Lisa's Homeschool Circus

Recipes for Week 2 and 3 Dinners

2011-09-10T10:50:00.001-05:00

Succulent Roast Chicken ( I do this in the crockpot and double it.)

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/succulent-roast-chicken/detail.aspx

Make broth with bones overnight!

Chicken pot pie

Add some leftover chicken to a 9x13 pan. Make gravy with broth, flour and margarine roux, salt and pepper. Add to pan with frozen peas and carrots and whatever veggies are in season. Top with a pie crust or and bisquick crust. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes until crust is golden brown.

Pasta Carbonara (I 3x this recipe)

From Better Homes New CookBook

1 egg
1 tbsp milk (I use rice milk)
1 tbsp margarine
4 slices bacon chopped up
4 oz spaghetti
1/4 cup parm cheese (I omit)

Cook bacon until crisp. Combine egg, milk, butter. Cook noodles until al dente. Drain pasta and add sauce. Stir until creamy. Add bacon, salt and pepper to taste, and cheese if desired.

Chicken Soup

Add homemade broth, leftover chicken, whatever veggies you have and cook until veggies are soft. Add noodles. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with bread.

Chicken Spaghetti

Add leftover chicken to some spaghetti sauce. Add a green pepper, 1/2 an onion, 2 cloves garlic minced. Serve over pasta.

Overnight Brisket

Place one large brisket into a crockpot, fat side up. Coat meat with onion powder and one palmful of dried onion flakes. Coat with salt and cook overnight, about 12 hours. In the morning shred meat and remove fat. Serve with mashed potatoes and set aside extra for later dinners.

Shepard's pie

Add brisket to 9x13 pan with broth from brisket. Add veggies, we use frozen peas and carrots, sometimes cabbage and onion. Cover with leftover mashed potatoes. Bake at 350 until heated through. Add cheese on top if desired.

Oven Baked Chicken

Coat Leg and thigh pieces with:
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Bake at 400* for 1.5 hours or until cooked through.

Fried Rice

add chicken, cabbage, peas and carrrots, onion to pan. Add leftover rice and cook over high heat until hot and browning. Add 1 egg and then add this sauce...1/2 cup soy sauce, 2 cloves garlic, 2 tsp honey, 1 tbsp spicy brown mustard, 2 tbsp oil, 1/2 tsp ginger. Cook until hot.

Split pea soup

1 bag split peas
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 large carrots
1/2 lb ham or bacon-browned

Add to soup pot and cover with water. Cook until thick. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with bread.

Recipes for Week 1 Meal Plan Dinners

2011-09-10T10:25:00.002-05:00

Slow Cooker Carnitas
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-carnitas/detail.aspx

Moosewood Refried Beans (from my friend De'Etta)

"Moosewood" Refried beans - Crock pot version

2 C raw pinto beans
6 C water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 C chopped onion
3 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 C minced green pepper (I didn't have any so left this out)
2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 C rice

Mix all in your crock pot. Cook on high. At 5 hours it was "beans and rice",
by 8 hours I only had to stir and it was mashed...with a few chunks...we
like chunks. I could have put it in the blender or mixer and made it really
smooth. Again - add oil if you like the taste. You could fry it if you'd
like.

Nacho Layer Dip

Mix leftover meat with beans, rice, and salsa. Spread on bottom of 9x13 pan. Mix sour cream and homemade taco seasoning and spread on meat mix. Cover with cheese. Bake until hot. Serve over chips with extra sour cream, cheese, lettuce, salsa, and guacamole.

Enjedra

http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=21477.0

Pork LoMein

Boil 1/2 package of egg noodles.

Make sauce: 1/2 cup soy sauce, 2 cloves of garlic-minced, 1/4 tsp ginger, 2 tsp honey and a squirt of spicy brown mustard, 2 tbsp oil

Chop up leftover pork. Add whatever veggies you like. We use chopped cabbage, onion, frozen peas and carrots, and broccoli. Saute over high heat. Add one egg and scramble. Add sauce and noodles. Enjoy. :)

Cuban Black Beans and Rice

4 ounces bacon or 5 tbsps spanish olive oil

1 med onion, finely chopped
1 med green bell pepper, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup dried black beans, rinsed and soaked or 2 16oz cans black beans
2 cups raw white rice
4 1/2 cups water
2 tsps salt
1 bay leaf
2 tbsps Spanish olive oil
1/4 tsp cumin
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. In a large saucepan, cook the bacon 6-8 minutes over low heat, or
heat the oil until fragrant. Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic
and cook, stirring, until tender, 6-8 minutes. Add the remaining
ingredients and cook over med-high heat until all the water has been
absorbed and small craters form over the surface of the rice, 10-15
min.

2. Stir with a fork, cover, and cook over low heat until the rice is
tender, 10-15 min. Discard bay leaf and serve.

Makes 8 large servings.
From the cookbook: Memories of a Cuban Kitchen by Mary Urrutia
Randelman

Fall-Winter Meal Plan 2011

2011-09-10T10:11:00.001-05:00

Here's a three week meal plan with grocery list.

Fall-Winter Meal Plan 2011

Breakfast:

Pancakes
Smoothies
Yogurt
Muffins
Cereal
Oatmeal

Lunch:

Homemade Pizza
Homemade Pretzels
Homemade Bread
Chili
Soup
Spaghetti

With: Fruit

Dinner:

Week 1:

Pork Carnitas w/Pintos and Rice
Nacho Layer Dip
Enjedra
Oven Baked Chicken w/mac and cheese
Pork LoMein
Breakfast
Black beans and rice

Week 2:

2 Whole Chickens (crockpot), mashed tators
Chicken Pot Pie
Pasta Carb
Soup w/bread
Chicken spaghetti w/g-b biscuits
Breakfast
Brisket , mac and cheese

Week 3:

Brisket, potatoes
Shepherd’s Pie
Enjedra
Oven Baked Chicken or Fried, rice
Fried Rice
Breakfast
Soup

Grocery List:

Frozen strawberries and blueberries
Frozen Peas and carrots x2
Frozen Spinach x2
Eggos
Cheddar Cheese
Mozzarella Cheese
Sour cream
Rice milk x2
Milk
Soy milk x2
Eggs 5dz
Soy yogurt
Orange juice
Yogurt
Margarine
Veggie Oil
Lentils
Brown rice
Paprika
Mustard powder
Thyme
Egg noodles
Ginger
Shortening
Soy Sauce
Lemon Juice
Pepper
Spicy Brown Mustard
Tortilla chips
Pintos
Black refried beans
Salsa
Mac and cheese x4
Black beans x4
Rice
Spaghetti sauce x2
Spaghetti noodles x2
Bisquick
Flour x2
Baking Soda
Oats
Oatmeal
Baking powder
Salt
Chocolate chips
Cereal (shredded wheat)
Raisins
Cinnamon
Honey
Applesauce
Onion powder
Onion flakes
Yeast
Sugar
Baby food
Juice boxes
Cumin
Diced tomatoes
Tomato sauce
Garlic powder
Oregano
Bay leaf
Split peas
Chili powder
Buns
Bread
Tortillas
Bagels
Sausage
Bacon x2
Brisket
Chicken legs and thighs x2
2 whole chickens
Pepperoni
Pork roast
Bananas
Celery
Cabbage
Lemons
Fruit
Potatoes x2
Salad
Broccoli x 3
Carrots
Green peppers
Green beans
Onion (bag)
Garlic
Avocados
Lettuce

Just print them out and cross off what you already have in your pantry/fridge. I'll upload recipes or links in another post. :)

Jr. Homemakers Club

2011-07-17T17:45:00.000-05:00

I've been working through some cute projects for a Jr. Homemakers Club that I'm starting in August. I thought I'd post finished work, by me, and sometimes by Genevieve, as I get the curricula settled for this semester. I'll also post links to where I found the ideas.

We'll be working on Sewing first and this is our first project...

A Bandana Shirt that Genevieve made herself...

I got the project from Trey and Lucy . On the site, it's a dress, but for girls this age, it'll be a shirt. :)

Next up, a Tie on Dish Towel, also from Trey and Lucy . I'll post a photo once it's complete. :)

Our next project will take two classes. It's an Oliver + S pattern that's free here...Lazy Days Skirt

It should be fun!

I'll post the photos later and in the next post I'll list our Crochet projects.
Blessings,

It's Bounce House Season!

2011-07-06T12:27:00.000-05:00

I just pulled out the bounce house for the summer. Wow, the kids sure have grown. lol David, the newest bounce houser is in love. lol What a fun way to spend a too hot day.

I wish I could go in there. :)

Blessings,

David 16 months...

2011-07-03T19:49:00.000-05:00

I felt it was time to get some good photos of David. You know, the kind of photo that would grace the walls of the grandparents houses. :)

This is one of Davids favorite expressions...

(Why did you just hit me with your camera?)

Or how about this one...

(What is that smell?!)

These next two are my very favorites though...

(Mr. Cute)

(Mr. Adorable)

I can't believe how big he is already! He's walking really good now. His favorite thing to say is, "Mommy? Mommy? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." It's hilarious. We were at Genevieve's dance recital and David would wait until it was dark and really quiet and then shout out, "Mommy?...Mommy?" (like he was lost and frightened) and then he would say, "Blah, blah, blah, blah." Everyone in the whole back row would start cracking up. Lots of fun with this little guy. :)

Blessings,

Spelling Program...

2011-07-01T12:39:00.000-05:00

Here's some of my new program that I am working on for Genevieve.

First, she'll grab a bag of one of these phonograms...

Long a sounds: ai, ay, eigh, ea

Long e sounds: ee, ey, ie, ea, y
Long i sounds: igh, ie, y
Long o sounds: oa, oe, ow
Long u sounds: oo,ui,ue,ew
Short Vowels: a, e, i, o, u
Diagraphs: ch, tch, wh, ph, sh, th
R controlled sounds: ar, er, ir, or, ur
Long vowels with silent e: a_e, i_e, o_e, u_e
Soft c, Soft g, oi, oy, ou, ow, ing, ang, ong, ung, wor, ear, kn, wr, qu, dge, ck, aw, au, ea (bread), oo (foot)

Let's say she picks Short Vowel "a."

She'll first look at the bag to see how many short vowel a's she needs to write.

Then she'll grab a piece of paper and write them in red ink.

Now, she opens her bag and finds 8 photos that have the Short A sound. (The pink cards in this photo were from http://www.shop.montessoriprintshop.com/Color-Coded-Phonics_c103.htm )

She also pulls out these little wooden alphabet pieces. I got these from a craft swap years ago, but I think they are from Oriental Trading Company.

After she gets them all correctly spelled, she can put everything back into the bag for tomorrow. It is self correcting because she will run out of letters or have left-overs if she has some incorrect. It's also good for perfectionists since she's using moveable letters instead of writing them down and "getting them wrong."

She completes this project over again until Friday.

On Friday, she pulls out her paper with the 8 a's on it. She then pulls out her photos. Using the photos from the week, she WRITES the words around the letter a's on the page.

The project is complete once she gets all words correct. She then puts her paper into her new dictionary of spelling and moves onto the next spelling phonogram.

I'm still tweeking the program in that I'd like to have paper that allows for room between words and I'm also going to give the wooden letters a paint job so that they stand out better on the paper.

Blessings,

Our New School Year...

2011-06-29T14:20:00.002-05:00

This past year I bought a whole Montessori program. Then I turned Allison's old bedroom into our new classroom. We really didn't get to do much before our school year ended bu,t I was able to set up the new room. I figured, I'd start with a tour...

Here is the left wall as you walk in...it contains the sand tray, maps, puzzles, geometric trays and a small table to do work on...

This is the far back wall...it has all the sensorial items, language arts, and math...

The next wall has a little table and the farm table...

Here is the closet that now has two cabinets that house our book work and our dressing frame stands by the door...

One of the first things that I work on with my younger ones is learning to read. We do lots of work on recognizing the alphabet, the sounds each letter makes and listening to many great read alouds.

Now, Genevieve is reading quite well but she has been having trouble spelling and writing. I began to research what I could do to help her and was lead to this program...

http://www.lwspelling.com/ Now, I liked what I saw, but the price, well it left a lot to be desired.lol

It got me thinking though...
(cute baby photo...David 15mos)

What if I used my Montessori Pink, Blue, and Green cards to make my own spelling program? You can get these cards for free online and you can get them cheap here...http://www.shop.montessoriprintshop.com/1-Pink-Series_c79.htm

(Cute Sophia photo, dance costume)

So, my plan is this. First, collect 60 paper lunch bags. For each bag, write a phonogram on it, like "ai". Genevieve will see on the bag the letters ai with a number with it. She'll need to write ai in the middle of her paper however many times the bag says. Then she'll open the bag and out will come photos of things that have ai in them, like; sail, hail, mail, tail, rail, fail, etc...
(Sophia's dance costume)

Also, in each bag will be little wooden letters, only enough to complete each word. So for sail, there would be an "s" and an "l" in the bag. When she has built each word around the phonogram that she has written, she will run out of letters in the bag. If she runs out too early, or has letters left over, then she'd know something was off. She would then leave it for 5 minutes and then return to try to read the words she made.
(Evie right after her recital)

Basically, it would be self-checking. After she completed each word group, she would then go back and WRITE the letters before and after her phonogram in a different color. The goal would be for her to be able to look at the photos and be able to write the words without the wooden letters.
(My little monkeys being silly)

For language arts, I found a really neat, simple program that I'll be using for Genevieve to go along with her spelling...here's the website...

http://www.shoelacebooks.ecrater.com/

The material looks good. And it's a really good price. I bought the first level Phonics for the littles, the 3rd grade language arts, and the 3-12th grade spelling that I'll add on to her learning. She has samples of each level and now that I have it, it's exactly what I was looking for. It reminds me of Queen Homeschool without all the bells and whistles.

My next find is this FREE Literature/History program...
http://www.classicalhouseoflearning.com/
This is a program quite like TOG but I think the activities for the younger ones are more creative and SIMPLE. Simple is essential when you have 4 young kids and not a lot of time for collecting supplies. I like the book choices and it's set up like a Sonlight manual.

Math will continue with Genevieve doing Singapore and Isaac doing MUS.

Science will be simple too. I found that Rod and Staff's science is simple but interesting for Genevieve. We also suppliment with A LOT of extra reading.

So, that's it for now. I'll take photos of the spelling program once I have all the materials completed. I hope this helps someone else with a struggling writer/speller.

Blessings,

A Small Update from Me...

2011-06-29T13:11:00.005-05:00

A lot has happened since my last post. I'd rather just get to why I'm blogging again but I also know that I'll thank myself later if I do a quick update first. :)

May 1st was a big day for us. My very first child grew up and flew the nest. Wow, it happens fast. It was one of those happy-sad moments that has made it hard for me to blog. I'm so glad that she is doing well on her own, is happy, and is able to fly on her own without help from us. I'm sad that she's gone and that we only see her once a week or so. I'm sure all of you Mother's of older-grown kids understand all the emotions that have been coursing their way through me as I learn how to be a Mom to a grown up.

The second one to leave, but only for 3.5 weeks is Jon. He's off in the mountains of Georgia right now enjoying his last year of Boy Scout camp. He returns Saturday and will be home a week. Then he's off to Engineering camp. He was selected to go to Rose-Hulman's Operation Catapult for a 2.5 week camp. It should be fun and I'm hoping it will help him to decide what he'd like to major in. This coming year is his senior year. He only needs one credit in a foreign language and he can graduate but I think he's going to take a couple of credits at the college in addition to his one homeschool credit. I'll be playing guidance counsellor again this year. Not too bad since most of my students will be in elementary school, but still it's another hat and I'm feeling the pressure.

And last but not least, Genevieve is off on vacation with my parents for the next two weeks. She's going all over the East Coast and will no doubt have a blast. My Dad is a big roller coaster fiend and I'm sure she'll get her fill. :)

So that leaves me with the 6 and under crowd. Not too bad... almost like a vacation.lol It's funny to think back to when I only had three and I thought it was overwhelming. lol We've had some fun this summer. We had a membership to a local country club for two months and swam at least 2 days a week, sometimes more. We've also been swimming in our own pool and Eric was so kind to refill the sandbox with all new sand. The kids spend a lot of time covered in sand. lol I'm going to try and pretend that I'm a summer camp host for the next month and see if we can enjoy the outside and each other this summer. We'll be putting up the bounce house, playing on the slip and slide, having water gun fights, swimming in the pool, building sandcastles, painting and otherwise playing until the new school year. I NEED a vacation and I'm going to make the most of it. :)

Well, there's my update. The next post will be about what I'm up to in the land of schooling this next year. I'm hoping to post more but we all know that life happens so I'll just do my best.

Love,

Noah

2011-03-02T10:45:00.003-05:00

I'm sure that everyone who follows my blog, knows who Noah is, but if you don't please go check him and his wonderful family out today. www.prayingfornoah.com They are having an online auction this week and have some amazing things listed for sale and auction. Here is the site of the auction... www.wheelsfornoah.com This amazing family has been through the wringer and really needs your help.

Blessings,

Old Faithful...

2011-02-25T13:01:00.002-05:00

Eight years ago, we were on our way to Universal and needed a really compact yet full sized stroller. I happened to find this one at a Babies R Us...

Peg Perego Pliko P3

It had everything I wanted in a stroller. It folds like an umbrella, into a small rectangle. It has a wonderful sunshade that would completely cover a child in a sudden downpour. It gives a wonderful ride for the child, no matter what size they are. It has a step that older kids can stand on if they get tired and I've put two kids in it without trouble many times when an older child has given out during an outing.

A few years ago, we were given a Ford Expedition by my MIL. It has no trunk space at all, but this wonderful stroller will fit in the crack behind the seats that is called a "trunk."

To say that this stroller has been a lifesaver, is an understatement. After eight years of faithful service, it is now going into retirement. It STILL works, mind you, but many things are starting to give out and we think that it's ready for a life of mild service instead of what we do to things around here.lol The foot broke off of one of the brakes, the seat belt no longer functions and the poor dear sunshade has many holes from lots of use. But it STILL works.

So, when looking for something "new" and "fun", what do you suppose we decided upon?

No contest. P3 is our favorite and we'll stick with it till the end. Amazon has this beauty on sale for $220 and I think it's worth every penny.

Here it is folded up...

And if I couldn't have possibly loved my older one anymore, this one has many features that I wished our first one had. The shade can be unzipped in the back so you can shade them in front but they aren't stuck without a breeze. It has two cup holders for the little one. The harness is stationary, unlike the first one which would get all tangled up and my littles could get out of and it's orange which is one of my favorite colors. lol

So, if you are ever in need of a new stroller...this one is my hands down favorite and no, I didn't get paid to say it either.lol

Blessings,

Some Spring photos...

2011-02-25T12:39:00.003-05:00

We've been pretty sick the past week or so, but the weather has been so nice that we all have been out in it anyway. :) I thought to actually take some pictures while we were enjoying the sunny day yesterday.

David loves to roam around outside while I hang laundry. Lucky for him, my dryer broke and I've had to hang often. :)

Genevieve is in need of a hair maintenence class or something.

Isaac, planting in the garden.

Biggest brother and littlest brother.

David enjoying the shade of his laundry house.

I don't have any good photos of Sophia. Her lips are so chapped that she looks beat up. Hopefully, she'll be feeling better soon.

I'm hoping after David's nap today, we'll get more time out of doors. I think it really helped our moods tremendously.

Blessings,

The Many Faces of Mr. Wiggles...

2011-02-22T09:56:00.002-05:00

Here are some photos of little David. He sure is growing up really fast! He now has 4 teeth and is very fast. I think he'll be walking soon, but so far he's just cruising around the furniture. He is the sweetest baby.

Blessings,

Finished projects...

2011-02-22T09:51:00.002-05:00

I never did update on my big project for Christmas...

A Griffindor scarf for my oldest ds...

It took me until just after Christmas to finish but it really turned out nice. It's really come in handy this winter!

Blessings,

Lisa

My diet...

2011-01-15T10:19:00.003-05:00

For the past 3 1/2 years I've been living completely sugar free. Yep, I gave it all up. I know it sounds impossible, but it's true.

Before my diet, I was always sick. I was having a lot of stomach trouble, anxiety issues, heart palpitations, and severe exhaustion. Just getting up in the morning seemed to be all I could do.

I went to many Dr's and specialists and no one could figure out what was going on.

Finally, I found a Dr who listened to me and prayed for me. He asked me about my diet and all I could really say was I knew that I couldn't have milk products because they upset my stomach and at the time I couldn't have fruit. He asked me to go on a special diet for people with a yeast over-growth. It would entail me going completely free of these items...

sugar of any kind
corn
yeast
peanuts
milk
fruit
soy
chocolate
and a bunch of other things that I can't remember... :)

The week before I finally decided to try this diet, I was the sickest I have ever been. It scared me and I decided that I'd try it for a month, no matter what and then I'd see how I felt. The first three weeks were terrible and I almost gave up just about every hour I was awake but I knew that if this was the problem that it would take a month to start seeing anything positive come out of my efforts. I kept on, trying to figure out what in the world I *could* eat and trying really hard not to eat the other stuff that I had practically lived off of the past dozen years or so.

By the end of the first month, I felt better. Not all better, but I could definitely feel a difference. I kept on and on and well, on and now I'm better than I have been in 20 years. I still eat this way and I've decided to eat this way from now on. I'm healthy, feel great, and more energy than I've had in years. Here's my modified diet that I eat now...

barley-free soft wheat flour (for tortillas, biscuits, pancakes, and muffins)
honey for sweetner, but in very limited quantities
fruit- one piece a day

So, I eat pancakes or shredded wheat for breakfast each day. I add raisins on my cereal and raw almond butter on my pancakes, sometimes unsweetened jam. I use unsweetened rice milk on my cereal.

For lunch, I eat leftovers of dinner or a salad. I've found an organic Italian dressing from WinnDixie that is completely sugar free, but it does have vinegar in it. I do make my own dressings with lemon juice but it's nice to have an easy alternative.

For dinner, I make all kinds of things! Last night we had spaghetti with meatballs. I used oatmeal instead of cracker crumbs and canned tomatoes instead of spaghetti sauce. Then I add spices, veggies, and salt and it's done. Everyone else can add some cheese to theirs. The night before I made fried chicken, brown rice and steamed veggies. I used soft wheat flour that has no malted barley in it and egg to fry with my own spices.

The hardest thing about cooking this way is that you can't make casseroles but you can make some one-pot meals. I make pepper steak, beef stroganoff, even pizza. I make all my own broths and freeze them for meals and I shred all the chicken or turkey for later meals, like lomien or cook beef briskets in my crockpot over night and then make egg fried rice with beef and broth instead of soy sauce. I use only rice milk in my cooking, only non-dairy-no soy for my margarine, no mixes or sauces that aren't homemade. It works for me.

The biggest thing is that I am healthy enough to run around with my kids and we're having fun. It's only by God's grace and mercy that I am healthy and that I found something that works for me. I hope this helps!

Blessings,

It's the busiest I've been in a long while...

2011-01-14T10:11:00.002-05:00

That about sums it up. lol

It started with Jon. It's alllll his fault. He told us right after his semester ended that he wanted something to do this next semester. Well, he's been doing scouts and he's enrolled in 3 college classes but he had a lot of free time and he wanted "something". So we went to the local martial arts place down the street and checked it out. It's a really nice place and he can even walk it's so close. We looked at the price sheet and noted that it was cheaper to have two in the class than it was to have one in. I thought, maybe someone else would like to go also...enter Genevieve.lol She not only would love to go, she was terribly excited. We reasoned that it's easier to learn and to keep it up when you have a buddy so we decided to sign her up also. Then Isaac hears about it and he says, "I want to be a ninja too!" and really, can you say no to that sweet face? So, we now have three students for their new teacher.lol

You're now thinking, that's the end of this story, right? That's no big deal, one class three times a week but they are all in it. Well, my dh and I were talking and thought it may be a good idea for Genevieve to begin violin lessons. She's always wanted to play but the timing was off. So I go to sign her up and Sophia sees the pink ballet outfits and says she wants to take that class. Well, I can't say no to that considering she's not in anything.lol We left with ballet and tap classes for Sophia and Fiddle classes for Genevieve. Then Genevieve starts with the, I'd rather dance than play the fiddle. Well, I don't know how but she talks us into dance classes too!

So, we went from Genevieve in gymnastics and Jon in scouts to Jon in scouts and martial arts, Genevieve dropping gym for martial arts, dance, and violin, Isaac in martial arts, and Sophia in ballet and tap.

And all because Jon was bored.

Sophia Rides...

2010-12-20T13:41:00.003-05:00

I never uploaded this video. Sophia learned how to ride her two wheel bike in September. I can't believe that my three year old can ride a bike!

Found

2010-12-20T13:18:00.003-05:00

I used to think that there was no God; that you lived, died and there was nothing. Even then, God was there.

Later, I realized that God was there and always had been. But then, I believed that my sin was too great and that it was too late for God to ever forgive me. Mercifully, patiently, lovingly, God waited.

Finally, I knew that God really loved me, already knew me, wanted to forgive me, it wasn't too late, and He had been waiting all. this. time. In faith, I took one very small step towards Him.

In God's greatness, He swept me up and carried me the rest of the way. And I rested in Him.

"If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation" (Romans 10:9-10).

(I wrote this for my and Eric's baptism on Oct 24th 2010)

Allison's final

2010-12-09T09:50:00.002-05:00

Here is Allison's final project for Design class. It is based off of Charlie Harper's art. I think it's really pretty...

I love this bird! :)

I am very proud of Allison!

Blessings,

A portrait of Allison...

2010-12-01T14:26:00.002-05:00

I am continually amazed at Allison's memory. When she was little, she would memorize those National Audubon Society First Field Guides. Every single page would be dog-eared and bookmarked. She's also good with actresses and actors names and any and all movies that they've ever been in. The same with songs and song artists.

Two weeks ago, she had to pay a ticket (see, she's not perfect...lol) and it was near closing time at the DMV. She drove over there, at a safe speed, and waited in line. When she got to the front, she reached for her debt-card and realized that she left it at home. So, she asked the lady if she could just tell her the number. The lady said, I guess so, if you can remember it. She then proceeded to rattle off the number. The lady was pretty impressed but then said, I also need the expiration date too. Allison gave her that. Then, the lady said, Oh, I forgot, you'll also need to give me that security code off the back. Allison promptly gave her that without blinking an eye. As she was leaving, she heard the lady telling her co-workers about what she had done. I couldn't even tell you the first number on my card.lol

We have this game called Hyper-dash that the littles love to play. It reminds me of the game Simon, you know, with the flashing lights and you have to remember what order they flashed and copy it, but instead of lights, it calls out what color to press your bell-shaped wand on. It's a fun game. It'll say press blue. Then press blue-red. Then blue-red-blue. Then blue-red-blue-yellow. (and so on.) Well, Allison can go until it runs out of colors for that level. Level one goes to 18 rounds. It took her 245 seconds.lol

Just thought I'd write down some memories today.

Blessings,

The many faces of Mr. Wiggles

2010-11-29T09:53:00.003-05:00

David is MOBILE! Not good.lol I know that at 8 months he should be moving, but it was still a shock. Now, nothing is safe and baby proofing is in full force...

What? I'm just playing with the ponies...

How am I going to get anything done? I'm starting to feel out-numbered. :)

It's done!

2010-11-29T09:49:00.003-05:00

After a full month of knitting, I finally finished David's hat. It was a real learning experience.lol

Now I'm trying to finish a really big project before Christmas. I'm not sure that I can do it, but I'm going to try.lol

A Portrait of Allison...

2010-11-29T09:36:00.002-05:00

Allison was in her first art show at school this past week. Her picture was for her design class and it was one of the first color pieces that she has ever done. Her teacher felt that it was so good that he placed it with the pictures from the painting class instead of the design class. November also brought in something new for her...glasses! Evidently, all good artists go blind. lol She was having a hard time in her classes, so we got her eyes checked and found she needed glasses. I think she looks really nice with them!

Here's an up close of her painting...

Blessings,

My Crazy Idea...

2010-11-04T13:21:00.002-05:00

Seventeen years ago I was on bedrest with Jon. lol Yikes! I can't believe it was that long ago. Well, I had an amazing group of ladies who came to help with Allison while I was unable to do so. One of these ladies became a really good friend to me. She brought me really good books to read and would often sit and knit things while chatting with me. I was grateful for the company. (Thanks Carol!) Well, I asked her to teach me how to knit and throughout my pregnancy, she helped me knit my very first thing! A purple sweater for Allison. I still have it. :) That was the only thing I actually knit...until now!lol See, I had another wonderful lady teach me to crochet and I've been doing that for a while now but knitting seemed so hard. I am on a board that happen to mention Raverly and went on there for ideas to crochet and accidently ended up on the knit side.lol Well, I found these...

And just HAD to make them! I mean really how hard could they be? They are teeny tiny!lolol Well, I bought the yarn, the special double tipped needles in a four pack, and a how-to book. Then I took each step and watched youtube videos over and over until I could figure it out. I frogged the work so many times that I couldn't even guess how many times and finally ended up with the above little Sucky-thumb mitts. And I have to say that I have fallen in LOVE with knitting.lol For my next project, the cutiest little aviators cap for the baby.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/aviatrix-baby-hat

Thanks Carol!

Blessings,

Remodeling...

2010-11-04T13:03:00.004-05:00

In order to put the house up for sale, we've been clearing out and fixing up. First on the list of to-do's was the kid's bathroom. When we tried to recaulk the bathroom, the flooring actually tore. No problem we thought, we'll just buy new laminate flooring and have it installed. (Insert wry smile and snorting laughter here.) We went over to Home Depot and soon found out that they are scaling back this type of flooring for a newer type that was supposed to be really easy to install. So we bought a nice color that looked like wood and brought it home. Then life got crazy and it sat. Meanwhile, we told my Dad about the flooring and he promptly went out, bought some and installed it in their guest bathroom. It looks fabulous by the way but my Dad told my Hubby that it was NOT easy to install and that he would rather TILE than ever do it again.(Tile is a dirty word in this family after the big tile job of '08) Well, hubby came home and promptly loaded up that flooring and took it back.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we'd been without that bathroom for TWO weeks. Yikes!

Well, we looked at the tile, found a nice one and brought it home much to the dismay of our older, yet wiser kids. Then came the painting that I had put off for way too long.

Then last Saturday we began the discussion. I said, Allison, don't you think we could install this tile in a day? She says, NO, it'll take two days. I say, Why don't we try to get it done in one day? She says, it'll turn out bad, trust me. I say, Come on, let's give it a TRY?!!! And she says, Well, o.k., I'll try. All that talk took until lunch time and after lunch she and Eric started the job and finished it in ONE day! lol It was 9:30 at night but at least it was done. The next day, Allison and Jon grouted and finished by 4pm. Then, life got busy all Monday. On Tuesday, I sealed the flooring and that afternoon Eric tried to reinstall the toilet (yes, we had been without for the whole time) and broke an important part. lol After two trips to HD, it was fixed but there was a small gap in the tile that needed to be regrouted and then sealed. So hopefully tonight, Eric will be able to caulk the toilet and tub and MAYBE tomorrow it will be up and running. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a full Month after beginning we might have a working bathroom again.

One down, two more to go. I so wish I was kidding.

Here's the new tile and paint...

It does look nice though. lol

Blessings,

An Update...

2010-11-04T12:28:00.005-05:00

What can I say? It's been a crazy season for us. In fact, it feels like someone pushed the "fast forward" button. Whoever it was, could you please push "play" cause moving this fast is wearing me out.

Since it's already November, I decided that it was time for the photos. I've got everyone except for Allison but I'll get her this weekend. :) Here's some photos from the past few days...

Here's David at 7.5 months. He's such a cutie!

Love that cubby little face...

Sophia at 3.5

This is the face I usually see...lol

This one is getting framed...

Here's Isaac at 5.5 Boy, he's handsome...

Here's my favorite of Genevieve. She's 8 now...

I even got an elusive Jon sighting...

And finally, for anyone who still visits here...a family photo!

Mr. Wiggles

2010-08-12T13:59:00.003-05:00

Is now 5 months old. I can't believe how fast time is going by. Here are a few photos of the little guy...

How we go shopping...

Wearing some big boy clothes...

With his big sister...

My favorite photo for now...

Grow Mr. Wiggles, grow. The littles are waiting to play with you. :)

Blessings,

The Many Faces of Mr. Wiggles

2010-07-20T17:57:00.002-05:00

Here's a short video of my little guy. He's such a sweetie!

The Many Faces of Mr. Wiggles...

2010-07-16T07:54:00.003-05:00

David is now 18 weeks old and 15.5 lbs. He's a wonderful baby! He is the happiest, wiggliest, most joyful little guy you could meet. He loves his brothers and sisters, loves to be held and snuggled, and has just started squealing and cooing. His exersaucer comes in the mail today and I bet he really loves it.

David...

2010-06-16T15:17:00.004-05:00

My new little guy just rolled over today! I can't believe how fast he is growing. He's now almost 14 weeks old and quite the sweetie. He loves to be held and talked to. At 14 lbs, he's also getting pretty heavy. He has such a sweet temperment and has captivated all the other kids. Lately, he's been letting Genevieve put him to sleep.

I'll have to take a new photo of him after his nap. What a blessing this little guy is to our family!

Blessings,

A Portrait of Allison

2010-06-14T12:18:00.003-05:00

Here are some photos that played during the reception...

Allison brand new...

First Christmas...

2years...

4 years...

7 years...

9 years...

10 years...

13 years...

15 years...

17 years...

18 years...

blessings,

Our Graduate!

2010-06-14T11:16:00.003-05:00

On Saturday, we graduated our very first young adult. What a blessing Allison is! We have our Father in Heaven to thank for who she is and how she's turned out. Here are some photos of the graduation ceremony...

Dh, me and Allison posing beforehand...

This is when the announcer said that Allison went to Niagara on a mission trip to teach people how to swim...lol

Eric and I handing her her diploma and moving her tassel...

The throwing of the caps...

Here's Allison's display at the reception...

Blessings,

Our new adventure...

2010-06-08T15:36:00.002-05:00

Four years ago God put it on my heart to get out of debt. At the time, it was just a dream. We've never really been good with money. Well, I should say, I'VE never been real good with money. My poor dear husband should get some kind of medal for living with me all these years. lol I was in charge of our banking and really, my budgeting was to spend until we ran out. O.k. honestly, sometimes my budgeting was to spend until we were in debt up to our eyeballs. I mean, we could just pay it off, right? Right? cough, cough.

riiiiiight.

Well, four years ago, I decided I'd just use our tax return money to pay off our debt and we'd be done with it once and for all. I mean, how hard could it be to stay within our means? Yikes! From then on has been quite the learning experience. We have seen God's hand in all this many times. Like when both cars needed new brakes and new tires all in that first year and we had NO savings at all. We still managed to stay out of debt that first year without a safety net of any kind. The next year when we didn't have to use our tax refund for debt was amazing! But. But, I still didn't really know much about budgeting. Every year, we'd get to the end of the year and it was only by God's grace that we'd make it debt free.

Well, this year we've decided to step things up a notch. We've cut everything that isn't necessary and are saving whatever we can over this next year. We're also going to fix up our home and next year...

We're putting it up for sale! We are going to try to sell it and buy something completely with cash only! We have a lot of work to do. First off, we need to sell about half of everything we own. The new home will probably be much smaller than what we have now. We also need to fix up the house. There are a lot of things needing fixing. We'll be...

1. painting the hallway, two bathrooms, one bedroom and maybe the outside of the house
2. finish the trim work around the tile job we did last year
3. fix up our front yard, we lost a lot of grass with this last winter
4. fix up the back yard, it's a mess
5. replace the carpeting, it's original to the house and quite yucky
6. recaulk the bathrooms
7. replace two windows

It's a tall order but we're hoping that once we finish and sell this home, we'll never owe anyone anything ever again.

The hardest part for me will be selling everything. It's overwhelming to think about! I do know that it will be worth it though. I was reading Knock off Wood yesterday and she said something that really hit home to me. She said, "The greatest challenge in making my home look attractive is keeping it clean." My home will never look good if I can't keep up with the mess. So now, I'll be releasing all this stuff out into the world and I'll be making my job easier.

We're also under attack. This year has been hard. Many things have happened that have tried to make us go off track but we are trying to stay firm in this adventure even when hard things fall onto our path. Right now, I am without a vehicle. My poor old truck is in dire straits and we just don't have the money to throw at it. We are hoping to save enough to fix it but for now, I'll be content to stay home. I won't talk about the other things but lets just say there is no doubt that someone would love to see us fail. Only by God's grace will we succeed. I will rest in His promises.

Our hope, is to be able to use our money for God, instead of junk from now on.

Blessings,

How do my children grow...

2010-06-08T15:23:00.003-05:00

Quickly. lol.

Sophia 3 years

Isaac 5 years

Genevieve 7.5 years

David 12 weeks

Jon 16 years

Sophia and David having a *moment*

Allison 18 years

Blessings,

The Final Road to College...

2010-06-08T12:14:00.004-05:00

This will be my final Road to College post. At least for this particular graduate. (Who knows, I may revive it in two years when my second student is ready to leave the nest.)

Allison 2010 Graduation Photos

God has abundantly blessed us with an amazingly wonderful young lady! After 13 years of work, our daughter has turned in her last assignment and will graduate. Pretty cool.

Some things that I've learned from this experience. If your student doesn't know what they want to be, maybe you should skip the whole college mess and just enroll them into a Community College. That is just what we've done. After all the work, she just wanted to continue next door. She's made so many wonderful friends there and she loves most of her teachers. You really can't beat that. She's been promoted at her work and that will allow her to completely pay for her college without debt, which was something that we, her Dad and Mom, really wanted for her. It's a real blessing. It's also wonderful that we'll get two more years with her. After that, she's considering going to a local 4 year college and either commuting or living on campus and working close to school. Either way, she'll be able to pay for her whole college experience without debt and is hoping to pursue a degree in teaching, so that she can become a missionary. We are amazed at where the Lord has lead our daughter!

Another thing we learned, we're starting in 11th grade for our next kids.LOL We're already in the process of enrolling Jon at the local CC for dual enrollment and he will be able to get very close to his AA degree before graduating. (We won't want him to get it because that would interfere with getting scholarships.) It will save him tons on his schooling.

Is there anything that I will do differently with the little kids? Yes.

1. I will make things more fun. They are only young once and the hard stuff comes fast enough without me rushing them into it.

2. I will spend even MORE time on things that they are interested in. No one looks at their younger years, so do we really need to follow a traditional school subject list? No. BUT if they can find their passion in life along with a love for learning, they'll do just fine.

3. I will only do 2 years of highschool with my next batch of kids. The next two years will be for dual-enrollment. They'll have plenty of credits for graduation and it'll give me a break. It'll also give them a chance to get used to college before they have to take a full schedule.

4. I'll make sure that they have many opportunities to serve inside and outside of our home.

So that's it. I hope these posts have helped. I know that I've learned so much over the past year and almost look forward to doing this again in two years.

Blessings,

Catching up...

2010-04-25T15:42:00.003-05:00

I really should make about 5 or 6 different blog posts in order to do these justice, but with a cranky newborn, it's just not possible. So bear with me as I give you a whirl-wind tour of the past month. :)

Allison went on a wonderful mission to Nicaragua at the beginning of this month. She was there for 9 days and it really helped her to see where she would like to be. She's changed her focus to missions and will be hopefully going to a local Bible college in the fall. She'd like to major in missions and this college really seems like a good fit. We are praying that the college accepts her and maybe gives her some financial aid. It's a very affordable college, so some aid would allow her to go without debt.

Easter was really nice. The littles went to church with Daddy and then we all went to dinner at Grandma G's house. The kids looked so cute in their finery...

Isaac wouldn't cooperate, so no photo of him.lol

For Jon's birthday, my Dad took him and my brother to Universal. They had a blast! They stayed on location and had fast passes for all the rides. I heard that they rode every ride at least 5 times.lol

For my nephew's spring break, my sister and he came down and visited a couple of colleges. He's going to Nova on a swimming scholarship and is very excited. It was SO nice to see my sister and Nicolas. They live in Virginia and we don't see them too often.

(My sister, Dana, with Sophia and David.)

Just because having a baby isn't enough for me, I decided to remodel a bedroom. lol My very patient and very understanding hubby primed the room for me with three little helpers. I can't believe that he let them help...lol I'd have kicked them out in 5 minutes.lol

I did the regular painting and finished the room on Friday...

(and no, I didn't let the littles help.lol)

We decided David needs his own room. He's a light sleeper and is keeping us awake. He's already sleeping about 4-5 hours each night and we think he'd sleep a little longer if we weren't waking him up. We'll see. :)

Speaking of David, he's now 6 weeks old! I can't believe how fast time is going by. He's a really sweetie, but really gassy right now. I can't wait until that passes.lol

He spends a lot of time, just hanging...literally...lol

Sophia is such a cutie.lol She loves to have her picture taken and usually says, "Let's try that again." so that we'll take more of her.lol

(This is take 42...)

With Allison's graduation looming, she has had many neat things to participate in. She attended her first prom, a Regency ball. She waited until Friday to actually MAKE her gown. It's absolutely beautiful and so was she on Saturday...

She had such a great time at the ball. She said that she danced every single dance.lol

My mom did her hair, but she made the whole dress herself. It was very tricky too. The instructions were difficult to understand AND we changed the design a few times too.lol This was the very first really big thing that she ever made. I think that she did a great job.

Well, I guess that's it for now. King David has awoken and I've used up all my spare time. Thankfully, I've gotten down the memories.

Blessings,

Photos of David...

2010-04-02T11:56:00.002-05:00

Look how big my new baby is getting!

He's a real sweetie.

He's always looking for more dinner, or a binky, finger, hand...

But, when you put him into perspective...

He's got a long way to go before he catches up to Jon. LOL

Announcing...

2010-03-14T16:55:00.003-05:00

David James!

He was born Friday, March 12th at 7:45am. He was two weeks early and a big surprise! He is 6 pounds 11 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long.

Thursday evening I was so tired and decided to go to bed early. I was very unhappy when I started having contractions every 20-30 minutes because I thought they were plain ones that were just keeping me up.lol These went on, waking me up, all night long. At 4am the contractions starting coming every 6 minutes and they were not fun. I woke my dh and told him it was time. We woke Allison up because she had to work at 5:15am and then we took off for the hospital. I could tell that it wasn't going to be too long, based on my comfort level but was really hoping to make it in time for an epidural because these contractions were all in my back. Once we got there, they checked me and I was already at 6cm. The Dr gave me something for pain and I was able to get an epidural after an hour. He was born an hour later. Everything went so fast and smooth. He is a wonderful baby!

When Sophia met him, she looked at me and said, "Momma, can we buy him and take him home?" I told her yes.lol

Blessings,

Triage 101...

2010-02-23T08:53:00.002-05:00

It's a rare occasion that we all get sick all at once. Usually, it's a one at a time thing where by the time one is feeling better, the next one or two gets it. I've learned quite a bit from this past month, along with other illnesses in the past, that I thought I'd share a few pointers when your home becomes a hospital sickward.

1. Don't procrastinate. If someone throws up all over the bed , put the sick one in the tub and throw the bedding into the washer immediately while the sick one soaks. The name of the game is keeping up.

2. Bowls, namely tupperware bowls make great sick catchers. The smaller the child, the bigger the bowl.

3. Keep everyone and everything together. It's far easier to assist everyone if they are all in the same room. Also, if they need nebulizers or humidifiers, you won't need more than one. It's also good to have all things needed in the same room, except meds. I keep those all together in a cabinet in the kitchen. Tissues, trashcan, nose sprays, drinks, crackers, etc... can all be left in the room so that you can get to them in a hurry.

4. For keeping up with all the medicines, I like those refridgerator magnet Magnet Weekly Calendars. You can find them at Walgreens. When one child gets meds, I record it under the correct day with their initials, the meds initials, and the time given.

5. Invest in an snow cone maker. (Ice shaver or whatever you call it) For those truly too sick to keep anything down or with sore throats, it's a life saver. I bought mine at Target for about $20 and I only allow someone to have some if they are sick, so it's a treat.

6. If one needs to go to the Dr's, take them all. It'll save you some time. Also, you can ask the Dr for one medicine that can be given at different dosages for each of your children. That will save you money. Right now, I have two on Mucinex and two on Xopenex.

7. Buy something that will entertain everyone. We've found Amazon to have really fast shipping if you have Prime, so we usually buy a video set. Something with at least 3 DVD's to keep them all mesmerized.lol

8. Once someone starts getting better, move them from the triage area into a well area. Clean all bedding/blankets and make sure to clean any cups, bowls, and toothbrushes from that child. This is why I usually buy more than one DVD. I can divide them up and the well kid doesn't feel like he/she is missing out.

9. For keeping the mess under control, I've found double folding a comforter for under the sick child to keep the sheets from getting messed. If they get sick, I just replace the comforter and wash the yucky one immediately.

Well, those are some things that have helped me this past month of illness. If you have any tips, feel free to share them.

Blessings,

Plan B...

2010-02-19T15:58:00.003-05:00

Today is the warmest day we've had in weeks. It was supposed to be a day at the park, but some of the kids aren't well enough for that. So instead, I took Jon to Wally World and we picked up some fun outdoor stuff that we could enjoy in our own backyard.

Cute, unrelated photo...

We got 8 bags of playsand, way not enough to fill our box but it was all the cart could hold.

Some new sandtoys...

and I also picked up a few puzzles for the sick one who couldn't come out to play, some playdough, and a cheap bowling set that has been the bane of my existence since I brought it home. No photos of those though, just of the glorious outside...

And all the fun the somewhat well kids had...

This one is acting as though he may be thinking about coming down with yet another illness but no fever so I allowed him outdoors even though he had five hundred temper tantrums...

So, not the day I envisioned, but still a good day in a sea of yucky ones. I'll relish this day and now that it's on my blog, I'll even be able to remember it in a week.lol

Blessings,

Where am I?

2010-02-12T15:02:00.000-05:00

Busy, that's where.LOL

I can't believe that the new baby will be here in 6 weeks or so. I have to admit that I've been nesting, cleaning, and preparing for this one way more than any of the others. I guess the more kids you have, the more organized you have to be. :) The baby and I are doing well. I'm gaining nice and steady, even on my very limited diet and now that I'm AMA (advanced maternal aged) the Dr has been treating me to weekly ultrasounds. I think I've decided on the name, but won't be announcing it until he arrives, you know, in case he turns out to be a she. :)

On the home front, I've been slowly getting the clutter under control. It's hard to go against the grain in this house, so it's more of a two steps forward, one step back kind of thing but I am making progress, so I'm happy. LOL My dh put a new shelving unit in my garage this weekend and I put all my extra kitchen appliances on it. It has made the kitchen look a lot less cluttered. I'm going to use some old queen sized sheets for covers over the shelves so that the appliances won't get dusty out there. I'll resize them and serge the edges so that they'll hold up. We got rid of our old queen sized bed, so these sheets were destined for Goodwill anyway, so it's nice to be able to repurpose them.

I also paid the older kids to organize and "bin" all the toys in the garage this past weekend. My dh also bought another shelf so that we can get them all put away before we get to warmer weather. Living in the south, we get SPIDERS in the summer and I don't want the toys to hold that kind of surprise for the littles. LOL I'd say that they are about 90% complete and will finish the rest this weekend.

On the Church front, we think we've finally found a church home. What a blessing this new church is! They've really taken us under their wing and we really feel a part of this new family. Not only do they have Sunday school and service, but they also have a wonderful small group that meets twice a month. It's so nice to talk and pray with these wonderful people throughout the week. I am so thankful that God has blessed us in this way.

On the school front, we're plowing along. lol Allison is taking three classes on Tues and Thurs at the college and is also taking two classes at home. She's also working as much as possible. So far, she's doing really good and we're proud of her hard work.

Jon just began his second semester last week. He's taking Notgrass World History(with bible and literature), Teaching the Classics, and Latin. He's really liking the Latin so far and I'm watching TTC with Jon and we're both learning so much from it. I can't wait to use it in Evie's reading also. Oh, and just to be honest, Jon is still working on some of his subjects from last semester too. He got behind due to illness, some areas of difficulty, and just cause. :)

Evie is coming along in her studies. Her reading level has really grown over this year. She's mostly fond of her Art program, Learning Language Arts Through Literature, and her nightly reading with Daddy. She's NOT fond of Math U See or Handwriting (although she's really getting good at writing) I'm considering dropping the formal program and going with Living Math for a while. It would appeal to her literature-bent personality and give her a break from just learning the facts.

Isaac and Sophia are not doing formal school yet. We do projects and some workbook type sheets but mostly just follow their interests. Sophia LOVES painting. Isaac LOVES pen/ink. They both show a love of glue and scissors and the occasional use of markers or crayons. Mostly though, they love building with blocks and making various different kinds of homes for their animals and cars.

Isaac really seems to have a gift for math and really tickled his Daddy's heart by showing some promise in strategy. He's already envisioning a chess partner. LOL We bought some new games over Christmas/Advent and one of them was Gobblet Gobblers. Well, after playing it once by the rules, Isaac made his own game up that looked very much like Chess. Of course, he won each time, but Eric was happy to see this blooming interest in strategy at such an early age.

I'd be remiss to not mention the weather. I'm really tired of it. We spent the whole summer trapped indoors and now we've spent most of the winter trapped indoors. Not sure that I can stand it much longer. And due to the yo-yo nasty cold, wet weather we've been sick for the past three weeks. The poor little ones haven't left the house in so long that I'm not sure they'll remember what to do once they can again.lol It has made me much more aware of the "warmer" days though. I watch the weather like a hawk for a semi-warm up and then load them all into the car and get them to a park whenever I can. I'm on the lookout right now for a day like that sometime in the future, these kids could really use a nice day out in some sunshine.

On the whole College front, no news. She's now considering another major that has made most of my work, worthless. No biggie, though. It's her life and I want her to be happy with whatever she decides. Unless she gets a full scholarship, she'll probably stay here and go next door. This will allow her to accept a job promotion and work through her first two years of college. It would also allow her to matriculate into her favorite college, University of Florida without all those silly homeschool rules. (Our college has an agreement with them that would allow her to go there once she has her AA.) We'll see though. We have a few more months before she'll need to decide.

In sewing/crochet news, I'll be helping Allison sew a period costume over the next few weeks. The local homeschool group is having a Contra dance instead of a prom for the area teens and she's been invited to attend. It looks like a really fun idea and each month they've been having practices so that they'll all know how to dance. I'm also crocheting my very first baby blanket. It's pretty hard (to me) but I take it each week to my Dr's appt and work on it there. I also work on it a little each night before bed. My hope is that it'll be done before the baby arrives but if not, that's o.k. too. Really, it's just something for me to do during these REALLY long dr appts. I sure wish they valued my time, but having something to focus on makes time go by pretty quickly.

Well, now that I've written a novel, you are all caught up. :) Hopefully, once the littles are no longer sporting runny noses, I'll even post some photos. I'll definitely post a photo of the new little one, once he makes his appearance.

Blessings,

Another recipe...

2010-01-26T15:11:00.004-05:00

Here is a new main dish that we've put on our favorite list...

Simple Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wraps
from allrecipes.com

1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup chopped cucumber, seeds removed
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
black pepper to taste

Mix above and refridgerate until later.

2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 lbs chicken, sliced into strips
1 cup salsa
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Cook chicken until browned in oil. Add other ingredients and simmer.

8 flour tortillas and 1 bag of baby spinach.

Warm tortillas or make your own. Layer the chicken, sauce, and spinach into the tortilla. Wrap and eat. It got two thumbs up!

Blessings,

A couple of new recipes...

2010-01-26T14:56:00.002-05:00

I have been so sick and tired of our usual meals lately! Allison and I have been using Allrecipes.com to help broaden our tastes a bit. We've found some real keepers and thought I'd get them on here so that I can find them again later.lol

First off, Granola!

(this is a great recipe and sugar free)

4 cups oats
1 cup nuts (I used chopped walnuts)
1 cup roasted and salted sunflower seeds, hulled
1 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup oil
2 tbsp maple syrup
a dash of salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix together and cook at 300* for 10 minutes, stir and then cook 10 minutes more, stir and cook until brown.(about 5 minutes)

Let cool and add fruit if desired.

Enjoy!

Next on the list is, Baked French Fries

Chop 1 large potato however you like your fries. I did steak fry shapes because I wanted them to cook faster.

Add potatoes in a baggie with...

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt

You'll need to adjust seasonings for larger amounts of potatoes. I used about 1/2 cup olive oil, 6 potatoes, and lots more seasonings. Mix all the ingredients together and pour onto a baking sheet. Cook at 425* for 20 minutes, stir and cook another 20 minutes or until browned. Yum!

Blessings,

Am I Nesting Already?

2010-01-26T14:20:00.003-05:00

The fatigue from the first half of my pregnancy, has been replaced with a desire to see my home in a functional state of cleanliness and unclutteredness before this baby arrives. What a difficult assignment for someone who can't bend too well!lol Nesting or not, I've been tackling each corner of the house, ever so slowly, each day. Just a few minutes here and there have really made a difference in the clutter department. I'm usually a detail person and seeing all the clutter would overwhelm me into not doing anything or me trying to complete the whole mess in one fell swoop. Because of my increasing girth, it has made over-doing it almost impossible since I tire too easily, so what I've been doing is just trying to focus on one small area each day. A counter top or bookshelf or some other small area. I really can't believe the difference and it's made doing a little each day something that I look forward to. I may never get it all done before the baby gets here but just gettting something done has made *me* feel better. I no longer feel as overwhelmed with the house, chores, homeschooling, bookkeeping, guidance counselor jobs that I was feeling before Christmas.

So, in other words, I'd recommend this to anyone feeling overwhelmed right now. 5 or 10 extra minutes can be found in just about anyone's life and using them to improve your living space can really help in the long run.

Blessings,

The Road to College...

2010-01-26T13:48:00.002-05:00

Or I should call this one...

The Dreaded FAFSA!!!

It was nice to have a break from college stuff over the Christmas holidays but as the days came closer to January, I began to fret over this next hurtle. Questions began circling around in my head. Should I wait until I had filed my taxes? Should I do an estimate and then revise once our taxes were done? How bad is this really going to be? Will I really want to go back and revise once I had taken the time and effort into completing this form the first time?

LOL

I really shouldn't have worried. Normally, my dh's W2 form comes in very early, but this year he received notice that it wasn't going to be ready until the end of the month. We decided to go ahead and complete the FAFSA and then revise once we got the offical W2. You CAN complete it without your W2, if you can get a hold of your last paycheck statement for the year. Now here's the kicker though. You'll have to pretend to do your taxes first anyway.LOL Could we have waited? Probably but to get the most money from your favorite colleges, you need to get that form in as early as possible. We're on a tight budget and can use all the money that we can get, so we took the chance and filed the FAFSA first.

It only took us about a day to pretend file our taxes, pretend file Allison's, and then complete the FAFSA. Once it was complete, we submitted it and now we are playing the waiting game again. Eric did end up getting his W2 form last weekend and we completed our taxes and then I revised the FAFSA to reflect some minor changes that needed to be fixed. Today, Allison received her W2 form and we filed her taxes. In a few days, I'll revise the FAFSA for the last time and we'll be done. Revising the FAFSA is easy, so don't be afraid of filing early and revising later.

In other news...

Allison completed her classes last semester and received all A's. We're very proud of her and are hoping that it will make a big statement to the colleges that she applied. She is now in her second semester and these classes are much harder for her. We believe that she'll rise to the challenge and leave her senior year with a 4.0 average.

We've also been invited to participate in a local homeschool graduation ceremony. That's another blessing since we weren't sure how we were going to celebrate her graduation. She'll get to walk down the aisle, wear a cap and gown, and celebrate with friends that she made at her college, that are now a part of the church that we're attending. They are also going to do a group order for diplomas and cap and gowns so I'll get to save on shipping. Pretty neat!

Well, I guess that's it for now. The next installment will be about graduation and the final results from all the hard work that we've accomplished this year. Will she go away to college or stay home? Will she get enough money for a 4 year college or go to the local CC? Was the FAFSA worth it or not?

I know that no matter what, that God is in control and that whatever happens next will be His will for Allison. I am thankful that I'm not the one who has to make the decisions. I have done my part, so far and will be glad to see what God has in store for our oldest next year.

Blessings,

Merry Christmas 2009

2009-12-17T13:40:00.003-05:00

The Road to College...

2009-12-10T15:04:00.003-05:00

Exciting news here...Allison has been officially accepted into three of the seven colleges that she applied to. Two of the colleges are public and one is private. The private college has offered Allison an 8-9 thousand dollar merit scholarship. That happens to be the highest scholarship they offer! Pretty neat! The only bad thing is, that it is really pennies when you consider the actual yearly cost of going there. On the up side, we fill out the FAFSA in January which will also qualify her for more aid directly from the college and maybe just a teeny tiny bit from the government. She'd really like to go to this college, but we'll have to see where we end up after all the money comes in.

In other news, the kids are signed up for the ACT this weekend. Jon, in particular has been working his rump off in hopes that this will be the last general test he'll need to take. He will still be taking the CLEP and the SAT II in Chemistry this coming Jan-Feb and will also be working toward other SAT II's in the future. He wants to go to Cal-tech, so he needs to work hard.

Allison is finishing up her first semester in college this week and also on Monday of next week. She's hopeful that her grades are A's and that she'll really impress those college recruiters. I'm thankful that she has made a quick and painless adjustment into college. When you homeschool someone from kindergarten all the way to 12th grade, it can be a little nerve-wracking to send them off into the unknown. I hoped that I had prepared her to the best of my ability, but really you never know until that first paper or that first math test comes along and they come through it with a good grade and the confidence to continue on. I'm thankful that God's grace has covered all my short-comings and allowed Allison to blossom in college and in real life. Watching her hold down a job, swim on the swimteam, and take three college classes all at once and do well in each area, makes me proud of who she is becoming and the direction that she has chosen to take.

One thing that has impressed me, is that Allison is really considering her future and how she'd like to get there. She'd love to go to the fancy private college, but is also considering staying here for the next two years to get her AA. She's not closing any doors. Instead she's making sure that the decision she makes won't cause her to leave college with major debt. I think that shows a lot of maturity.

One thing I'm looking forward to, is going back and being just an elementary teacher after this year.LOL Jon will take all of his classes at the CC next year and Allison will be a fulltime graduated college student. I'll be back to homeschooling the littles, with a little guidance counselor thrown in for good measure. What a blessing.LOL

Blessings,

Our Annual Christmas Photos...

2009-12-04T15:53:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, I decided to take everyone's photo for our Christmas card and the yearly photos of the kids. Allison isn't done designing the card yet, but here are some of the photos...

Genevieve age 7

Sophia age almost 3

Isaac age almost 5

Jonathan age 15 1/2

Allison age almost 18

Me with a couple of stinkers...

Eric and I, not telling how old...

I'm pretty excited to see the final Christmas design and I'll share once it's complete.

Blessings,

Christmas Project...

2009-11-30T14:08:00.002-05:00

My friend Karen asked me if I'd like some mint tins for a project. Well, I'm not one to turn anything down, but really didn't have a clue what I'd do with them once they arrived.lol

The answer came a few days after I received them.

The littles get an Advent Calendar every year and Allison was lamenting the fact that she and Jon never got one. We didn't celebrate Advent when they were little. I had never heard of doing such a thing. Well, I was looking at those tins and it came to me.lol I mod-podged some Christmas fabric to the tins and then added numbers to each one. Then I took an old hanger and pulled it into a circle and wrapped it with ancient batting that has moved with us no less than 7 times. I took strips of denim fabric and wrapped it around the batting and then velcroed the little tins all over the "wreath." I wrapped a red ribbon around it this morning and Allison made the bow with the leftover ribbon.

Now to fill the little tins.lol I have to decide what to do, fill with a little note for a treasure hunt or fill with little candies and treats.

I made it reuseable and I think this will be a good tradition for the older kids. Thanks Karen!

Blessings,

Our Traditional Florida Christmas Tree...

2009-11-30T14:06:00.001-05:00

It's a bit small, but smells really good. Too bad we ate it.lol

Merry Christmas!

Blessings,

Random post...

2009-11-24T17:23:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago, Allison had her end of the year swim team party/award ceremony. Allison received her letter, a medal, and a certificate. She has done so well this year and I just love this photo of her...

Sophia decided to try on Allison's knifty-knitter hat that she was making...too bad she didn't wait until it was off the knitter...lol

Here, Jon was doing a little target practice. Allison was a big help...

The three littles on their new playset. They are out there from morning until sunset. What a blessing this has been for me.LOL We've also been having wonderful weather. I love this time of the year!

And finally, I've been crocheting teeny tiny hats for the new little one. I should have enough for every day of the month by the time he arrives.lol I'm still learning but it's a lot of fun!

Blessings,

The Road to College...literally.

2009-11-09T08:47:00.002-05:00

I'm guessing you all can tell what the next part of the college process is...

Road Trip!

Allison received her first phone call from a college this weekend. We're excited that someone has received all the paperwork, has read it, and still wants us to come and visit.LOL Our next step is to arrange three personal interviews with three different colleges. One is easy, because it's in our town. The other two are spread all over Florida. In fact, we may end up having to do more than these three interviews but these three are the ones that had it as a requirement for their application process for homeschoolers. So...

1. Make sure that the colleges you apply to are ones that you'd like to visit even if you haven't received an official offer from them. Lucky for us, the two out of town ones are on Allison's short list, so they were needing visits anyway, but if one of the lesser colleges that we applied to, asks the same of us, we may just back out of that college.

2. Read the requirements and then figure out if you can actually meet them before applying. Allison is swamped right now and meeting up with three colleges will be a stretch, especially while trying to keep up with school, work, studying for the ACT, and swimming. I'd rather save our money and visit the colleges that she is actually accepted to attend but we knew about these three and will commit to visiting.

3. Don't let your teen get their hopes up while visiting! I mean, these are just more steps to apply, not a guarantee that they will get to go there. Make them wait until you are visiting one that has actually accepted them.lol

4. Take photos and label them so that you can "revisit" if you are accepted to decide if it's the right college for them. That may help narrow things down if you end up accepted to more than 2-3 colleges. (This advice is for people (us) who can't afford to visit 7 different colleges if we are accepted to all of them.) If you've already taken the tour and visited, then only go back if they are numbers 1-3 on your teens list, unless you can afford to visit them all.

Well, I'll update after the visits or if anything else comes us that we forgot to do.LOL

Blessings,

The Last Great Build of 2009...

2009-11-08T13:10:00.002-05:00

For Christmas this year we decided to buy the littles a playset. We saved up all year and finally bought it two weeks ago. We wanted to make sure that we got it early, since this is the time of year that the weather is good to be outside, and also, we didn't want it to come after Christmas.

It arrived on Friday and everyone was pretty excited about it.

First, though, we had to say goodbye to old faithful. It was getting quite dangerous now that we have three, soon to be four, little ones that never really appreciated our rules for jumping.

The littles protested at first, but once the playset started taking shape, old faithful was easily forgotten.

Step 1

This is what it looked like in our garage...

Step 2

This is right after Jon's manhood was tested...lol (The bars were free rolling until they were screwed in.)

Step 3.

The barn raising...notice the little helper...

The rock wall comes together...Isaac was excited...lol

Step 6

The final product...

The kids couldn't be happier...

Isaac is king of the hill...

It only took some of Friday, all of Saturday, and a little of Sunday to put together. We had one of Jon's friends helping and it really was nice having that extra set of hands.

Blessings,

The Road to College...

2009-11-06T11:11:00.002-05:00

Or, should I label this one...

What to do while you wait on your teen to get all her ducks in a row.

Anyway, here's an update on our saga...

We have so far turned in three complete college applications with all the extra stuff. The deadline for each of these colleges was November 1st and we accomplished it. Each envelope contained 29 course descriptions, a four page transcript, one had an essay, and another had a recommendation form filled out by her English teacher. We sent each college an official SAT score report from the SAT website also.

Now for the waiting part. Allison filled out all the applications for each of the other four colleges that she's applying to, but she still needs four recommendations and two essays before we can finish those colleges.

We found out that her SAT scores were not as good as we hoped. She increased her scores in each of the different areas but since she didn't study for the test, it isn't enough for her top colleges to award her a scholarship. So plan B is in action. I signed her up for the ACT and she will take it in December. I also signed up for their online study guide for $19.95. By far, the ACT is a more economical choice and I'm hoping that with a little studying, she'll get a good score. She'll need a 29 to get scholarship offers. Luckily, SAT and ACT score deadlines are flexable. Most colleges give you until the end of the school year to get your final scores in. It would be better to get them in sooner, but better scores can mean more money, so we'll keep at it a little longer.

What I've learned...

1. Study for the SAT and ACT early. It's really never too early once your teen is in highschool.

2. Start collecting recommendations from teachers, pastors, and close friends as soon as they have done something. It's better to have them early. Also, you need a lot of them, so don't be shy about asking a teacher for one. You'll need it. That way, you can spread it out and not have one person doing five different ones for five different colleges. They don't like that.lol

3. Start work on college essays in the Jr year. What I've noticed about the essays, is that they all are basically the same. They all want to know WHY your teen would make a good fit at their school OR they want to know what they've learned from some experience that makes them a good fit for their school. Allison wrote one essay during her college class that actually fit most of the college essay question and it has helped tremendously. Now that I know, I'll be working with Jon to get a few good essays in next semester to help with his college applications so that we aren't trying to do everything at once.

Blessings,

When Halloween Candy Strikes...

2009-11-05T20:06:00.002-05:00

It can do a real number on your teeth.

Good thing we have 427 toothbrushes.

Blessings,

The Road to College...pt.3

2009-10-18T11:27:00.003-05:00

Transcripts.

Here's what we've done right.

First off, 2 years ago I hired Lee from The HomeScholar to help me with Allison's 9th and 10th grade transcripts. Lee was wonderful. She called me and we discussed Allison's work over that time period and she helped flesh out the transcripts with really good questions. She not only asked about each and every usual subject, she also asked about outside activities, things that Allison liked doing during her free time, and church related things that she did. These questions not only helped Lee, they also helped me to see all that we had accomplished during these two years! It also made me see what to include during the next two years afterwards.

After we had talked, Lee compiled a professional transcript for Allison and sent it to me that day. What I got was three different forms. The first one lists each course by subject. The second lists each course by year. The final paper lists each class title and I added to it by putting textbooks used under each course and I linked each course to the website that sells the course. What was so wonderful about these transcripts was that each one could be easily added to for each consecutive year. In theory, I could add each year as we finished it so that it was fresh in my mind and it would have been quite easy. In reality, I waited until last week to compile the last two years and it was considerably harder.lol

I found Lee's business to be extremely helpful to me. Could I have done it without her help? Possibly. I know that there are many free helps out there these days, but just having someone walk me through the first two years was a tremendous help. She not only helped me flesh out what needed to be put on each transcript, she helped me SEE what transcripts really look like. It is also nice to have actual transcript forms to just enter in the next year's work.

When it was time for me to enter in the next two years worth of school, I purchased Lee's The Easy Truth About Homeschool Transcripts E-Book, plus I also joined the Gold Care Club. I got a bunch of free helps, along with more transcript templates and I also get one free 20 minute phone call with Lee each week for a month. Very nice. Through her website I was able to work through my transcripts without trouble and finished them all in under a week.

What I didn't do well.(lol)

Can we all say Procrastination? I have all of Allison's work, labeled, in notebooks, with her grade sheets added into the books, all on my handy-dandy bookshelves. I really thought it'd be no big deal to enter them into the transcripts on my computer, "at a later date." Boy, was I wrong. It was confusing and hard work to locate every single course at that later date. It was tedious, time consuming, and stressful. I will not do that ever again. That is, of course, after I get Jon's transcripts up to date. (lol)

What I also didn't take into account was what colleges would want in addition to the official transcripts. My big mistake was not going to different college websites to see what kinds of paper trails those popular colleges would expect to see from home school students. Most colleges just want the standard transcripts, along with references, SAT scores, and the college's essay. Not too bad, really. Some of the nicer colleges wanted just a bit more. Of course, being that I didn't actually look on the websites to see if they would want more, I didn't know that they would also want....

Course Descriptions With How We Evaluated Each Course.

Of course Allison decided that her top college pick would be one that needed these dreaded course descriptions. It meant ME going all the way back to 9th grade and writing each and every description, digging out each and every notebook to see each and every grade earned from each and every course. It was almost too much. Out of fear and desperation, I emailed Lee, hoping that she did this service and if I could just email her the transcripts and have HER do it. Money was no object.lol Well, Lee no longer provides this service, but she was a tremendous help. She sent me links all over her website where she showed me how to do course descriptions and even an audio recording called Course Descriptions Demystified. I listened and looked all over her website and then got started.

My first plan of action was to have my Dh make a template for the course descriptions. Looking at Lee's sample, he was able to give me one very quickly. After that, I got started. By far, the first two were the hardest. I began with math, thinking it would be the easiest to find online. I started off looking for course descriptions all over the internet. I looked at the curriculum website (MUS) that I purchased the subject, for their description of the course (there wasn't a good one) and I also looked for table of content links (which they had). I then used a generic course description that I found by googling "pre-algebra course descriptions" and found one that encompassed what the course did. Then I pasted the table of contents page into a section that I labled "Topics included." At the bottom of the page and sometimes on another page, I listed how we graded this course. For this course, I listed Tests, Daily Work, Unit Tests and Final Exam. Can we say TEDIOUS? I did this two more times for Allison's different math courses and then started on Science. Science was a bit easier since I knew what I was doing and it went a tad faster. I am not doing Allison's college dual enrollment courses since we'll be sending those separately once she has offical grades. I do have them listed on her transcripts with a * beside them denoting they were not taken at home.

I was able to do 6 courses yesterday and 5 today. My goal is to finish at the end of this week so I have time to print out all the different copies and allow Allison the time to do her part of the application process on my computer the next week. She has those essays, remember? She also has to work on each application, although only two are due Nov. 1st. We have more time on the rest of them.

So now you know what I've been up to this weekend. If I could share a little advice to anyone just starting this journey, I'd say research 8-10 different colleges, any colleges, to see what they require from homeschoolers and then work towards completing that paperwork right now. It's better to have too much, than not enough when you get to the senior year. It would have made this process a lot easier if I had done my research.

HTH!

You know you have a large family...

2009-10-16T14:14:00.005-05:00

(I saw this on De'Etta's blog and thought I'd add to it.lol)

When:

You calculate what the toilet paper to toilet ratio is before you buy a brand. (Charmin=bad, Scott=good)

You buy 6 whole chickens and it lasts you a month.

You buy the $1 towels from Walmart because they dry-even when left crumpled on the floor-in record time. (Who cares that you can see through them. You can fit 72 of them in the washer at one time and they dry on the line in 10 minutes.)

You also buy the bulk wash clothes x 2 and never have enough.

You wait for a clearance and then buy them out.

One loaf of bread= one lunch
One Gallon of milk= 2 breakfasts (and only because you have to use 3 different kinds due to allergies)

When one room can be completely destroyed in 10 minutes and it takes 2 days to clean.

When you shower, you no longer expect privacy. In fact, you use that time (wisely, I might add) to bathe half the family. One in the shower with you, two in the tub next to the shower.

When there really is a "Hair Wash Day."

When it takes you an hour to tuck everyone in...on a good day.

When your home looks more kid friendly than the local Chuck E Cheese.

When your calendar looks busier than the presidents.

When you're mentally calculating whether or not your 8 passenger vehicle will really hold 8 passengers. (four carseats, four adults. hmmm.)

When you buy toothbrushes in bulk, assign everyone a color and have no less than 463 of them all over your house, just to make sure you can find one when you need it.

When your old big pot is now for side dishes and your first crockpot is only good for soaking beans.

When you are seriously wondering where the next baby will go.

and finally,

When you no longer get upset over paint, marker, or crayons on your walls, stains on clothes, or broken anything (other than kids), because you love them more than anything and only *they* can't be replaced.

Blessings,

The Road to College...pt 2

2009-10-15T12:36:00.004-05:00

So, now that Allison is in DE, working as a lifeguard, and swimming for the swimteam at her local highschool, we're all set, right? Wrong! I got about one week off before the next wave hit. Thankfully, it was the week that I got sick.lol

The very next job for me is the dreaded transcripts. Her top pick college is a little persnickity about what they want from homeschoolers. It's do-able but not much fun. Some colleges, were not very homeschool friendly. Allison's most favorite college wouldn't even look at her unless she wanted to take 5 SAT II subtests. Well, we just don't have the time for that. If we had started her Jr. year, then maybe we could have gotten that accomplished, but with time running out, we've decided stick to colleges who appreciate and want homeschoolers.

So, what do those colleges want from us? Well, I'll tell you. Two of the six colleges that she is applying to want our basic transcripts AND a list of all textbooks used AND a detailed course description along with what we expected her to learn from each course. Fun, fun, fun.lol Now, I've been keeping up to date transcripts and reading lists for her highschool years, but not lists of her textbooks or course descriptions or course expectations. I have to admit here that some of her credits didn't have traditional textbooks. Will she get in anyway? I guess we'll find out.

I've been compiling all of this for the past week and I have at least 2 weeks left until I'll be done. I'm glad to know what I need in the future for Jon though. I'll be compiling these lists as soon as I'm done with Allison.

What is Allison doing during all this? I'll tell you. She has a very important job right now. In addition to keeping her grades up, juggling her job and swimming, she is now in charge of completing college applications and writing 6-12 essays before the end of the year. She needs to complete 2-4 before the end of the month and the others before Jan 1st. She's also collecting references from two college professors, one Dr, and her employer and, as if that isn't enough, she's also in charge of writing a resume of her work experience which is another requirement of her top college pick. Crazy, isn't it?!! Makes my job look easy.lol

I talked about having three plans in place for Allison to accomplish her goals in my last post. I think I'll go over them here and now.

Plan A: Allison goes to a four year college on scholarship. Either full scholarship or part with money from us and from her job.

Plan B: Allison stays home and goes to community college while working so that she can save up for her 4 year college after her AA degree. We will help with expenses. She could also transfer as a transfer student after she has enough credits as long as she stays in Florida. They all have articulation agreements between the local cc's and all Fl 4 year colleges. This might get her in the persnickity college that she'd love to go to.

Plan C: ROTC scholarship to a four year college. She'd have to sign on for 8 years, but they would cover all expenses.

So far, that's what we're up to. I'll keep you posted on the next steps as they come up. For now, I'm off to work on those darned transcripts.lol

Blessings,

The Road to College...

2009-10-15T11:47:00.003-05:00

My dh thinks that I should document what we did Allison's senior year to get her into college. I have to admit that I'm a bit nervous to write this all down. There are NO guarantees that we'll even get her into a four year college. Although that may be the case, I will not consider it a failure if she ends up at our local community college for her AA degree. That, in itself is an accomplishment worthy of cheering and rejoicing. I'm thankful that Allison has goals and we have 3 plans to accomplish those goals. My plan is to update the blog throughout the process, so this will be more of a series instead of one long post.LOL

Now, on to part one...

The first thing we did to help Allison look more marketable to colleges this year, was to enroll her in the Dual Enrollment program at our local community college. Most colleges that I researched were looking for some outside accountability, somewhere. Did it have to be college course work? No, but for us it was the best option. Colleges want to know that your student can do the work and they like to see that your student can complete work from an outside teacher. We happen to live right next door to our local community college, so it was a shoo-in for ease and access. If you are looking to have your student enroll in the DE program, start early! It was a lot of paperwork and we ended up walking a lot of it through all the different channels.

Something else to consider is outside work. Colleges like to see responsible young adults that can manage work and school. Finding a good part-time job can help your student look responsible AND that employer makes a great reference letter later on to your top college pick. Allison has worked part-time during the school year and full-time during the summer for two years now. She's proven herself responsible, hard working, AND able to balance work, school, and extra-curricular activities.

Work and school are great but without any fun your student looks a little boring on that application. Now it's time to look into some fun activities that your student might be good at. Allison picked swimming for our local highschool. She loves the water, it's an extension of her job and it shows that she has interests outside of school. She's working extremely hard to lower her times right now and if she can get them low enough, she may even qualify for college sports scholarships. If not, then she still has interests to put on that all important transcript.

All of the things listed above, had to be completed before the school year began. Surprisingly enough, the swimteam was most important to set up before the year began. Because of rules by the FHSAA, if she had decided after the year began, she would have been ineligible to join the team. We barely got her in and it was dicey that she'd get to stay in. She proclaimed her decision two weeks before the year began thankfully.

Once the year began, her primary job was to keep her grades up and learn how to juggle all of her outside commitments. It was tough at first but she has really thrived in this environment.

On the college front, she decided to take a full load for DE. She has three classes consisting of College Algebra, Spanish 1, and English Composition. Not even half way through her 1st semester, she had to decide and pick her next semester's classes. Things move quickly in college, we've found.lol She picked Spanish 2, Elementary Statistics, and Chemistry 1 for her next semester. These are all classes she needs for college and for highschool graduation. So far, she's doing wonderfully in her classes. She loves her teachers and has made some friends. It's been a good fit for her.

Next, we had to begin to study and plan for her SAT. Yes, we really needed to start this much earlier but since we're new at this this is when we began. Allison took her first SAT in her Jr year. She scored well enough to enter the DE program at any level that she wanted to. They allowed her free reign of any classes. But her scores are not that great for someone who would like a scholarship at a 4 year college, so we signed her up for the October test date. We wanted the scores to be in before the November 1st early action deadline for her top pick colleges. If she did well, then I think she'll be accepted by her favorite colleges. If not, then we'll sign up for the next available test date and study harder.lol

So those are the things that we've already done and Allison is currently doing. Next I'll talk about what I'm currently doing and what she's gearing up to do.lol

Blessings,

Another sewing project...

2009-09-25T14:22:00.003-05:00

I saw this really neat dress on the Gap website the other day and it inspired me. The top was made of a ribbed knit tank top and the dress was made of vertical striped fabric, in layers, like the layered skirts I make. Well, it made me think. If you can use tank tops, you could probably make dresses out of old t-shirts, right?LOL So, here is my first attempt at a t-shirt dress...

I took this little green t-shirt that Evie out-grew and made it into a brand new dress for Sophia. I roll-hemmed the top and bottom of the blue fabric, used my sewing machine to gather the fabric at the top and then sewed the fabric to the bottom of the t-shirt. This was an extremely easy project and took no more than 30 minutes from start to finish. Not only that, but it was mostly free. I paid $1.00 for a yard of the blue fabric and only used 7 inches of it for this dress. The t-shirt was a hand me down, so I count that as free. I can see that using a long sleeved shirt would make a nice winter dress. That will probably be what I work on next.

Blessings,

Jon's Eggroll Recipe...

2009-09-14T13:53:00.003-05:00

Supplies required are as follows:

1 bag of shredded coleslaw cabbage
1 bag of precooked frozen shrimp (you can buy raw, just prepare that like you would for shrimp cocktail)
Soy Sauce
1 package of eggroll wrappers (I recommend having 1 extra)
Vegetable oil

Preparation:

Use just enough oil to cover the bottom of your favorite skillet and pour in the bag of coleslaw cabbage, along with your desired amount of shrimp, fry it until the cabbage is fully cooked and add a good splash of soy sauce. Drain out excess oil and put the cabbage and shrimp in a bowl. Now that it is all cooked, this is when I normally remove the tails from the shrimp and cut them into chunks. Now get your eggroll wrappers out along with a bowl of water, take a decent amount of cabbage/ shrimp and place it in the lower/middle of the eggroll and follow the wrapping directions on the package. Now just fill a saucepan with enough oil to half cover an eggroll and fry untill they are golden brown.

Jon

(I'll take some photos of the process sometime this week.)

Random and Varied...

2009-09-12T08:51:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite things to do after a very long week is to look through all the photos that various people took. I always find it interesting to see what everyone finds important to them. I'm also thankful that the older kids feel comfortable borrowing my camera and I'm planning on buying a smaller camera for the younger ones to use. That way, we'll see what they think is important a little more often.

This first photo is by Jon. Before he and my Dh went to Ohio for Grandma's memorial, Jon wanted to make sure that I'd have food to eat. He made me 42 egg rolls! I know that there are only 37 in this photo...I was hungry.lol He really is a master chef!

This next photo is of the extremely noisy frog/toad that Allison raised from a tadpole last year and it not only survived, it has been a pain in the neck ever since.lol

Here is Isaac, not only smiling but showing off his latest creation...a shark. I think he did a great job! The kids love homemade playdough.

Here is my Sophia. Her hair is getting so long!

Just look at those curls and that color!

Here is Sophia's masterpiece. Would you believe that she did this with watercolors? She really knows how to use the space on paper and her colors are amazing. Every picture she draws or paints or colors is completely used when she's finished.lol

Well, that's all the photos I have for now. Genevieve is getting excited about her 7th birthday coming up. Allison's school is great. It's a great fit for her. Jon is excelling this year. He's an amazing student and I'm thankful for his servant's heart. Isaac and Sophia are staying out of big trouble and keeping busy with all our activities. I'm 11 weeks along now with our newest little one and everything is going well. My only complaint is exhaustion but I really can't complain. It was a lot worse with my last one. So, there's my update. Sorry I'm not keeping up with this blog much. It's hard to manage everyone and everything and still have energy at the end of the day.lol Maybe once I get my sea-legs things will get easier. We'll see.lol

Blessings,

A Portrait of Allison

2009-09-01T18:57:00.002-05:00

Two summers in the 100 degree heat,
Working 6-7 days a week,
Sometimes for 8 hours at a time.

One VERY long winter,
Freezing in the cold,
In a bathing suit,
Sometimes even in the rain.

One semi-patient mother,
Who went without a car,
For the whole summer.

All adds up to this,
Bought yesterday,
With her own money,
With some help from two Grandmas,
One Grandpa,
And two parents.

2001 Saturn LS100 with only 28,000 miles.

We are very proud of you Allison! (And I'm thankful to have my truck back.LOL)

Blessings,

The Sophia Chronicles...

2009-08-14T13:22:00.005-05:00

To: Cucumber Jon,

We found you in the garden today, fat and happy.

Sophia fell instantly in love and named you Really Jon.

She's carried you around all day, expecting me to take many photos of you.

How will I ever get you back?

You are destined for pickling.

An announcement...

2009-08-14T09:27:00.003-05:00

We're expecting another blessing next year! This one is due sometime around April 1st. It's a bit of a surprise, but we're pretty excited.

I've not been feeling that great, but so far I'm hanging in there.lol

The littles are so excited about this new little one! Names have been flying around like paper airplanes.lol I have to say that I'm pretty much out of names. I've been joking that I'm going to set up a jar and let everyone put their favorite names into it. At least then, I can say, "Go put it in the jar." Instead of being continuously peppered by kids non-stop all day long. (How 'bout Trucker?lol)

In other news, Allison will be taking three classes at the college instead of two. They had an opening for Spanish and we jumped at it. This is the best possible class line-up that we could have hoped for. She's taking English Comp, College Algebra, and Spanish 1. Next semester, if all goes well, she'll take PreCalc, Spanish 2, and a beginning Chem class. She's also decided to join one swimteam instead of two. She really liked the highschool coach and will go there.

I guess that's it. lol Here are some photos from the past two weeks...

Evie and Sophia hamming it up...

Jon, the snake catcher...

He's also the "Do math/science on my hand guy" too.

Isaac's creation... It's really huge and he wouldn't let us put it away for THREE days!...
Just for perspective, our tiles are 18" square...

Blessings,

Lisa

Long time, no see...

2009-07-28T12:47:00.000-05:00

I think that next year, I may just take the whole summer off from blogging. At least if I announce it, I wouldn't feel so guilty about not getting around to it.lol

Things have been crazy-busy here. Here's an update, for my records of everyone and what the future holds for them. LOL

Allison- She's going to college this year! Pretty neat! I happened to look into the dual enrollment program at our local college and it is a perfect fit for her. My dh and Allison met with the D-E coordinator last week and she was very impressed with Allison's test scores and her work ethic. She appoved her immediately for the program and now Allison is enrolled in two classes this semester and will take up to three classes next semester. In other words, she will finish out all her credits at the college and I'm actually DONE with one student. Wow! What a shock for this to come one year early. It's a great opportunity for her though and it allows other colleges to see that she's ready for college work.

In other news, she's also decided to join two different swim teams this school year. She'll go to the local high school team and the YMCA year-round team. This is along with working too.

Jon- Here's Jon's subject list for the year...

MUS Precalc
Apologia Adv Chem
Apologia Physics
Notgrass World History
IEW Adv Communication Series
Teaching the Classics
Japanese 2

He's also continuing with Boy Scouts. It's his hope to become an Order of the Arrow this year and I think he'll do just fine.

Genevieve- Here's Evie's list...

Formal Curriculum...
MUS Alpha
Apologia Astronomy
Spell to Write and Read
I Can Do All Things

Informal...
We bought her 150 readers for this year. They are levels 1, 2, and 3. She'll be reading through the ones that interest her and we'll save the ones that don't for the next two. We got GREAT deals through ebay.

I'll be reading classics to her from our collection of books. They will cover a range of different subjects. My plan is to follow her interests and to also broaden her knowledge base. The more she knows, the more she'll want to know. :)

We'll also begin memory work and reading the Bible each day.

She's also going to continue with gymnastics two days a week. She's made wonderful progress this summer and her coach is very happy as is Evie. It's a sport that she really enjoys.

Isaac- We'll begin preschool with him. VERY gently.lol I'll work on teaching him his letters, counting, sharing...lol All in good fun. I've been visiting the Dollar Store and Michaels to refill our activity bins and have found some fun things to keep him and Sophia busy this year.

Sophia- Activity bins. Lots of them.lol We'll be rotating her around to different rooms and different activities all day long until the school work is done for the day. Trying to keep her busy, will be the hardest part of the school year! I'm also working on some Montessori practical tray exercises to keep her and Isaac busy too. I'll have a dish washing bin, a veggie peeling tray, and a cheese cutting tray.

I'm also working on schedules for chores, revamping the menus and grocery lists for fall/winter, and organizing the new school space.

I guess that's it for now. lol I've got to get off this computer and get back to work.

Blessings,

That's Mommas....

2009-07-28T12:33:00.003-05:00

Since Jon never updates his blog, I'm going to share something between him and Sophia.

Today, Jon was using his calculator at the kitchen table finishing up some science experiments, when Sophia comes over to him and says, "That's Mommas!" He very kindly says, "No, this is my calculator. See? It has a "J" on it."

Sophia says, "That's Mommas!"
Jon says, "No, it's mine."
S says, "That's Mommas!"
J says, "No, it's mine."
S says, "That's Mommas!"
J says, (while secretly slipping the calculator into his side pocket)"No, it's mine."
S says, "That's Mommas!"

Jon says, "What's Mommas?"
Sophia looks to one side of Jon, then the other. Then she says, "I don't know." and walks off.

Very clever, Jon!

Blessings,

Lisa

My Latest Sewing Project...

2009-07-16T12:06:00.002-05:00

This week, I decided to take time out of my usual busy-ness and make matching skirts for the girls...

I picked this fabric because my plan is to make a matching button-up shirt for Isaac. His will have the puppy fabric with brown pockets. I think it'll be cute.lol The girls really like their new clothes!

Blessings,

A Portrait of Allison

2009-07-11T14:04:00.002-05:00

My long lost daughter...she's in lane #2 looking at the camera...

And she's off!

Look at that girl go...

Finish line...

Happy to be done for this week!

I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical when Allison said she wanted to join the swimteam. I mean, she already spends everyday at the pool! Well, it's been a good fit for her and she's really enjoying the friend's she's made and the great coaching that she's received. I'm glad that she's enjoying her summer.

Blessings,

Cabin Fever is Upon Us

2009-07-11T09:01:00.002-05:00

It's hard to update week after week when this is our time of year where the heat is so oppressive that we just stay inside all the time being crabby at each other.lol

Here are some highlights:

1. Allison joined the swimteam.(God bless her, like she doesn't spend enough time outside in the water.lol)

2. We've been spending a million hours in the pool. It's the only time when being outside is not too bad.

3. We've been witnessing the local wildlife since it's been too hot to mow the yard.LOL

Here's some photos from the above, except Allison, whom we never see anymore.

Around and around they go...

Looks like a great set-up...

We had two of these birds of prey!

Here's one in flight...

They REALLY liked my garden. Not sure what they were after but...

They patiently waited for my DH to leave the yard and quit taking photos of them.LOL

Lately, it's either raining or 100 degrees outside. Yuck! I can't wait until it cools off, you know, in October. sigh.lol

Blessings,

Keeping Cool...

2009-06-27T16:13:00.002-05:00

It's been so hot lately! This week, I noticed that our bounce house wasn't THAT BIG and sooooo....

Fun was had by all...

It was almost like a vacation and the kids thought I was just the best!

Blessings,

r6d7vjigeq

My Garden...

2009-06-19T11:35:00.002-05:00

Here's a few photos of the garden today...

This is my greenbean, dill, basil, and lettuce garden. I just replanted the lettuce since the older heads are starting to bolt. I planted a heat tolerant variety and will also be putting a shade over it soon. It's also close to the house to shade it during the hotter parts of the day.

This is my greenbean patch. I also have some carrots and beets but they don't grow well in hot weather. I'll replant those for the fall/winter garden later in the summer. The greenbeans have been great this year! I'm having a stinkbug problem but am still getting lots of beans. I've kept the garden organic this year and the bug population thanks me.LOL! I'm still trying to fight them but it's not going too great.

Here's the cucumber bed. I got so many cukes this year! Unfortunately, we've been attacked by the dreaded pickleworm and I need to decide if I'm going to treat it with Seven, or if I'll try BT first. BT is organic but has had limited success. Sevin is not organic but is usually more successful. I'd love to get more pickles out of this season though, so I need to decide on something!lol

Here's my pepper and tomato plants. Now, they've also been attacked by stinkbugs but they seem to do ok anyway. The aphids have been the hardest bug to fight with these plants. I've used ladybugs and an organic soap spray but the rain keeps washing the bugs off for me and they are still thriving. It has definitely taken a toll on productivity but we're still getting more tomatoes than we can comfortably eat in a week's time so I guess I don't mind sharing.lol

Here's my soybeans...We got hit by hail this week for over an hour and it tore holes in all the leaves. I'm hoping that they will bounce back. We'll see. :)

Here's a close-up of the pods and some of the leaves...

As I said in a previous post, this has been a good year for gardening! What a blessing to feed the kids out of our gardens and know that the food didn't have pesticides on them. It's been hard work but for the most part, it's been fun. Not fun to cut the caterpillars off the tomatoes or fight the other bugs, but the weeding and tending has been a joy to me. I'm hoping that each year will be easier as I learn more about gardening.

Blessings,

The Little Engineer...

2009-06-19T11:22:00.003-05:00

Isaac has become quite the block builder of late! We just keep finding these creations all over the house...

Notice his use of space...

He also loves things to be symmetrical...

He used parts of my old vacuum to suck the bad guys...lol

Now, if it weren't a 100 degrees outside! I guess it's better than the hail.lol

Blessings,

More Summer Fun...

2009-06-17T11:36:00.005-05:00

Everyone's been taking advantage of our pool this year. The weather's been so hot that it's the only time anyone's willing to venture out of doors.

Jon says hi!

I'm posting this photo because, if you look very closely, you can see a hint of a smile. That's a rare photo.lol

Now this little critter is probably going to be an olympic swimmer! She can be seen in the pool every chance she gets. And always has a look of pure joy on her face.

She even has her own pair of goggles, that she sleeps with.lol

Good thing Daddy keeps her safe! She doesn't know that she can't breathe under water yet.lol

Pure Joy!

In other news, my MIL bought this fan for my DH's birthday and my Dad, Brother, and Husband installed it this past weekend. It's so pretty and really makes the room look finished. What a blessing to have that project done!

My garden is still hanging in there, although I'm seeing that the heat, hail, and big storms are taking it's toll on the poor plants. I'm guessing I'll be replanting within the next month or so for our second season. In good news, I've been able to pickle 11 jars of dill pickles this year! Now that's a good cucumber season! I've also had enough greenbeans and lettuce to keep us fed for the past two or three months. The biggest crop has been tomatoes by far. I've given so many away and still we're hard pressed to eat the ones we keep before they go bad. Yesterday, for dinner, I served two tomatoes sliced as a side dish. Now that's desperation.lol

On the school front, I've been working with Jon on SAT prep work and we've been finishing up a few high school subjects that they started late in the last school year. Things are going good and I can't wait to be done until the new school year. I could use a break before August.LOL

Blessings,

A Little Package From China...

2009-06-05T12:00:00.001-05:00

I just received the neatest thing in the mail today! A couple of weeks ago, I was visiting one of my favorite foreign blogs, One Child Policy Homeschool and Jimmie was asking for people to review a new business from her best friend there in China. She was starting a business for homeschoolers world-wide to receive actual packets from China! How cool is that?! I was definitely interested!LOL

Today, we received our packet and it is great!

It contains many different things from China. The first thing that the kids saw as they opened the packet was the real red scarf that children from China wear from ages 6-14. Evie thought it was so neat to hold and wear something that a little girl her age could be wearing right now over there! You could almost feel the world get smaller for her as we talked. Pretty amazing!

Jon's favorite parts were the Chinese flag,

An original paper cutting, and the Chinese Knot with an old Chinese coin.

You all know how much he loves paper and knot tying.LOL! I can see that these items will keep him busy for the next couple of weeks as he learns how to replicate those two ancient arts.

Evie's favorites were the scarf, the money...

and the really neat red envelope that the money came in...

There were so many great things in this packet! I'm not going to review them all, but needless to say this was the highlight of our day. I'm putting it away and we'll be getting it back out this August when we begin studying China in earnest.

Thank you Jimmie for giving me the chance to review such a great product! If any of you are interested in purchasing an envelope for your homeschooling go to this site...

http://www.squidoo.com/china-kit

Blessings,

The Sophia Chroncles...

2009-05-30T20:09:00.003-05:00

Dear Sophia,

I miss how you always wanted me to hold your little hand when you nursed. It had to be just so, with my hand cupping yours. I miss how your curly red hair would tickle my arm as I held you close. I miss looking into your little brown eyes and listening to your contented little coos as you would drift off to sleep.

Once again, you've surprised me. I think, surely you're too little to give up nursing. You can't possibly be ready to potty train. Brush your own teeth? No way!

You're my little one. My baby.

Aren't you?

Somewhere, along the way, you've decided to grow up on me. My amazing little one, I can no longer deny it, you're no longer my baby. You're my big, wonderful, beautiful big girl and I love you.

Goodbye sweet baby. Hello big girl Sophia.

Blessings,

A Portrait of Allison...

2009-05-21T08:13:00.002-05:00

Even with bad knees, Allison will "Be the Horse" for the littles. Especially, on rainy yucky days where going outside is just a dream.

Now if it would just stop raining. I'm not sure we can take much more. If you need me, I'll be outside building my ark.

The Sophia Chronicles

2009-05-21T08:05:00.003-05:00

How do babies go cross-eyed?

Well, I guess they can't. She tried though. LOL!

(Allison was making faces at her and went cross-eyed. Sophia thought it was so funny and tried to copy her throughout dinner and dessert. )

I think Sophia gets more fun with each passing day.

Blessings,

Garden Pictures...

2009-05-21T07:57:00.002-05:00

I found this beauty popping out of my greenbean patch the other day...

Morning Glory

See it? The kids planted more than veggies in this patch I guess...

Our blackberry patch has been giving off a few berries here and there...

This has been a good garden season! I'm thankful that we were able to reduce our grocery budget some this season. We'll have to see if I can keep it going during our rainy and hot seasons.

On a side note, it's been raining since Monday and we're going insane.lol

Blessings,

The Jon Manual...

2009-05-21T07:48:00.003-05:00

Jon is such an amazing help around here. The other night, a friend from scouts gave Jon some Mahi-Mahi and he decided to fry it up for me. I love that he likes to cook and bake. Often, he'll just ask to cook dinner or make a wonderful dessert. It's really nice to have a break. :)

The fish was really good! We had several pounds and all was eaten. LOL

Blessings,

Spring...

2009-05-08T16:28:00.004-05:00

I kind of feel like spring has skipped us this year and summer has taken it's place but we're enjoying the weather for now. :)

Photobucket has been a pest lately and that makes it hard for me to blog. I don't have a lot of time to spend online and if the websites are persnickity, then I don't get anything done. Today though, things went o.k., so here's some photos...

Three beans in a pot...

I've been picking enough for a meal every two-three days now. When the kids get tired of them, I'll freeze them and we'll have them in the winter...

Here's the peas. They've been giving enough to put on a salad but next time I'll grow way more...

Lettuce...

Greenbean patch, I'll plant the whole box next time...

Squash and cucumbers...

Tomatoes and peppers...

We're going to be swimming in them soon...

Here's the latest project, soybeans! I've got four different kinds and they are already growing quickly...You can also see my carnations from last year's wildflower mix. They are going strong...

We did end up finding blackberries and planted them on the side yard. Four thornless and one with thorns for cross-pollination. Things are going well and we picked our first blackberry yesterday. Next year, we should have a lot!

Here's some garlic the kids planted. It's doing well in my unweeded bed from last year...

They also planted sunflowers...

Here's Sophia wearing a pretty dress before she outgrows it. :) She's been wearing a lot of Evie's clothes lately. The only difference, is the height.lol

Here's a late night Chemistry lab. Sophia was a big help...

I guess that's it. We've been gearing up for our summer schedule. Allison will be working all the time. Jon's hoping for a job.

Evie's finished her first MUS workbook, Primer! She noticed that she only had 14 pages to go to be done and decided to whip it out in one day. Super! I like that attitude. lol

We're weaning Sophia in two weeks, the hard way. I'm just done. Sophia is old enough and she's just going to have to get over it. *snort* Pray for us, it's going to be a rough week...or two if she's anything like Evie was.lol

Blessings,

Is it Easter again?

2009-04-24T15:27:00.002-05:00

Nope, they are picking our Blueberries!

I can't believe that they are ripe already! Normally, our season starts late May-early June. I need to call around at the U-Pick places to see if they are opening early. Don't want to miss that!

My garden is growing great too!

Here are my peas, lettuce, spinach, dill, and basil...

This first one is the greenbean, turnip, carrot, and beet garden...

Next is the squash, cucumber, zucchini and pattypan squash...

The third row is tomato and peppers...

Look at those tomatoes...

I just put in some swiss chard in the back garden since we've not been able to find blackberries this year. They are tiny but already growing. I love GARDEN SEASON!

Blessings,

My Project...

2009-04-24T15:21:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, my Mom took all the kids to the zoo. I stayed home to have some time to finish a project I've been working on...

Matching dresses for Evie and Sophia...

I bought this blue eyelet at Walmart a few weeks ago and finally decided to make the dresses. They turned out pretty good. Not perfect (darn it!) but pretty good.LOL Sophia's is a little snug and Evie's is a little big. I think I did pretty good considering I didn't have a pattern. I used the pink Easter dress for a pattern for Sophia's and part of a pattern for the top of Evie's. I had to have an under-layer for the dresses due to the fabric and it was tricky. I like the shape and next time I just make Sophia's a little bigger. At least she can wear it for a month or two.LOL

Blessings,

The Jon Manual

2009-04-24T15:13:00.002-05:00

Jon decided that he wanted to try his hand at sewing. Last night he picked out his fabric from my stash and also made a run to Wallyworld for another color since I didn't have exactly what he wanted. Then we set to work, me training and him learning. He did a great job! He made a three tier skirt for Evie. He picked the colors and arranged it himself and I only helped on sewing the elastic inside the waistband. Not only did he do a great job, I had fun spending time with him one-on-one.

Jon and Evie with the new skirt...

Here's the skirt up close...

Great job Jon! I can't wait to see what you make next.

Blessings,

Jon's gift...

2009-04-24T07:34:00.002-05:00

Jon took some great photos of his birthday trip to the Kennedy Space Center and I thought I'd swipe some for my blog... :)

Here's the entrance...

Here's my Dad and Jon with Astronaut Wendy Lawrence. She's a very interesting person! She's gone on four space flights and was one of the only helicopter pilots accepted into the space program.

Space shuttle

Jon and Dad in front of space shuttle...

"Rocket Garden"

NASA...

This creature is the space shuttle mover.

Command center...

Burners? Space butt? Still pretty cool photo...

Jon had a wonderful time. We'll have to go back and take the rest of the family soon. I can't believe we only live 1 1/2 hours from this, pretty cool!

Blessings,

Spring time fun...

2009-04-24T06:57:00.002-05:00

I can't believe that it's almost pool season here already. I have a love-hate relationship with this season. The big pool is a pain in the rump to take care of, but the kids love it. This past weekend, my dh got the little pools out and the younger kids had a great time.

Flying Evie...

Hard landing...

Isaac prefers the hose...

It's also "spend time outside every night until dark" season. Now, this season I love. The weather is wonderful and the kids get tuckered out every night and sleep well during this season.LOL We have some neighborhood friends that we spend time with most nights but even on days when we're on our own, we have lots for the kids to do...

Sophia having dinner outside...

Evie playing mini golf...

and biking...

Mom and Dad hanging out, "supervising"

Allison, home from work...

Jon, cleaning up glass...

What a blessing these evenings are for our family.

Blessings,

2009-04-17T13:45:00.001-05:00

The Jon Manual...

2009-04-16T20:13:00.002-05:00

Jon's birthday was last Friday. I can't believe that he's now 15 years old. Boy, do I feel old.LOL

Our big gift to him was a sleeping bag that weighs under 2 pounds. I know, but that's what he wanted.lol It also shrinks into a 7" x 17" square. Pretty impressive.

My parent's got him lunch with an astronaut at the Kennedy Space Center. He was pleased.lol They left the next day and had a great time.

Happy Birthday, Jonathan! We love you!

Blessings,

Sewing Project...

2009-04-16T20:08:00.003-05:00

I bought a cute fabric for Isaac and I finally had some time to work on this project...

It's a "Car's" collared shirt...

He was such a wonderful model for me...lol

Here's a goofy boy front photo...

I've only attempted collared shirts once before and that was with the help of a good friend who taught me how to sew. Now I remember why I don't do them regularly. They are HARD!LOL Eric thinks I need to do them often, to get used to them. I'm not so sure about that. Let's just put this on the back burner for a while.lol I do have some cute puppy fabric...

Blessings,

Easter and such...

2009-04-16T19:49:00.002-05:00

Here's some photos of our Easter weekend...

Shirley Temple, I mean, Little Sophia all dressed up.

She is sooo sweet in pink!

This year, because of Sophia's allergies, I gave everyone a different color egg to find. I didn't want Sophia finding things that she can't have and I thought this would cut down on hurt feelings. It went pretty good! I hid the eggs in different parts of the yard for each color and each kid was sent to their part to find their eggs. I know, complicated but necessary.lol

Isaac was a very good finder this year...he had blue eggs to find...

So was big sister Evie...who had the purple eggs this year...

Sophia...not so much.lol She did not understand the concept and did not like the tiny little grass buggies that jump around in the grass.lol She would find the stuff but I had to put it in her basket. Sophia had the yellow eggs...

Jon's color egg that he had to find was green. He said that it wasn't fair.lol Everything is green and he had some trouble finding everything. Good thing I counted...lol

Allison got orange and she was done pretty quick with Grandpa's help...

I hope you all had a great Easter!

Blessings,

Mish-mash of info...

2009-04-10T10:29:00.003-05:00

First off, Happy Birthday Jon! I now have two eligible drivers. Yikes! That's scary.LOL

Here's a few photos from the week...

Jon, evidently doing something quite interesting. He's such a great big brother to include all the littles in his fun and games...

Merry Christmas! This costume has worked it's way through each of my littles. It's probably the best, most loved costume in the whole box.

Cheese!

We had some fun painting yesterday morning. It's so nice to see these kids getting along! I found this banner paper at Wally World and it's great to cover the whole table and let them go at it.

And more dress-up. Evie really likes dressing up and she loves to dress Sophia up too. I thought they looked so cute together.

In other news, I've been deep cleaning again. It sure is a futile activity in a house full of little people, but the clutter is killing me!

I've also been hanging out the laundry again. The weather has been perfect for it. It's amazing to me how quickly it dries on the line. 15 minutes and it's ready to be folded and put away. In the dryer, it'd be at least an hour. It's a good money saver too.

My garden is really doing well so far. I've got flowers on the peas, three yellow squash and maybe a dz different tomatoes on the vine. The pepper plants have been producing also. I'm hoping that the lettuce is nice this year. It bolted last year. My greenbeans look wonderful. I was just out there and I think that I'll have some flowers on those sometime this week. We'll see. It sure has been keeping me busy! We ate some turnip greens the other day and they were wonderful. I can't wait to pick more.

I have a movie of the kids outside on their skuuts and Evie on her bike, but Allison has been working every. single. day. and hasn't been able to upload it for me to photobucket. They are amazing on those things! I can't even keep up with them on walks any longer. I'm going to need my bike soon. Yesterday, I only saw them at every corner.LOL They had to wait for me to cross the street and that's the only time I saw them. Occasionally, Sophia will ride back and forth from me to the corner just to keep busy but the other two will just wait me out.LOL

I'm working the kinks out of Allison's final school year, next year. I'm happy and sad.LOL She almost decided to take an extra year, but just yesterday decided to just finish. I think it's a good idea. She's ready and if she had all her credits this year, I'd have let her go. She's done a lot of growing this year and her maturity makes it much easier to see her grow up. She still doesn't know what she wants to be yet, but I'm sure she'll figure it out. We keep looking up different jobs whenever we see something interesting. At least that's fun.lol

It looks like Jon will only be here for another year after her. He's moving at quite the clip. It's wonderful to see him working toward a specific goal. Much easier when they know what they want to be.lol

Well, that's my hodge-podge of misc. information that I have to share today. I have to go shopping for the week and I'm so thankful for my menu lists. It makes it not so bad.LOL

Blessings,

Preschool on Saturdays...

2009-04-05T05:58:00.002-05:00

Sophia is so smart. At least once or twice a day, she'll come get me by grabbing me by the legs and pushing me into the hallway and announcing, "I want a box!" Sometimes it takes me a little while to figure out what she wants since her baby accent is still pretty strong. She clearly thinks I've got hearing issues, since she normally will become exasperated and lead me to what she's thinking of.LOL Today, she wanted our messiest box.

The Rice Box.

She was so cute, sitting there, doing her work...then Isaac came along and they both had some fun...

They both worked together without fighting for at least 10 minutes...lol

Then, right after this photo, they both started flinging the rice from one end of the house to the other. In fact, I had to put Sophia in time out because she wouldn't stop even when told to.

Now I remember why it's been put away so long. I think from now on, this little box will be done outside. In the grass. Far from the back door.lol

Blessings,

Spring Where You Are...

2009-03-30T16:23:00.002-05:00

Lisa, at The Berry Patch is holding a contest to show everyone what spring looks like in your neck of the woods. I thought I'd join in since spring is one of my favorite times of the year.

Spring, to me is...

Fresh new gardens...

Little baby blueberries...

Little oranges too...

Edible green stuff...

And of course, nice warm laundry hanging on the line...

Really, it's the beginning of the year for me. It's as though I've woken up from a nice winter's nap and am ready for the hard work ahead.

If you'd like to join this contest, head over to The Berry Patch. Good luck!

Blessings,

The Farmer's Market

2009-03-25T15:38:00.003-05:00

There's a local Flea Market that has become mostly a farmer's market. My mom goes every Wed and some Saturdays. It has become a big way to save money on produce for my family! On weeks when everyone is healthy, I go with Mom. It's our standing date. On weeks like this one, I send one of my older kids and they go out to lunch afterwards.

Today Jon went and returned with this...

1 box of Navel oranges (84) $10.00
1 flat of strawberries $15.00
1 watermelon $4.00
4 broccoli
1 bag of carrots $1.00
3 gallon bags of greenbeans
8 yellow squash
5 greenpeppers
1 red pepper
4 bunches bananas

Total $44.00

The oranges last us two weeks and everything else is for a week. The strawberries we'll freeze if they start to get soft before we finish them.

Blessings,

The Jon Manual...

2009-03-25T14:15:00.002-05:00

Jon made this cake completely from scratch to celebrate Allison's birthday yesterday...

I am continually amazed at his artistic and cooking abilities!

Allison loved it...

Blessings,

Sophia Skuuts

2009-03-23T13:04:00.002-05:00

Sophia Skuuts

2009-03-23T12:33:00.003-05:00

We made this video of Sophia riding Isaac's Skuut today. I can't believe how fast she is already! We moved the seat down on the Skuut a week ago and she's already balancing really well.

Allison has figured out my video camera and has uploaded this video for me. I now have a whole new realm of possibilities.LOL Of course, once I tried adding text, it all messed up so I'll add this comment to another post.lol

Blessings,

Lisa

The Sophia Chronicles...

2009-03-20T16:07:00.005-05:00

We were making Allison's birthday treat and when our backs were turned, we found this...

(Good job watching her Jon...lol) Allison requested Death By Chocolate from De'Etta's blog for her birthday treat. She never picks something easy, like, I don't know, maybe CAKE?! No, always the difficult one.LOL

Sophia's a cutie, that's for sure...

Park Day

2009-03-20T14:46:00.003-05:00

Today, we tried a "new to us" park. It was really nice and we'll be going back again sometime soon. Here are some photos to prove that I'm still doing things even though I'm totally burned out and would like to sleep for the next two months.lol

*I had a hard time whittling the photos down to a reasonable amount.LOL (Sorry in advance.)

The Park

The Hurler, I don't usually allow much time on this...

The Monkey

She did quite well for a first timer...

Cutie at the slide...

Even Allison had fun...

Tada!

Have I mentioned how nice Sophia looks in orange?lol

She loved all the tubes and slides...

So did Allison,lol...

I looked up and almost had a heartattack...

Sophia was up there! Luckily, Allison was too...

Cute Shot of Sophie alert... love those curls...

The great teeter totter experiment of 2009... how many kids does it take to lift Jon in the air...

Whoops... (no children were harmed in this experiment,lol)

Everyone on the teeter totter and we don't even know all these kids...lol

We had a fun time and was sad to leave. I think that we'll make this one of our parks in rotation with the other ones. It was fun, yet a little far with lots of contruction between us. I'd love to spend some time looking around the whole park next time. It was very large with a frisbee course in the back. That'd be fun!

Blessings,

5 Week Spring/Summer Menu Plan

2009-03-19T12:09:00.004-05:00

Well, the seasons are changing and that means the kids would like to see a different menu plan. We're getting great fruit and veggies from the farmer's market now and will hopefully get many nice things from our new garden this year. With the warmer temps, we will be adding grilling to the rotation and drop the soups and stews. No one wants a nice hot soup when you're already nice and hot.LOL Here's the new menus and I hope they help.

Week 1

Breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, dessert

Pancakes and fruit, egg salad and carrots and cucumbers w/dip, apples and peanutbutter, Taco stuff, popsicles/fudgesicles

Muffins and fruit, homemade bread, fruit and cheese, chips, spaghetti pie and salad, fruit pie

Granola bars, mac and cheese, steamed carrots, apple sauce, yogurt, hamburgers/hotdogs, potato wedges, salad, milkshakes

eggs and sausage, biscuits, leftover burgers/dogs, cheese and fruit, cream cheese and crackers, sauteed chicken, noodles, steamed veggies, popsicle/fudgesicle

muffins and fruit, tortilla pizza and applesauce, rice cakes and yogurt, kabab's, rice, grilled veggie, brownies

pancakes and fruit, leftovers or ramen w/peas, pudding and whipped cream, tilapia/salmon, rice, steamed veggies, popcorn

eggs and cheese, tortillas, subs, chips and pickles, fishy crackers, pretzels, and m&m's, heavenly chicken, rolls, fresh greenbeans, icecream

Week 2

Pancakes and fruit, tuna salad-carrots and cucumber sticks w/dip, apples and peanut butter, taco pie, pop/fudge

muffins and fruit, homemade bread-fruit and cheese, chips, pizza and salad, fruit pie

granola bars and fruit, mac and cheese-steamed broccoli, fruit cup, yogurt, potato bar w/broccoli, cheese and ham, milkshakes

eggs and bacon w/fruit, chicken nuggets-french fries and peas, cheese and crackers, grilled chicken, noodles and corn, pop/fudge

muffins and fruit, pizza and applesauce, rice cakes and yogurt, chicken salad, brownies

pancakes and fruit, leftovers or grilled cheese/PBJ's, jello, shepard's pie, popcorn

eggs, bacon, and toast, subs, chips, and pickle, fishy crackers, pretzels, and m&m's, salisbury steak, corn and greenbeans, mashed potatoes, ice cream

Week 3

Pancakes and fruit, chicken salad sandwiches-veggies and dip, apples and peanutbutter, fahitas w/cheese and sour cream, popsicle/fudgesicles

eggs and sausage, homemade bread-fruit and cheese, chips, garlic-butter pasta and salad, fruit parfaits

granola bars and smoothies, blackbeans and rice-veggie tray w/dip, yogurt, BBQ chicken-rice and steamed veggies, rice crispie treats

eggs and biscuits, chicken nuggets-fries and fruit, cheese and crackers, chili and cornbread, cobbler

muffins and fruit, frozen pizza and applesauce, ricecakes and yogurt, porkchops-noodles, greenbeans and applesauce, dessert pizza

pancakes and fruit, leftovers or ramen w/peas, jello, hotdogs and hamburgers w/fries and salad, brownies

smoothies and leftover baked goods, subs w/chips and pickles, fishy crackers, pretzels and m&m's, oriental peppersteak w/rice, ice cream sandwiches

Week 4

pancakes and fruit, egg salad sandwiches, veggies w/dip, apples w/dip, nachos, pop/fudge

eggs and sausage, homemade bread w/cheese and fruit, chips and salsa, lasanga-breadsticks and salad, fruit parfaits

granola bars and smoothies, mac and cheese-fruit cups, yogurt, sloppy joes w/rice and greenbeans, rice crispie treats

eggs and toast, chicken nuggets or shrimp w/fries and fruit, cheese and crackers, blackbeans and rice w/salad and breadsticks, cobbler

muffins and fruit, tortilla pizza w/apples, smoothies, grilled steak w/corn and potato wedges, dessert pizza

pancakes and fruit, meatball subs and chips, veggie tray, steak salad, brownies

smoothies and leftover baked goods, ramen w/peas, fishy crackers, pretzels, and m&m's, fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn/greenbeans, ice cream sandwiches

Week 5

pancakes and fruit, tuna salad w/veggies and dip, apples and peanutbutter, burritos, pop/fudge

eggs and bacon, bread w/peanutbutter and fruit, chips and salsa, baked ziti w/salad, parfaits

french toast and fruit, blackbeans and rice w/veggie tray, yogurt, tuna noodle casserole w/fresh greenbeans, milkshakes

eggs and biscuits, chicken nuggets w/fries and fruit, p-nut butter crackers, hash w/steamed veggies, rice crispie treats

muffins and fruit, frozen pizza and applesauce, smoothies, breakfast for dinner (pancakes, sausage, fruit salad), brownie

coffeecake and juice, meatball subs w/chips, veggie tray, bbq pork w/noodles and greenbeans, popcorn

smoothies and leftover baked goods, garlic butter pasta w/veggies, crackers, pretzels, and m&m's, meatloaf w/mashed potatoes and beans and corn, ice cream

Some differences in the winter verses the summer menu...

1. I realized that the littles did not do well with a sweet treat for a snack. I've moved those to dessert and made healthier choices for during the day.

2. I eliminated the cold cereals. We don't have any early morning appts anymore and cereal NEVER lasted until lunch.

3. My kids prefer pancakes every single day.LOL I've moved it to twice a week. Hopefully that'll keep them happy.

4. We now have two that can't have dairy products-me and Sophia. I've adjusted the menu to include food for us when the others are having pizza or cheesy stuff. It's not listed here, but it's on the main plan.

5. I've tried to add in more fruit and veggies. They are cheap this time of year and I want us to be thoroughly sick of them come wintertime.LOL

Well, I guess that's it. I'm still working on the grocery lists but hope to be done with it by the weekend. So far, we're on week 2 and it's working nicely. Let me know if any of you have questions.

Blessings,