and everything graduation together.  I did not realize what all is involved.  It has seem to take more of my time than I thought would be needed, but thank goodness for my list.  Each day, I'm getting more and more done and can check that item off my list.   On the up side, Makaela and I are almost done with this year's curriculum(s) and that is a good feeling.  Just a few more chapter's in English, a few other loose ends to tie up and we can take a break.  I have been looking into what has been working for us and what has not, so that we can make wise decisions about what we are doing for next year.  With Allen Jr. being home with us, we are looking into some different options.  It will be a new journey for us all.

Looking forward to our weekend.  Special Olympics Horses in Madisonville on Saturday, (I will be scrapbooking, trying to get things together for Allen's graduation reception).  Makaela's birthday on Sunday...a fun, filled and packed weekend.

These are a few of  the Graduation pictures we had taken.  Allen loves his Bibles and telephone books.

Mosaic Art

One of Makaela's Friday classes is on Mosaic.  They learn how to cut the glass, apply it, grout, etc.  She also works on this project at home so that it can be done before classes are out for the semester.   Here is what she has done so far.   She is doing a zebra print heart in the middle and black tiles around the outside. Her room is being redone with zebra print with the black and white, with some colors to accent.

She is almost done.  She will be grouting it this Friday.  Yea!

My Mother

Mom's Birthday and her Wonderful Friends (and Granddaughter)

My Mother's birthday is today, she is 65.    I'm so thankful to have my Mother and that she loves the Lord.  It is a blessing to know that she follows his leading and I can talk with her about anything.

I had thought about trying to plan her a party or do something special for her, but could not figure out what to do that she would not find out.  Well, Donna Mofley, one of the ladies in our church (close family friend) said that if I did not have anything planned, she wanted to have a luncheon at her house for Mom with some of the ladies she travels with.  I told her that would be great.  So Donna planned a nice soup and salad lunch for Mom's Birthday.  Mom was so surprised and had a wonderful time.  One of the ladies baked her the butterfly cake and her son helped her decorate it.  Some of the Ladies shared different things Mom had done over the years to help them or memories they had of her.  Of course, some of them had known Mom since before she married my Dad, they shared those memories, some of when I was little, etc.  We all had a relaxing and wonderful time.

Garden in and everything planted! YEA!!! - Part Three

Well, the other two loads of dirt are in (we did them on Thursday, Allen Sr. had to work late, so we decided to surprise him and have both truckloads unloaded.  We almost had the second one done when he showed up.)  and on Friday, we planted.  We did a row each of the following:

Zucchini, Squash, Onions, Eggplant, Green Beans, and Green Peas.  We also planted in pots, two kinds of bell peppers, jalapeño peppers, cilantro, rosemary, lavender, and tomato's.  Our blueberry bushes we planted in the ground.  Our family is so excited and we had fun doing this project together.  The children loved helping to plant the seeds, and getting dirty.  This is definitely a learning experience for our family and we hope to learn more as we go along.  We are going to watch God nature at work.

The white is eggshells (for fertilizing) not seeds. :o)

Book Report Fun - Makaela's English

Makaela has been reading a book and it was time for us to do a book report in her BJ English.  We were going through the lessons and I remembered that a friend had sent me a website with fun Book Reports on it.  I decided we are going to put the lessons(worksheets) away and do something fun with her book report this time.   We made a sandwich book report.

After she finished, we put it in a Sandwich baggie and presented it to her Dad after dinner.  He loved it.
Here is the website where these are.  http://teacherweb.com/CA/EspartoElementary/Pitner/photo4.aspx

Garden - Part two.

We are finally getting our dirt/soil this week.  So excited and ready to work.  We have been working in the yard for the past week or two, getting things ready when we can.  On Friday, I went and bought a large tomato plant and it already has 3 tomato's on it.    We are going to leave it on the patio in the planter, that is large enough for it.  We are also going to plant blueberry bushes.  Can't wait to see how that turns out.

We could only get two truck loads in last night (Tuesday) before they closed, we will get the other two later this week.  My Mother-in-law came over and helped us, my Mother was here already, she was not dressed to work, so she did other things for us and will help out later.  Allen Jr. and Makaela had a really good time helping out and enjoyed themselves. Then we will plant.  

As you can see by our pictures we had fun.  I also found part of a bird egg that must have come from the nest Allen found earlier.   More garden information to come later as we plant, etc.