Just Keeping the Ends Tied........

Todd was WRONG!

2011-09-27T19:35:00.000-07:00

OK, maybe not completely wrong, but.............

Today was not a good day.

It started out OK. Everyone did their morning chores and got ready for school. Little P even put his breakfast plate in the dishwasher without a fight! No one argued when I said we needed to clean off the entertainment center before starting school. Then we started school on time (well.... almost).

And that's when things started downhill.

Little P and Little Bits insisted on playing nerf guns in the livingroom, making quite the ruckus, while I was trying to read the history lesson. But a raised voice (once or twice) and we made it through.

Then we started on Kindergarten.........And things got worse......Way worse.

Today's lesson was our first introduction to reading a simple story. We were working our way through and she got stumped on a word. No big deal.......sound it out. But she wasn't getting it. The kicker? She had just read the word FOUR times in the previous sentences! My mind just couldn't wrap it's self around the idea that you can struggle with a word you've already read 2 seconds before.

And I found myself getting frustrated. Really frustrated. And (I hate to admit it).....Angry.

I finally threw up my hands in defeat and stomped into the bedroom.

I texted my frustration to my husband (it's easier for him to text than call when he is at work) and he responded "right" with words of encouragement.........."You can do it."

And I got angrier........

Now, let me deviate from my story a little and back to Todd. Todd Wilson is one of my favorite homeschool speakers. He's funny and real and I can relate to him. His concept of "be real" is great and something I think we homeschooling moms tend to ignore.

Hubby and I heard him for the first time a few years ago when he came to our states' annual homeschool conference. One of his concepts that really stuck with us then was the idea of "shutting the escape hatch". In other words, committing to homeschool and taking public school off the table. So, Hubby and I did just that.

For a while things seemed great. But then I started feeling like I was clawing at that escape hatch, trying to reopen it on a regular basis. After several blow-ups, I finally put my finger on the problem. I explained it to Hubby this way:

"It's as if we were both in a room and closed the escape hatch and then I turned around to find you had snuck out of the room and locked me in by myself."

Ouch! Well, after a long heart-to-heart and some reorganizing of our homeschool, things got much better.

But lately I've been feeling like I'm back to clawing at that escape hatch. And today, things really came to a head.

One of the things Todd stresses to homeschool dads is to be encouraging, especially when your wife has a bad day. My hubby has latched on to that and has always been very encouraging.

However, today I finally discovered something about myself....... Encouragement doesn't help! Well, at least not on a bad day. 'Cause, don't get me wrong, I need encouragement just as much as the next homeschool mom. But, when I throw up my hands in defeat and stomp out of the room, the last thing I want Hubby to say is "you can do it!". 'Cause what I hear is "you have to or I won't love you anymore".

OUCH!

What I need is for Hubby to give me "permission" to take the day off, to take a break. I already feel guilty for walking away, but know I'm too frustrated to go back. So when Hubby says "you can do it!" I feel like he is pushing me to go back.

And I know I can't.

Thus, I feel like I have failed him and he won't love me anymore. So my only solution is to accept failure and put my kids in public school.

Thankfully, all these realizations have helped and Hubby and I have had a heart-to-heart this evening. He is more than happy to simply give me "permission" to take the day off when things aren't going well and I'm beyond frustrated. =)

So, I'm laying all this out there just in case I'm not the only one who feels like this (Please tell me I'm not the only one?!?) and it may help someone else.

And, Todd, if you ever read this, maybe just a little clarification from you that not all homeschool moms are made exactly the same?

Blessings,

First Week of School

2011-08-30T15:30:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it. We finished our first official week of school {yeah!}. And without any serious meltdowns or temper-tantrums...........from the teacher anyway, lol.

I decided to go with My Father's World again. We enjoyed it last year and, while I debated on coming up with something on my own to save on money, in the end I decided (well, truthfully my husband decided) my sanity was more important! I'm just not very reliable when I try to come up with my own lessons. I tend to not do them rather than figure out how to. So MFW is a really good fit for us (read that ME, lol) as I don't have to do a lot of teacher prep or planning of my own. I can just open the manual and go!

Munchkin doing her reading assignment.

I also decided to stick with pretty much everything else we were using, although, I did switch our writing program. MFW recommends Writing Strands (level 3 for Munchkins age), but it just really didn't work for us. Both she and I were ending up frustrated every time we worked on a lesson out of it. So, after a little research, I decided on Wordsmith Apprentice. So far we are really loving it. She loves the idea of being a reporter and the lessons are short enough to keep her interest, but challenging enough that she has to really think and apply herself.

I've also added in a few things. First is A Reason for Handwriting Transition. We've used this book (and the one before it) before, but it was rather hit and miss. I decided to more "formally" schedule it this year as I think her handwriting could use some help. Second is a workbook called "Comprehension Detective". I've felt like her reading comprehension hasn't been as good as I'd like considering she is reading above grade level. So I got this book to work on a couple times a week to try and improve that area. I also have a book of Multiplication Practice Tests (that comes with a CD as well) and Times Tales that I will add in as I see a need. Right now they are not scheduled, but I have them on the shelf ready to pull out if needed.

I started Peanut with MFW Kindergarten earlier this year. We've taken some time off here and there, so we are only finishing up lesson 12. So far we have been really enjoying it. I've been trying not to go too fast or push too hard because Peanut has needed more time to be "ready" for school. But I do think we are finally there {yeah!}. I'm hoping to be able to move into MFW 1st grade after the new year.

Peanut working on her Picture Cards

(notice the Ocean poster from week 9 in the background?)

Little P has been mostly tagging along with both Munchkin and Peanut. (All three of the kids participate in most of the group stuff in Creation to Greeks, although Munchkin is the only one I "require" to do the notebooking and other written assignments.) He knows most of the songs in the Kindergarten program and is starting to recognize some of the letters. But he's not ready to do more yet :o). He does frequently do his own version of the worksheets (both from K and CtoG) and has his own notebook to put his schoolwork in.

Little P working on a coloring worksheet.

Little Bits has thankfully been napping during school time. She has become somewhat of a handful, always wanting to be involved. However, her involvement usually entails taking all the pencils out of the supply tote, dumping the crayons out and throwing them around the room, or writing/coloring on my lesson plan! Occasionally she likes to take whatever worksheet one of her older siblings is working on, which prompts them to grab for it, usually resulting in said worksheet getting torn. I'm hoping that by the new year (when she'll turn 2) she may be ready for some more independent toddler activities and not be so focused on getting into whatever her siblings are doing. (Hey, I can dream right?!? LOL)

Peanut and Little P working on their individual worksheets.

This was supposed to be a post about our first week, but it seems to have turned into a post about our curriculum for the year! Mostly that happened because I don't have much to report on this week. It did go well, we got a lot accomplished. We studied Creation and started our timeline (picture of that coming soon!). We also did our version of a Sabbath meal. That was fun and the kids really enjoyed it. We may try to do it again sometime. They did have a science experiment, but daddy did that with them, so I can't really give an update on that!

So, that's our first week in a nutshell and where I see our year going. I hope to get a post up soon detailing some of the scheduling and organization that I have implemented this year, but I need to get pictures taken first :o) Hopefully I'll get to that in the next day or two. Until then...

Blessings,

A new schedule

2011-08-17T10:56:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, I saw THIS post with the idea of a visual schedule. I immediately loved it! I've tried a schedule several times, but every time I failed. I've mostly followed the MOTH system, but I always seemed to "fall off" the schedule and never figured out how to successfully get back on. However, I have noticed that Peanut does much better with a schedule. She needs to know we are doing this, then that, then food (she's all about the food, lol). So I've been trying to come up with a way to do a schedule that works for both of us. I'm hoping this idea will be a perfect fit. It's still a schedule, but easy to change on the fly if necessary.

Now, this post will also show that I am not a very good blogger, lol. I failed to take pictures of each step, so only have pictures of the final project. I'll do my best to walk you through how I did it, though =)

First, I created a document in word with all the items we would need on our schedule. I added a clip art that "matched" the item to make it easier on my non-readers. I then printed them on regular paper, 5 per page. I cut them out and glued them on a slightly larger piece of scrapbook paper.

I then glued it on some foam board. Finally, I added a strip of magnetic tape on the back.

My Hubby then took the cabinet doors off our old BBQ and mounted them on the wall for me. Wala! Ultra cool visual schedule.

Close up of the top panel.

Close up of the bottom panel.

Wanna know what the best part is? I used materials I had on had, so it only cost me $3.99 for the magnetic tape! We haven't "officially" started using it yet (I only got it finished last night, lol), but I'm really excited to start. I really think it will help us stay in a routine.

Blessings,

Where has the time gone?

2011-06-06T15:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, I've been seriously slacking with updating my blog! Where have the last few weeks gone? I feel like I've simply been in "survival" mode. Just get the basics done. Ever been there?

I'm horribly behind in menu planning. I didn't even make a menu last week (or go shopping!) Somehow we made it all the way to Saturday without eating out or take out! Definitely have to go shopping this week, though. We are seriously out of staples.

We have been busy, though. It's the end of the school year. So there is that push to get everything done before the weather gets too nice and you don't want to do school anymore =) Munchkin had to test this year. It was the first time for both of us. She did really well, though, I'm proud of her. A little weak in math, but we knew that going in. Now it's time to re-evaluate curriculum and determine what to do for next year. I think we'll probably stick with MFW, but I may switch a few other things around. We'll see.

Peanut has been doing really well in school as well. She finally seemed ready for "formal" schooling around January, so we started her in MFW K. She's taken to it like a duck to water =) Little P has also been working with us some. It won't be long before he's ready for something more formal as well. Little Bits has truly become a "toddler terror", lol. She does her best to disrupt school as much as she can. Thankfully she naps most mornings, so we can get something accomplished!

We also made it up to my parents "cabin" for our annually Memorial Day trip. It was cold, it actually snowed on us! But the kids had fun (as always) even if I was a little whiny =).

We just celebrated Munchkin's 10th birthday. I can't believe she is getting so big, she's going to be a 5th grader next year! {Yikes!} She's definitely turning into a little lady. Makes me feel old {sigh}.

Blessings,

P.S. What's a blog post without pictures, lol? All the pictures in this post were taken last weekend at a marsh that's near the "cabin".

Menu Plan for May 9th

2011-05-09T08:16:00.000-07:00

Here is my plan for the week:

Monday - Swedish meat pies, salad

Tuesday - Crock-pot chicken, rice, corn

Wednesday - Shepherds pie, salad

Thursday - crock-pot sausage & potatoes

Friday - Beef tips, rice, broccoli

Saturday - My brother's wedding

Sunday - Burrito night

For more menu plans, visit Organzing Junkie.

Blessings,

Cookbook Giveaway!

2011-05-03T08:22:00.000-07:00

Kitchen Stewardship is giving away a copy of the cookbook "Gluten Free and Good For You" on her blog today. Some of the recipes look super yummy! Head on over and check it out!

http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2011/05/03/got-gluten-free-friends-or-relatives-this-cookbook-can-help-giveaway/

Blessings,

Saturday...er....Sunday Confessions

2011-05-01T20:16:00.000-07:00

So one of the blogs I like to lurk on, A Familiar Path, has started "Saturday Confessions" and I thought I'd give it a try :-)

1. Well this one is pretty obvious, today is Sunday, but I'm participating in "Saturday Confessions". I'm frequently slow to catch on...........

2. I left my purse in the car at Trader Joes yesterday. I didn't realize it until the gal started ringing me up. I had to run out and get it while she (and everyone in line behind me!) waited for me.

3. After Trader Joes, I pulled into the parking lot and parked at Safeway before I realized I didn't want to go to Safeway, I wanted to go to Market of Choice. Yesterday wasn't a good day.....

4. A few weeks ago I created another blog for my photography so that I could blog more about "life" on this blog. The last couple of weeks I've only posted my menu plan. {sigh}

5. I DVR'd the Royal Wedding and my girls, my mother and I had a "Princess Party" Friday evening and watched it. We dressed up and wore tiaras and plastic jewelry =)

6. I have a group picture of us, but I don't want to take the time to download it from my memory card, edit it, and post it here.

7. We fast forwarded through a lot of the wedding......

8. You may not believe me because I was only 2, but I still remember staying up and watching Charles and Diana marry.

9. I have pictures of sewing projects I've done that I need to blog about, but haven't. I also have several projects sitting on my sewing table that I need to start.

10. I took some beautiful pictures of my oldest two last Saturday up at my in-laws. Later in the evening I realized I had my camera in the basic-only-fit-for-facebook setting. I almost cried.

Blessings,

Menu Plan for May 2nd

2011-05-01T19:50:00.000-07:00

Here is my plan for the week:

Monday - Spicy chicken chow mein (in the crock-pot), rice noodles, fried rice.

Tuesday - Crock-pot turkey dinner, rice.

Wednesday - Rice, bean & cheese squares, spanish rice.

Thursday - Dilled chicken & potatoes (crock-pot).

Friday - Swedish meat pies, salad.

Saturday - Roast, mashed potatoes, salad.

Sunday - Hubby's making me dinner :o)

For more menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Blessings,

New ebook!

2011-04-27T10:19:00.001-07:00

31 Days To Clean by Sarah Mae

I've been looking at this book since she first released it! I absolutely LOVE the tagline "Having a Martha House the Mary Way". That is definitely what I want! Today only if you blog or tweet about the book, you get a free copy! How cool is that?!? I can't wait to get my copy and start getting my house and heart into shape! And I will keep everyone updated with how well it goes ;-)

Here is the link to her blog with more information: http://31daystoclean.com/

Blessings,

Menu Plan for April 25th

2011-04-25T08:26:00.001-07:00

Hubby is finally back to work (although at the moment, it is only temporary )-: ) and his new schedule has been throwing off my grove, lol. I had been doing my grocery shopping on Mondays and, since he wasn't working, the kids stayed with him. Well, now he's working. And he's working 4 10's which means he's home on Fridays. OK, no big deal, I'll just switch to shopping on Fridays. So far, though, that has not worked so well! I have NOT made it to the grocery store the last two Fridays. The first week, hubby went on Saturday and then I made it to the story he missed on Sunday. This week, though.........Well here it is Monday and I STILL haven't made it to the store! I finally decided I would see if I could just plan through Friday with what I have in the pantry/freezer and go shopping then. And, guess what? I succeeded! Well, hubby will need to stop and get a few fruits and veggies on his way home, but it should be a quick stop. Anyway, here is my plan:

Monday - Leftover Minestrone soup, bread.

Tuesday - Creamed beef over noodles, cauliflower

Wednesday - Chicken broccoli divan

Thursday - Pasta bean-fredo, salad

Friday - Tacos, beans, rice

Saturday - I'm not sure yet. Probably leftovers, but if we don't have enough, I'll come up with something when I go shopping on Friday :o)

Sunday - Split pea soup, bread

For more menu plans, head over to Organizing Junkie. She's also giving away the book "The Reluctant Entertainer."

Blessings,

Menu Plan for April 18th

2011-04-18T07:32:00.001-07:00

Here is my plan for the week:

Monday - Turkey stir-fry

Tuesday - Oven fried Chicken, mac & cheese, corn on the cob

Wednesday - Cheese burger buns, salad

Thursday - Minestrone soup, bread

Friday - Pesto "bean"-fredo w/turkey, salad

Saturday - Meat loaf, rice, asparagus

Sunday - Easter - Not sure yet, most likely will be at the in-laws.

For more menu plans and lots of ideas, visit Organizing Junkie.

Blessings,

Menu Plan for April 11th

2011-04-11T11:56:00.000-07:00

Here is my plan for the week:

Monday - Steak, shrimp, wild rice, & asparagus (Date Night - kids are at the in-laws)

Tuesday - Crock-pot turkey dinner

Wednesday - lentil enchilada casserole

Thursday - Ham, au grautin potatoes, green beans

Friday - Chili & corn bread

Saturday - Potato bar (hubby will be handling dinner, I will be at a class)

Sunday - Beans and wheat-free tortillas for small group.

For more meal plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Blessings,

The Pillow Case Dress :o)

2011-04-10T17:18:00.000-07:00

After making an outfit for Peanut to wear in my brothers wedding (that girl REFUSES to wear a dress {sigh}) I got bit by the creating bug :o) So I decided to sew a pillow case dress for Munchkin.

It was super easy. And I thought the heart applique made it a little more "fun".

Then I decided to make a pillow case dress for Bits.

* Disclaimer - Getting my 1yo monkey to stay still long enough for a picture is virtually impossible! So I apologize in advance for the poor quality pictures :o)

I did bring the sides in a little on hers. I was afraid it would look too much like she was wearing a bag if I didn't, lol. I also added a ruffled "pocket" to the front. I then threaded a ribbon through the pocket and it ties in the back.

Here is the back.

I was still feeling creative so I decided to make another dress for Bits.

I made the bodice out of a pillow case and then the skirt is the skirt off an old bedskirt!

I'm also contemplating making another, more elaborate dress for Munchkin. It's a little more involved though, so I'm a little nervous not having a pattern! It will be made from scraps and such I have laying around.........Which I probably wont use for anything else........So I probably should just go for it. There, I talked myself into it ;-) I'll keep you updated on how it goes!

Blessings,

Menu Plan for April 4th

2011-04-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

This week I'm doing my best to plan from my freezer and pantry. And I think I've succeeded! It looks like I only need a couple of chickens and some produce and I'm good (I haven't double checked my lentil supply, so I may need those too). Anyway, here is my plan:

Monday - Broccoli Chicken Divan

Tuesday - Italian Lentil & Barley Soup

Wednesday - Turkey, mashed potatoes and green beans

Thursday - Crock-pot Rotisserie chicken, rice and salad (chicken, mac & cheese and salad for Meals Ministry)

Friday - lentil & rice enchilada casserole

Saturday - steak, potatoes and salad

Sunday - leftovers

For more inspiring menu plans, head over to Organizing Junkie.

Blessings,

Menu Plan for March 28th

2011-03-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

Here is my plan for the week =)

Monday - Chicken alfredo & salad

Tuesday - Sweedish meat pies, salad, red potatoes

Wednesday - Soy balsamic chicken, green beans & I'm gonna try quinoa for the first time!

Thursday - Stroganoff & cauliflower

Friday - Potato Bar

Saturday - Split pea soup

For more meal planning inspiration, visit Organizing Junkie.

Blessings,

Recipe Organization

2011-03-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

My recipe organization has always been lacking. A lot of the recipes I use (when I use a recipe, lol) I have printed off the internet or scribbled on a scrap of paper. Then they got shoved in a drawer, or cubbie, or pretty much wherever I could find when I was done with it! The biggest problem with that system was finding it again later. Here are some examples of my recipes:

This is a bunch of them laid out on the counter.

Here is a close up of one. You can't see it very well in the picture, but this one is actually splattered with Teriyaki sauce!

(This one got me a new kitchen floor, but that's another post, lol)

Here's another close up of a recipe. Can you tell what it's for? This would be one of the times I just scribbled the ingredients on a piece of paper rather than printing off the recipe.

I also have a few favorites in these cookbooks.

And this shelf has the rest of my cookbooks, which I only use occasionally.

So, back to the organization issue. The other night I looked everywhere for a recipe. It happened to be one that I had scribbled on a piece of paper and I didn't even know what site I had found it on so I could look for it again. It was imperative that I find the recipe, our dinner depended on it! I did finally find it (it was on top of the paper towel holder. Great place for it, I'm sure), but it took me close to 20 minutes.

Since I'm also the type of person who suddenly goes "Oh shoot! I should have started dinner 10 minutes ago!", spending 20 minutes looking for a recipe can be a real drag. So, I decided it was time to do something about it (finally!).

I went to Michaels and got these cute recipe cards for $1 a package.

Then I went through all the recipes I had stashed different places and wrote the ones I use frequently on the cards. I then filed them in this old picture album that I already had.

For a couple of bucks, my recipes are now organized! I do still have a stack of recipes I want to try and one of recipes I only make rarely (like desserts). But they are all together in the SAME drawer. I will, also, probably add recipes to my book as I go.

Another thing I discovered while working on this project; I don't actually USE a recipe very often! I didn't realize it because it always seemed like I was searching for a recipe. But I went through a bunch of old menus to see what recipes to gather, I kept passing meals by because I didn't need a recipe for them! I guess most of the things I cook, I know what goes into and I just wing it, lol.

This realization of my cooking does pose a new problem, however. I'm trying to be more diligent about having my kids in the kitchen with me when I cook, so that I can teach them how. But I don't have a recipe to hand them for the majority of the things I cook. So, I will be getting more recipe cards and as I cook something that I don't already have a recipe for, I will write it down on a card. Eventually I will have a collection of recipes that Munchkin can take with her when she marries. I will also be able to use them as copywork, since she will need to make a copy of the recipes for her sister :o)

Blessings,

Are you a Mary?

2011-03-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

So, this morning as I sat down to do my morning bible study, I felt compelled to share my journal entry here on my blog. This was interesting since I hadn't even opened my journal yet, let alone written anything! Then as I finished my reading and opened my journal...Nothing. Hmmm....The plot gets thicker!

Usually I start my journal with what ever verse or verses jumped out at me in my reading. This morning, however, nothing did. As I sat there staring at a blank page, wondering where on earth I got the conviction to blog a blank page, the verse I included in my post last night came back to memory. So, I started with that and ended up with four pages! And, since I felt compelled to blog, here it is:

_____________________________________

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. - Ephesians 4:1

Nothing jumped out at me in my reading this morning, but this verse did last night for a blog post. This is one I struggle with a little bit. I very much want my life to reflect Christ. I want my walk to be worthy of my calling. I do my best to make good decisions and to choose the right path. But when I look at our struggles I wonder if I really am? If I was walking worthy of my calling, would we be struggling so much? Am I doing something wrong? Am I missing the right path?

For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. - Matthew 7:14

Have I missed the gate? "The gate is small and the way is narrow", did I pass it in my haste to do good, to walk in a worthy manner? Maybe I should go back, retrace my steps and look again?

Two weeks ago our pastor talked about how all through the Gospels, the disciples listened, but didn't really hear what Jesus was saying to them. All through the Gospels they are surprised when things He said come true. Even after His death they are not there, at His tomb, waiting for Him to be risen. He told them several times what would happen, and yet, they still did not expect it.

There was one, though, who did. Mary.

Mary of Bethany. That's right, Lazarus' sister. She was the one chastised by her sister, Martha, when Jesus came to visit them. Martha was upset because Mary wasn't helping her. But Jesus said to let her alone, she was doing what was right. She was keeping her eyes (and ears) fixed on Jesus.

Later, it is she, Mary of Bethany, who pours expensive perfume on Jesus shortly before His crucifixion. Again she is chastised, this time by the disciples, for wasting such a costly oil. But, again, Jesus told them to let her alone. He knew that she was preparing Him for what was to come. She had HEARD what Jesus had been telling them all. That soon he would be sacrificed.

Mary was also there when Jesus rose from the tomb. She kept her eyes fixed on Jesus.

I find it interesting that all through the Gospels, as Mary does what is right, she is chastised by others. Not by the world, as you might expect, but by other believers. She kept her eyes fixed on Jesus, and literally everyone thought she was wrong! But she never wavered. Their negative remarks fell on deaf ears. The only voice she heard was Jesus'.

I want to be like Mary. To keep my eyes on Jesus no matter what. Maybe, just maybe, with this as my goal, I will turn a corner in my walk and spy that narrow gate.

Lord, help me to be like Mary of Bethany. Help me to keep my eyes fixed on you. And lead me to that narrow gate. Amen.

Blessings,

Blog Split

2011-03-20T20:21:00.000-07:00

I've recently been convicted to blog more about... well... life. In the past, I've always waited for something "important" to blog about. But the reality is, LIFE is important. Things that happen every day, shape who I am and who my kids are and will be. Everything that happens each day, good or bad, is important.

"...I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received." Ephesians 4:1

So, I'm turning this blog back into what I originally intended. A place for me to jot down snippets from everyday life. That may be my menu, or something silly one of the kids did, or my bad day, or a great day of school. I will, however, be moving my photography posts and link-ups to a new blog. Don't worry, I will still post pictures of life here, just not all the post that were dedicated to photography =)

Blessings,

Menu Plan for March 21st

2011-03-20T19:48:00.001-07:00

Here is my menu plan for the week:

Monday - Pot roast, mashed potatoes, green beans

Tuesday - Crock-pot rotisserie chicken, rice & salad

Wednesday - Baja bowls

Thursday - Chicken stir-fry w/rice noodles

Friday - Beef tips & rice

Saturday - BBQ chicken pizza

Sunday - not sure yet

For more meal plans, check out Organizing Junkie. She's also having a giveaway for the book, 7 Day Menu Planner for Dummies. All you have to do is leave a comment on her blog! Head over and check it out.

Blessings,

Menu Plan for March 14th

2011-03-14T12:10:00.000-07:00

Our power was yesterday afternoon and didn't come back till early this morning. Consequently I'm having a bit of a slow start this morning! I finally got my plan together, though, here it is:

Monday - Leftovers or sandwiches

Tuesday - Tortilla soup

Wednesday - Sweet & sour pork, rice & broccoli

Thursday - Cheeseburger buns & salad

Friday - Crock-pot chicken dinner

Saturday - Carne asada, beans, rice & tortillas

Sunday - Not sure yet :o)

For more menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Blessings,

Menu Plan for March 7th

2011-03-07T10:26:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted my menu! I've had a lot on my plate lately and menu planning has been pushed to the back burner. Things are starting to look better now, so hopefully I'll be a regular participant in MPM again! Here is my menu for this week:

Monday - Chicken rice-a-roni, salad

Tuesday - Crock-pot potatoes and sausage, brocoli

Wednesday - Brown rice and lentil casserole, cauliflower

Thursday - Honey ginger chicken & rice

Friday - Grandma's 90th birthday party!

Saturday - Crock-pot chicken dinner

Sunday - Crock-pot stew

For more menu plans, head over to Organizing Junkie.

Blessings,

LEM Photo Challenge - Reflections

2011-03-04T17:17:00.000-08:00

This week the theme at Live Every Moment is Reflections. I never got the typical "ring" shot at my wedding. To be fair, I didn't know I wanted it ;o) However, since getting into photography I've seen a lot of really neat ones and planned to do my own "one of these days", lol. Well that day finally came about a week ago. This is one of the shots from the shoot. I have a couple shots that are better shots of the rings, but I really liked the reflection in this one. Thus the reason for entering it in this weeks competition.

For more great Reflection shots, head over to Live Every Moment.

Blessings,

Swing!

2011-02-28T21:59:00.001-08:00

This weeks challenge at Trendy Treehouse is "Swing". This is one of my favorite pictures of Peanut. She LOVES this coat! It will be interesting to see what happens when she outgrows it ;-)

For more great "Swing" pictures, head over to The Trendy Treehouse.

Blessings,

iheartfaces - Anything but a face!

2011-02-27T21:43:00.000-08:00

This week's theme at iheartfaces is "Head, shoulders, knees & toes........Anything but a face". This was a self-portrait that I took for a project I was just working on. I thought it fit the theme quite nicely :o)

For more great photos, visit iheartfaces.

Blessings,

LEM Photo Challenge - Blue

2011-02-25T11:46:00.000-08:00

So Live Every Moments challenge this week is blue. So, of course, I immediately thought of all my Hawaii pictures. Blue skies and blue water everywhere! But, oh, how to pick just one! I finally decided on this one of my oldest. I don't feature her here as much, her younger siblings tend to hog the camera, lol. But she is starting to turn into a beautiful young woman and I just think this picture of her is so precious.

For more "Blue" shots, head over to Live Every Moment.

Blessings,

Dimples!

2011-02-22T10:19:00.000-08:00

And another photo post for ya'll this morning =) The theme this week at Trendy Treehouse is Dimples. Unfortunately, my kids don't really have dimples. But Little P has one that shows up every now and then, especially when he's being goofy!

For more fun dimple shots, visit The Trendy Treehouse.

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Tuesday 2/21/11

2011-02-22T09:39:00.000-08:00

Wow, I haven't posted a sweet shot in a long time! My life has been rather crazy. If you are so inclined, you can read more about it HERE. Otherwise, here is my "Sweet Shot" for you to enjoy =)

This is a self-portrait that I took for a project I was working on.

And this is another shot for the same project.

For more "Sweet Shots" visit Darcy at my3boybarians.

Blessings,

The Lord is my strength

2011-02-12T22:06:00.000-08:00

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
~Isaiah 40:28-31

This verse has been my security blanket for the last few weeks. Why, you may ask? Well, it's the same reason I haven't posted in a while.

Life has been difficult.

Back in December I posted that we were expecting again. It was a bit of a shock. Our youngest was one in January and Hubby is still unemployed. But we looked at it as a blessings and embraced the excitement of expecting another child.

And then my world fell apart.

The first week in February I went in for my 12 week OB check. The doctor and I chatted for a few minutes about how things were going and he told me everything looked great. Then he got out the doppler and...........

Nothing.

I tried to stay calm as he went out to get the ultrasound machine. "This happens all the time," I told myself, "He'll see the heartbeat with the ultrasound."

He checked with the external wand first and..............

Nothing.

I was shaking as I undressed to prepare for the internal wand, but I was still trying to convince myself that everything was fine.

After a few minutes with the internal wand, he looked at me and I knew. My precious baby had been taken to heaven.

Somehow I made it home to cry on my husband's shoulder. And then we faced the painful decision of what to do next. We decided to go with a D&C. It was scheduled for the following Monday morning (this was Wednesday evening). I spent the next few days in a daze desperately trying to come to terms with the fact that my baby was no longer living.

And then it happened.

Late Sunday night I miscarried. And hemorrhaged. Which resulted in an ambulance ride to the hospital and two units of blood. My grief got put on hold as I dealt with my medical emergency.

Now that I'm starting to feel better physically, I'm once again facing my grief. It hasn't been easy. But....the Lord is giving me strength and, slowly, peace.

And tonight.....comfort.

As I was sitting on my bed knitting, I was reminded of the verse:

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
~Psalm 139:13-16

And it reminded me of what some of my family members had said about God taking an incomplete fetus. As I thought on it some more, I looked at it from the perspective of a knitter.

"You knit me together in my mother's womb."

How many times had I ripped out rows, or even an entire project, because it wasn't quite right? I would imagine God is a perfectionist. If, as He was knitting my baby together in my womb, He looked at it and thought "this is not quite right", why wouldn't He "start over"? I would.

"But," you may say, "God is perfect, he doesn't make mistakes."

And I would agree with you wholeheartedly. But, while God is perfect, he is working with imperfect materials. I am a sinner. My husband is a sinner. And our baby, while it would seem perfect when born, is a sinner. Given that, I find it amazing that He can create a baby in the first place.

Think of it this way. As I said earlier, I'm a knitter. And I've gotten pretty good at it. Not an expert by any means, but I can follow a pattern and turn out something that looks good. However, if someone were to hand me a pair of chopsticks and a whole bunch of shoe laces (in different lengths and types) and tell me to create a sweater to be worn on the popular fashion runways in Paris, I would struggle. I could probably eventually come up with something, but I can't imagine how many times I would have to "start over" in the process.

So, as I said, it's amazing that God can create something as wonderful as a baby with the imperfect materials that he is given without having to "start over" many times first.

I am still sad to say goodbye to my baby. I wish I could have held him and told him how much I loved him. But I will take comfort in knowing that God is the Master Knitter and that He knew what was best for my baby. And I will trust, that when the timing is right and the stitches are "perfect", I will have another baby to hold.

Blessings,

Decorations

2010-12-17T10:15:00.000-08:00

This week at Live Every Moment, the challenge is "Decoration". Here is my take:

For more "Decorations", visit Live Every Moment.

Blessings,

Menu Plan for December 13th

2010-12-13T09:50:00.000-08:00

Well, here we are in week two of hubby's crazy work hours. Last week went pretty well. This week I've tried to keep things really simple again. However, I have no idea when I will get a chance to get groceries, so all of this is subject to change!

Monday - Spaghetti

Tuesday - Taco's

Wednesday - Beef Stew

Thursday - Chef Salad

Friday - Nacho's

Saturday - Tator tot casserole

Sunday - Not sure, probably leftovers or whatever we can find!

For more menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Blessings,

News!

2010-12-11T20:04:00.000-08:00

I have a secret.......

Can you guess what it is?

Blessings,

Little P turns 3!

2010-12-11T08:15:00.000-08:00

My little man turned three on Sunday, they sure grow up fast {sniff, sniff}! So, in honor of his birthday, I grabbed the camera and set-up a quick mini photo shoot. This shot was my favorite. I just love his eyes in this one =)

I'm linking this up with Live Every Moments weekly challenge, "Anything".

Blessings,

Holiday Bokeh

2010-12-08T19:55:00.000-08:00

Here is my attempt at some holiday bokeh. I had a lot of fun with this one! (And, yes, the first one is a self portrait =))

Linking up with the Holiday Bokeh Party at my3boybarians this morning!

Blessings,

Zoom, Zoom!

2010-12-07T12:38:00.000-08:00

My little man loves his Thomas!!

Linking up with Sweet Shot & Shutter Love Tuesdays

P.S. Head over to Trendy Treehouse to vote for my photo!

Blessings,

Menu Plan for December 6th

2010-12-06T10:45:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted my menu and I've decided it's time to get back into it! I have had a menu, I just haven't taken the time to post it. This week we're going into 3 weeks of basically no hubby :-( He's got a temporary job driving truck for the post office. It will be 7 days a week from 3pm to 4am (yuck!), so we will only see him for a couple of hours over lunch. Consequently, I decided that dinners needed to be easy! So here is my plan for the week:

Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday - Pot roast, potato wedges, green beans

Wednesday - Crock-pot chicken, rice, salad

Thursday - Potato bar

Friday - Beef tips, rice, broccoli

Saturday - Tacos, beans, rice

Sunday - Sandwiches.

For more menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Hope you have a blessed week!

iheartfaces - Self Portrait

2010-12-05T22:49:00.000-08:00

This week at iheartfaces they are doing self portraits. Now, you should know, that I HATE being in front of the camera and avoid it at all costs. I don't think I take a very good picture. I much prefer to be the one behind the camera creating something beautiful =) However, I decided to try a self portrait. I also wanted to experiment with some holiday bokeh, so I used the Christmas tree as a background. This is what I came up with. Technically it's a "mistake", I was just trying to check my light, but I kinda liked it =).

For more great Self Portraits, visit iheartfaces.

Blessings,

I Am Weary

2010-12-01T22:14:00.000-08:00

"There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens"
-Ecclesiastes 3:1

The verse above is one that I've tried to keep forefront in my mind lately. There is a season for everything and this season won't last forever. But it's been a long year.

I am Weary.

At the beginning of the year, my husband was working for a mortgage company, but it was solely commission based. The paychecks were few and far between. He then decided it wasn't the path God had for him.

He worked for my parents business for a few weeks. But, it's seasonal and mostly out of town. He was gone. A lot. But it got us through a few more months.

Now, he is officially a member of the unemployed. He does have a temporary job coming up, but it will only last 3 weeks. Plus, it's an evening/night shift that will be hard on the kids, especially Peanut. She doesn't do well when daddy isn't home to pray and give lovies at bedtime.

He has been sending out applications, resume's and cover letters like crazy. But so far nothing else has come up. As it stands, we have no idea what the new year will bring.

I am Weary.

God gives us this promise:

"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
-Isaiah 40:29-31

I try to hold onto this verse like the one above. I try to glean strength from it. I want to shout "Where is my strength Lord?" I am tired. I am tired of waiting, of not knowing what is to come. It is so difficult when He only gives you enough light for the step you are on. I SO want to see where I am going!

I try to focus on the "here and now" and try not to think too much about what tomorrow might bring. But what is the "here and now"? Laundry. Cooking. Cleaning. Kids arguing. How do you find joy in the mundane when you don't feel like there is anything good to look forward to? Sure, I could try to go the other way, that the mundane is more joyful than not having a home. But, instead of finding joy, I start to feel anxious and fearful that that is where we are headed.

I know that we are not promised lives filled with joy and no heartache. So I know that His answer may very well be that we loose our home and everything we have. I HOPE and PRAY that His answer will be different. And so I wait. I wait on the Lord. The waiting is what's getting to me.

I can't help but wonder what lesson the Lord has for us in all of this. Are we somehow failing to grasp it? Is that why we are still waiting? Or is waiting the lesson? In which case, I still feel like I'm failing to grasp it :).

There have been many blessings during this season. The biggest being that, somehow every month the bills have gotten paid. Sure, we've wracked up more debt than we'd like, but we aren't drowning in it {yet}. The Lord has provided for us. It was definitley him, there is no way we could have done it ourselves! We still have our home. We are also still able to homeschool and I am still able to stay home with the kids. There are many more, but this is already a long post as it is :).

I am still weary. My faith has been deepened. My trust is in the Lord. I don't panic about our situation near as often as I used to. But I still have a long way to go.

"Dear Lord, Please help me to continue to put my trust in you. You have promised to never forsake us, help me to remember that. Help me to remember Your blessings and to be thankful for all that I have. Help me to find joy in the waiting. Give me strength for my weariness. And Lord.....Please.......Could this season end soon? In Your Son's name, Amen"

Blessings,

Giving Thanks

2010-11-30T16:00:00.000-08:00

So this weeks theme at The Trendy Treehouse is "Giving Thanks". I immediately started trying to come up with a good picture of my kids. However, it's rather difficult to get a "good" picture of 4 kids! Then I decided to do something a little different. After all, everyone does pictures of their family when it comes time to give thanks*! So here is my "Giving Thanks" picture. I'm thankful for the country we live in and the freedoms we enjoy. And I'm also thankful for the men and women who, have given, are giving and will give their lives so that we can continue to enjoy those freedoms.

I'm linking this to The Trendy Treehouse.

*Disclaimer* I very much love and am thankful for my family =) Mostly, I couldn't pick just one picture, lol.

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Tuesday 11/30/10

2010-11-30T12:06:00.000-08:00

I think this collage pretty much speaks for itself =)

For more Sweet Shots, visit Darcy at my3boybarians.

Blessings,

LEM Photo Challenge - Something Hot

2010-11-27T08:21:00.000-08:00

I'm joining another new challenge this week =) The theme at Live Every Moment is "Something Hot". I took this photo trying to be creative during one of our camping trips earlier this year.

For more "Hot" photo's, visit Live Every Moment.

Blessings,

Fall

2010-11-23T18:56:00.001-08:00

I found a new photo link-up! The theme for this week is "Fall". I took this photo just two weeks ago and today it's snowing =)

Linking up with Trendy Treehouse!

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Tuesday 9/23/10

2010-11-23T18:33:00.000-08:00

It snowed today! It's not typical for our area this time of year, so it was a fun surprise! Here are some fun shots that I got =)

For more Sweet Shots, visit Darcy at my3boybarians.

iheartfaces - Paper

2010-11-22T09:10:00.000-08:00

So this photo probably deserves some explanation =) For Father's Day this year I was trying to come up with something fun and economical for the kids to give Daddy. I decided on a poster. During the "photo shoot" I had each of the kids pose with a piece of paper. Then later in Photoshop, I added one word to each piece of paper to say "Happy Fathers Day Daddy". This is Miss Bits' picture with a piece of paper. If you'd like to see the finished product, click HERE (it will probably make much more sense than my explanation, lol).

For more fun Paper Shots, head on over to iheartfaces.

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Tuesday 9/16/10

2010-11-15T20:54:00.000-08:00

I confess. I actually took these pictures about a month ago. But I only got around to editing them yesterday {sigh}. My girls were actually willing to be my models! Bits and P obliged me, but weren't really willing to let me snap away. The older two were more than happy to pose away (that doesn't happen very often!).

For more "Sweet Shots" visit Darcy at my3boybarians.

Blessings,

iheartfaces - Silhouettes

2010-11-15T17:25:00.000-08:00

This week at iheartfaces is Silhouettes. This is one of my favorite pictures =) It always makes me think of the line from the song "I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack. "I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean..." It's amazing how small you feel when you stand beside Gods awe-inspiring creation!

For more wonderful silhouette shots, visit iheartfaces.

Blessings,

2010-11-11T20:26:00.000-08:00

Sweet Shot Tuesday 9/9/10

2010-11-09T08:22:00.001-08:00

OK, I know this is more than one shot, but I have soooo many amazing shots from our trip to Hawaii that I could probably share them every week for a year and still not get through them all! I mean, come on, I took almost 900 pictures during our week there! So, I'm sure you can understand why it's virtually impossible to pick just one =) Enjoy!

For more "Sweet Shots" visit Darcy at My3Boybarians.

Blessings,

Menu Plan for November 8th

2010-11-08T09:48:00.000-08:00

I've gotten behind on this (and blogging in general). My schedule has been thrown off quite a bit for the last few months (I had a massive kidney stone, Hubby was out of town for several weeks and now he is laid off.) So I've just been in "survival" mode and been doing just enough to get us through! Things seem to be "cooling" down a bit now and I'm getting back into a routine. I'm hoping to make this post regular again. So with all of that being said, here is my plan for the week:

Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday - Split pea soup, cheese & bread

Wednesday - Cheese & lentil enchilada casserole, salad

Thursday - Crock-pot chicken, rice & salad

Friday - Meatloaf, potatoes & broccoli

Saturday - Crock-pot BBQ chicken, rice & cauliflower

For more menu plans, check out Organizing Junkie.

Blessings,

Boulders and other ramblings...

2010-09-20T08:07:00.000-07:00

I'm way behind in the blog world right now. Not only have I not posted anything in a few weeks, I haven't read any posts either.

I also haven't been taking pictures {gasp!}.

We've gotten a little bit of school done, but not much. Overall, I feel like the last few weeks have just been a big blur. My husband has been working out of town and that's been very hard on me. I don't do well with my hubby being gone. I tend to get depressed.

It also doesn't help that last Tuesday I woke up at some horrible early hour of the morning in excruciating pain. I finally called my mom around 4 and had her take me to the emergency room. My dad came and sat with the older three kids and we took the baby with us. The diagnosis? Kidney stones. They sent me for a CT scan to verify. The scan came back that it wasn't kidney stones, but a kidney BOULDER! The scan showed it to be approximately 8mm (you can pass stones that are 6mm or less). Then after much confusion and many phone calls (and lots of pain pills!) I was scheduled for a procedure to have it taken out. That happened on Friday. I wont go into all the gory details of said procedure, but I will say that they have to leave a stint in for 5-7 days afterward. So, while the boulder is gone, I've still been having some discomfort due to the stint.

Thankfully hubby was home over the weekend, so I got to take it easy. He was very sweet and took care of me :o) He even went grocery shopping for me for the week!

But, alas, he has left again already. And, unless it rains, he wont be home again till Friday evening. I miss him already :-(

I need to get back into a routine, but that may need to wait till I can get this stint out (which I just found out isn't going to happen till Friday, ugg!). I was already planning on taking a short break from ECC to do some other things. We went to the Evergreen Air and Space Museum recently and my kids loved it! So we are going to do a short unit study (and lapbook) on Amelia Earhart. Then I'm going to do my best to put together another short unit study/lapbook on Hawaii.

Why Hawaii, you may ask? Well, that's the exciting part in all of this. Hubby's family is taking us to Hawaii in October!!! The kids are beside themselves with excitement (and in all honesty, so am I!). So, being the homeschool mom that I am, we are going to study up on Hawaii before we go :o)

Well, I think that's pretty much my last few days in a nutshell. Hopefully I will find my energy and motivation here soon. I need to get out of my PJ's, I've been in them for three days! I would appreciate any prayers you could send my way!

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Tuesday 831/10

2010-08-30T22:26:00.000-07:00

My dad took the old motor off his boat and it was just sittin' there looking all sad. So I decided to take some pictures and give it an artistic farewell =)

For more Sweet Shots, visit Darcy at my3boybarrians.

Blessings,

iheartfaces - Photojournalism

2010-08-29T21:45:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week we (my kids and I) went "on the job" with my husband. He is currently working for my parents, so it was kind of a "blast from the past" since we used to go stay in the hotel with the crew when I was a kid. I took my camera and had fun looking for more "detail" type shots.

This weeks challenge at iheartfaces is photojournalism. Usually they only allow one photo for a challenge, but this week they are allowing a collage with up to 5 photos.

*Edited to add* My parents company resurfaces streets. Rock, oil, sulfate, and water are mixed in a machine on the back of a truck. Then it is spread in a thin layer on the surface of a street to help the street last longer. It is called slurry. To me, these pictures represent the whole process.

For more great photojournalism shots, visit iheartfaces.

Blessings,

Sunset

2010-08-19T15:19:00.000-07:00

Hubby took me on a date Friday night and after dinner we drove up on the Butte to watch the sun set. It was quite beautiful :o) Unfortunately there were too many trees in the way to get a good picture of the sun actually setting, but I did get this one looking out over our town.

Details:
200mm
F5.6
1/30
ISO 400
No Flash

Post Processing:
In ACR, I brought the exposure down a pinch and boosted the blacks and vibrancy.
In Photoshop C4, I duplicated the layer and set blending to soft light. Then adjusted curves to up the contrast and pop the colors.

I'm linking this to Love That Shot.

Blessings,

Re-purposing

2010-08-18T15:56:00.000-07:00

Some of you may remember about a year and a half ago I re-purposed some jeans into skirts (click HERE for a refresher). Around that time I bought a pair of overalls at a garage sale. I was thinking I could turn them into a cute jumper kinda like I had with the skirts. They sat in my sewing room for quite some time before I finally got around to working on them, but I did eventually turn them into a jumper. However, it just didn't turn out right. I ripped seams and cut fabric and tried several different things, but I just couldn't get it to hang right. So I finally just gave up and stuffed it away in my sewing room to work on at another time or to do something else with.

Fast forward to a few months ago. I started thinking about making a new apron for myself, but I couldn't find a pattern I liked. I was contemplating just making something up, when I remembered that failed overall jumper. It occurred to me that I could probably turn it into an apron or two. Well, this week, I finally sat down and did just that.

I managed to get, not one....

Not two...

But three aprons out of it! (*And I probably could get one more half apron, but it's from the piece that wasn't working for me with the jumper and I just don't want to mess with it right now!)

So anyway, here they are:

This is from the front of the overalls. I cut the buttons off the top and added a fabric panel to attach the straps to. I also added a flounce and a couple more pockets. I left the original side pockets intact. I was figuring this would be a great one for wearing while cleaning so that little things I pick-up can get put in a pocket. The pockets are also great for clothes pins =)

This one was the back of the overalls. Again I added a flounce and a top panel. I did the upper straps a little different and I'm not sure yet if it's going to work. I'm thinking they may slid down off my shoulders, so I may have to come up with something different. But we'll see =)

This one was super easy! I just added the waist panel and straps and two pockets. The pockets on this one are more for looks, they aren't incredibly functional. =)

So there you have it. It was a super fun and easy project and I now have three new aprons! The best part is, the overalls only cost $2 and all the fabric was leftover from other projects!

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Tuesday 8/17/10

2010-08-17T07:27:00.001-07:00

So, I'm a little behind in picture taking and uploading. However, weekend before last was my hubby's family's annual reunion. It was a lot of fun and I took a ton of pictures :-). Here are some of my favorites:

And, one last one, just to show you how crazy our family is! Yes, it is a bike built for four. This is what happens when you put live-on-the-wild-side schemers and people who know how to weld together =)

For more Sweet Shots visit Darcy at my3boybarrians.

Menu Plan for August 16th

2010-08-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

Well, everyone got pretty sick of leftovers for lunch last week, so we've planned lunches for this week as well. Other than that, though, the change has gone over pretty well. My kids appetite has actually improved dramatically! It used to be a fight to get them to eat at least a little bit of their dinner. Now they are asking for seconds and sometimes thirds! I think getting rid of all the processed snacks has made a huge difference. So anyway, here is our plan for this week:

Monday: Breakfast - Pancakes & bacon
Lunch - Burgers, veggies and a fruit
Dinner - Pork loin, broccoli & salad

Tuesday: Breakfast - Omelet w/spinach & feta cheese, fruit
Lunch - Fried rice
Dinner - Chili, cornbread, salad

Wednesday: Breakfast - Oatmeal, bacon & fruit
Lunch - Hot dog, split pea soup & a veggie or fruit
Dinner - Shepherds pie

Thursday : Breakfast - Pancakes & bacon
Lunch - Tuna salad w/rice crackers & a veggie
Dinner - Fried chicken, corn on the cob, salad

Friday: Breakfast - Eggs, broccoli & fruit
Lunch - Leftover chili
Dinner - Herb seasoned steak, asparagus, salad

Saturday: Breakfast - Overnight oatmeal & bacon
Lunch - Leftover fried chicken
Dinner - Garlic & herb chicken, broccoli & salad

Sunday: Breakfast - Pancakes, bacon & fruit
Lunch - Burger, veggie & fruit
Dinner - BBQ at my parents

For more menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Blessings,

Shades!

2010-08-15T20:55:00.000-07:00

This weeks iheartfaces challenge is "Got To Wear Shades". It was really hard to pick just one photo for this, my little man LOVES his shades! I have several great pictures of him in shades. Finally I managed to narrow it down to this one. It was taken while watching our small town's annual parade.

For more great "Got To Wear Shades" shots, visit iheartfaces.

Blessings,

Menu Plan for August 9th

2010-08-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

So, as I mentioned last week, this week we are switching to new eating habits! I'm hoping to see some big improvements in everyone's overall health. So what exactly are we doing? Well, we are cutting out all processed foods, wheat, soy, and sugar. And for this first week, at least, we are cutting out grains in general (although, we will be letting the kids have a few grains). Our goal is not to cut grains entirely, just for a week or two. Breakfast and lunches will basically be the same throughout the week. So, here it is:

Breakfast: Eggs, leftover veggie from night before & a fruit. We will also offer the kids oatmeal (I think they'll balk at eggs 7 days a week!)

Lunch: Lunch will be leftovers from dinner the night before.

Monday - Chicken, salad, broccoli

Tuesday - Steak, salad, spinach (and probably corn for the kids)

Wednesday - Fish, salad, asparagus

Thursday - Black bean soup, salad, cauliflower

Friday - chicken, salad, spinach (again, kids will probably get corn)

Saturday - Turkey, salad, broccoli

Sunday - Roast, salad, cauliflower.

So that's our plan. I'll let you know next week how well it went over :o)

For more menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Blessings

Sweet Shot Tuesday 8/3/10

2010-08-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

Little P watchin' the parade.

For more Sweet Shots, visit Darcy at My 3 Boybarians.

Blessings,

Our plan for this school year

2010-08-02T09:25:00.000-07:00

If you've been following my blog at all, you probably know that last years plan got blown out of the water. Being pregnant, having baby and adjusting to new baby, did not go as smoothly as I would have liked. Consequently we missed A LOT of school. And I struggled with feeling overwhelmed ever since. You can read more about it HERE and HERE.

However, I now have a plan for this year! We will be starting school on August 9th (yes, one week from today) and we will be 17, YES 17, weeks AHEAD. No more feeling guilty about being behind! No more feeling like we can't do something spontaneous because we can't miss anymore school! It's a very freeing feeling.

So, without further ado, here is what the plan is for this year:

Cast of Characters:

Munchkin - 9yo - 3rd/4th grade
Peanut - 5yo - Preschool/Kindergarten
Little P - 2.5yo - Preschool
Little Bit - Baby/toddler

Our Spine:

We will continue to work our way through MFW ECC this year. We finished through week 17, so we will start school on week 18. I haven't fully decided what we will do if we finish ECC before the year is over. We may move right on to Creation to Greeks. Or we may do another unit study to finish out the year and start C2G at the beginning of next year. I'll make that decision if/when we get there.

With ECC we will all do Bible, Geography, Music/Art, Book Basket, Science & Read Aloud (these last two with dad) together.

For the other subjects:

Munchkin:

Language Arts - We will be doing the copywork & Vocab from ECC and will add Writing Strands 3 this year.

Spelling - We recently started Sequential Spelling 1, so we will continue to use that.

English - We will continue to use Language Lesson's for the Very Young (Queen Homeschool). If we finish, we will move into the next book.

Math - We will continue with MUS Beta. If we finish we will move on to MUS Gamma.

Reading - We hadn't been doing anything for this because she is such a good reader, but I started to wonder if she was really comprehending what she was reading. So we started back on the Pathways readers (we used them in 1st grade) at level 5. We will continue for this year.

Foreign Language - Will still have not decided on a foreign language. I've been considering Latin, using either Latin Christiana or Prima Latina. However, right now I just want to focus on the basics and get into a routine. Maybe sometime in January, I'll reconsider adding a foreign language.

Peanut:

She shows some signs of being ready for school, but she still has a very short attention span. My goal is to work with her using a combination of MFW Preschool and Kindergarten. She also really wants to learn to read, so I will try some lessons from Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons. I also want to do some lapbooking with her because she definitely appears to be a kinesthetic learner.

Little P:

He has moved somewhat beyond the "just keeping him occupied" stage. Plus, after listening to David Hazel's (author of MFW) lecture on Preschoolers, I no longer think that is a stage. However, I don't think he is completely ready for official "sit down" schooling. I will most likely be including him in what I do with Peanut and in everything he's willing to sit through with ECC. I will probably also throw in a few workbooks from the Dollar Store for the days he wants "to do school". (And, yes, even my children, who have never set foot in a public school classroom, think "doing school" is a worksheet! {sigh})

Little Bit:

OK, this one will most likely just be occupied {grin}. I'm hoping for the most part she'll just nap through most of our school time. But she has been difficult about getting on a schedule, so that may not happen. I may find myself assigning one kid to play with her while I work with another one. So I guess we'll just see how this goes as the year progresses.

So that's my plan in a nutshell. To see more curriculum plans and reviews, head over to the "Not Back-To-School" blog hop on Heart of the Matter. And stay tuned for next weeks edition, "School Rooms".

Blessings,

Menu Plan for August 2nd

2010-08-02T08:50:00.000-07:00

This weekend is my husbands family's annual family "campout" (we don't actually camp anymore), so I don't need to plan meals for Friday or Saturday. We just have to show up with two desserts. =) So here is my plan for the rest of the week:

Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday - Steak, roasted potatoes, green beans

Wednesday - Pork chops, au gratin potatoes, corn on the cob

Thursday - Chicken Caesar salad

Desserts for this weekend - Chocolate drizzled peanut butter cookies & Fruit pizza.

Next week will be totally different. Hubby and I have decided it's time to change our eating habits. It will be challenging and difficult, I'm sure, but I believe the Lord has been leading us in this direction for some time now. I'm looking forward to our new adventure =)

For more menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Blessings,

It's almost time...

2010-07-30T13:25:00.000-07:00

...for back to school. Or as we homeschoolers like to say "NOT back to school!" {grin}

Everywhere you turn you see "back-to-school" specials and sales. I have to admit, it makes me giddy! I LOVE shopping for school supplies! It was my favorite part of back-to-school when I was a kid. And now as a homeschooling mom, it's even more exciting. I just love looking at all those supplies and imagining all the possibilities! And the deals aren't bad either. I mean, lets face it, when else can you get spiral notebooks for 10 cents? Or, heck, even a FREE backpack?

Of course all these sales mean something else as well. It's time for the "Not back-to-school blog hop"! This year it will be hosted at Heart of the Matter. Here is the schedule for this year:

Monday, Aug 2 – Friday, Aug 6: Curriculum Week
Monday, Aug 9 – Friday, Aug 13: School Room Week
Monday, Aug 16 – Friday, Aug 20: Student Photo Week
Monday, Aug 23 – Friday, Aug 27: Day-in-the-Life Week

I'm looking forward to participating and giving a little "peak" into our school life. Hope to see some of you there as well! =) For more information (and to participate) visit Heart of the Matter.

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Tuesday 7/27/10

2010-07-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

Since I shared the cute film strips of each of the kids on Friday, I decided to get a little more "artsy" with my sweet shot today. I just love Little P's hands. They are just so chubby and cute! And, yes, his sister's painted his nails :-) I guess that's what happens when you're the only boy!

For more "Sweet Shots" visit Darcy at my3boybarians.

Blessings,

Menu Plan for July 26th

2010-07-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

Here is my plan for the week:

Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday - BBQ Chicken, potato wedges, corn on the cob

Wednesday - Hamburgers/hot dogs, fries and salad

Thursday - Pot roast, mashed potatoes, green beans

Friday - Chicken Alfredo, broccoli

Saturday - Tacos/burritos, rice and beans

Sunday - not sure yet.

For more menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Have a blessed week!

And My Other Beautiful Girl

2010-07-23T16:36:00.000-07:00

Last one, I promise................Well for now anyway :o)

Blessings,

My Beautiful Girl!

2010-07-23T14:32:00.000-07:00

Had to share more :o)

Blessings,

My Little Man

2010-07-23T10:05:00.001-07:00

Just couldn't resist sharing :=)

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Tuesday 7/20/10

2010-07-20T16:01:00.000-07:00

This week I'm a little behind in downloading pictures. I have several on memory cards, but I have yet to take the time to move them to my computer {sigh}. So, here are a couple of "sweet shots" of my kids taken at my cousins wedding.

For more Sweet Shots visit my3boybarrians.

Blessings,

Homeschool update

2010-07-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted any school updates here for quite a while.

The reason?

I haven't really had any updates {sigh}. This last year has felt really LONG, but at the same time, we only managed to finish 17 weeks of school.

Why, you ask?

Well, mostly because this last pregnancy, delivery and recovery were all really hard on me. I get HUGE when I'm pregnant and that makes me whine {*insert sheepish grin here*}. And the delivery and recovery were really hard this time. I can't explain why, but it took a lot out of me. Plus, I've basically been an emotional basket case since about 4 or 5 months pregnant (just ask my poor husband). I feel like I'm coming out of it now, but..........I still have my bad days.

So, even though I did not intend for it to happen (and tried not to let it happen), school kinda got put on the back burner. I tried to school all through December, but there are just too many things happening that month and, without intending to, we took most of the month off. Then baby came in January and we (intentionally) took that month off. I tried to get back into things in February, but that didn't work. Then March. Then April. Then May. I think your starting to get the picture {grin}. Don't get me wrong, it's not that we didn't to any school. It was just hit or miss. No structure. No consistency. I just got further and further behind. I tried to assure myself that it was OK, I'd just school through the summer and get caught up.

Then, I hit the brick wall of burnout..............at full speed.

I know what you are thinking, "how do you burnout when you're not really doing anything in the first place?"

Well, the best answer I can give is, it's a weight thing. No, no, no. Not how much weight I have (or haven't) lost, more of a weight-of-the-world-on-your-shoulders type thing. The more days I took off, the guiltier I felt. And the more overwhelmed I became.

We are so far behind, how will we ever catch up?
I'm not doing enough, my kids are hopelessly behind.
We wont get to have fun this summer because we have to catch up on school.
I'm not cut out for this, I'm ruining my kids, I should just put them in school.

These are some of the things that went through my mind on a daily basis. I was ready to throw in the towel.

Then we went to the OCEAN conference. I was very inspired by David Hazell's lecture, "Help, my homeschool is chaos!". I came home encouraged and ready to take it all on again. I was stuck on one of the things David had said. He had explained how they started their school year early, in July. That way they were ahead from the get go, so it was "OK" when they had a day that didn't happen. I sounded like a great idea! It was exactly the type of thing I needed to implement! But then I remembered how far behind we were and I got discouraged. All those statements from above started running through my mind again. After all, I was already soooo far behind, how on earth could I get caught up, much less, get ahead?

Once again I was right back to feeling overwhelmed. Feeling like I was ruining my kids. Ready to throw in the towel.

My husband (bless him!) was desperate to encourage me. But I was convinced he couldn't understand how I felt so his attempts at encouragement just added more weight to my shoulders. Now I felt like I was letting him down as well. What I really needed (but didn't realize it at the time) was for him to give me "permission" to take a break and re-evaluate. He did eventually suggest that (that's why I now know that's what I needed {grin}) and I felt like some of the weight was lifted.

Then I jokingly made the comment to hubby "Maybe I'll just say we're doing ECC* for next year, then we are 17 weeks ahead!"

He latched on to that and told me it was a great idea and he thought that's what I should do. As I pondered it further, I decided it was a pretty good idea. MFW doesn't do grade levels, so it really didn't matter what grade I used it for. I could just as easily use it for 4th grade as for 3rd grade. It really was just a matter of changing my thinking and choosing to consider myself ahead for next year instead of behind for this year.

So, now that I've had some "official" time off and I've changed my thinking, I'm ready to go again! I've been drooling over back-to-school ads (I get a high from shopping for school supplies! I know, I'm weird, but I've accepted that!) and we've decided our "official" back-to-school start day will be August 9th. And the best part is.............

...I'm excitedly looking forward to it!

Blessings,

*Note: For those of you who don't know, we are using My Father's World (MFW) curriculum. It's a unit study type approach that you cycle through every five years. Exploring Countries and Cultures (ECC) is the first year of that cycle. For more info, visit their website.

Menu Plan for July 19th

2010-07-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a while since I've posted my menu plan. I have had a plan, I just haven't gotten around to posting it. But this week I decided to take the time and post, so here it is:

Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday - Potato bar

Wednesday - Beef tips over rice

Thursday - Split pea soup (I don't do much soup when it's hot, but Peanut has been begging for this!)

Friday - Crock-pot potato salad for a potluck

Saturday - Sub sandwiches (or something else easy to pack 'cause we'll be at a street dance)

Sunday - Not sure what the plan is yet.

For more menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Tuesday 7/13/10

2010-07-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

I have a million things I should be doing right about now, but decided I really wanted to post a "sweet shot" for this week. I did the photography for my cousin's wedding on Saturday (note to self: you do NOT want to be a wedding photographer!). These are some of my favorites so far:

For more "Sweet Shots" visit Darcy at my3boybarrians.

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Tuesday 6/22/10

2010-06-22T07:59:00.001-07:00

So I realize that the title is Sweet Shot, as in one. However, I had so many wonderful shots from this shoot (this was our Father's day gift, you can see the finished project HERE) that picking just one was like trying to pick which of my children is my favorite! So you get four, one of each kid =)

Whoops! Almost forgot this part {blush}! For more "Sweet Shots" visit Darcy at Life with my 3 Boybarians.

Blessings,

Menu Plan for June 21st

2010-06-21T08:57:00.000-07:00

This has been a pretty easy week to plan! Hubby and I will be in Portland this weekend for the Ocean Network Homeschool Conference and the kids will be staying with my parents. So I only need to plan three meals this week!

Monday - Stuffed chicken breast, bacon wrapped asparagus, mashed potatoes (just hubby & I, kids will be with SIL)

Tuesday - Taco Salad

Wednesday - Broccoli cheese soup, bread

Thursday thru Sunday - We'll be at the conference, WooHoo!!!

For more menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Blessings,

Father's Day

2010-06-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

As today is Father's Day, I wanted to take a minute to honor my wonderful husband.

Thank you, Sweetie, for being such a wonderful and loving father (and husband!). I very much appreciate the fact that you go to work everyday to provide for us so that I can stay home and care for and teach our children. And I'm thankful that you have such a solid foundation in God and that you are faithfully leading our family down that path. I love you and feel so blessed to have you in my life.

Now, the kids and I wanted to get a very special gift for Father's day this year. The difficulty was, finances are VERY tight right now. So being the "crafty" person that I am, I immediately started trying to come up with some kind of craft we could do to make a present. What I finally came up with isn't really a "craft", but it turned out really great and Hubby loves it =)

So, here it is:

I took a bunch of pictures of the kids and then created this collage. I had it printed (minus the watermark!) as a 16x20 poster and then framed it so he can hang it in his office. I found the frame at Target for $5.99 and the print only cost $4.99 (with a $1 off coupon). So for $10.98 and a little bit of my time (OK, so it was A LOT of my time, but that's a whole 'nother story, lol) we came up with a very special Father's Day gift!

Blessings,

Dehydrator Givaway!!!

2010-06-18T10:31:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post a quick note that Keeper of the Home is giving away a nine tray Excalibur Dehydrator! Head on over to their site and enter to win!

Blessings,

iheartfaces - All About Babies!

2010-06-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

This weeks challenge at iheartfaces is "All about babies". And since I have one (a baby, that is) I figured I'd enter! This is one of the shots I took when Little Bit was only 10 days old.

For more wonderful baby shots, head on over to iheartfaces!

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Tuesday 6/15/10

2010-06-14T21:31:00.001-07:00

My parents hands :o)

For more "sweet shots" visit Darcy at Life with my 3 boybarrians.

Blessings,

Menu Plan for June 14th

2010-06-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

Here is my plan for the week:

Monday ~ Spaghetti

Tuesday ~ Hamburgers/hotdogs, fries and salad

Wednesday ~ BBQ Chicken, baked beans, corn on the cob

Thursday ~ Pulled pork sandwiches, broccoli

Friday ~ Carne Asada, beans, rice

Saturday ~ Sub Sandwiches

For more menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Tuesday 6/8/10

2010-06-08T10:31:00.000-07:00

So, I almost forgot today was Tuesday, but thankfully I remembered so I could get my Sweet Shots posted :-) These were taken on our camping trip over Memorial Day Weekend.

This one isn't exactly perfect 'cause he leaned his head back and the frame of the canopy got in the way. But I just love his laugh and had to share it anyway!

This one appeals to my "artsy" side, so I thought I'd share it as well.

For more great "Sweet Shots" visit Darcy at Life with my three Boybarrians.

Blessings,

Menu Plan for June 7th

2010-06-07T07:41:00.000-07:00

***I've tried to upload the MPM banner/picture, but for some reason Blogger doesn't want to cooperate. I will add it later if I can.***

With last week being so crazy busy it was sooooo nice to have a menu plan in place (yes, I know I never got around to posting it, but I had one, I swear!). It was one less thing I had to think about! Menu planning has been such a wonderful time saver for me. Oh, and I have to say, the broccoli cheese soup that I made up on the fly was a huge hit, my family is already requesting it for future menus! So, without further ado, here is my plan for this week:

Monday - Steak, twice baked potatoes and asparagus (just hubby and I, kids will be with my SIL)

Tuesday - Shepherds pie

Wednesday - Individual Pizza's

Thursday - Corn Chowder

Friday - Crock-pot Chicken, wild rice and salad

Saturday - Pork chops, Au Gratin potatoes and corn

Sunday - Something for small group (not sure what the theme is for this week yet)

For more menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Have a blessed week!

Munchkin's Birthday Gift

2010-06-06T20:26:00.000-07:00

So, I'm rather tired this evening. Why, you ask? Because I have spent most of this week up late working on Munchkin's birthday gift. But I think it turned out pretty good and I was very excited to give it to her this weekend! I used the pattern I found HERE. It was pretty easy, the most complicated part was the face (I can't embroider to save my life, lol). Oh, and putting it together took a few tries, but once I figured out the arms, the legs were pretty easy. So here are some pictures:

I also used some leftover material from my stash to make her some necessities!

A changing pad.

A couple of diapers (using the pattern found at the above site).

And a small diaper bag.

The doll is approximately the same size as a newborn, so I also included a few outfits, hats and a blanket that Bits has outgrown. So far she loves it! So, for not very much money, I was able to create a beautiful birthday gift that will hopefully last for many years!

Blessings,

Wonderful New Blog

2010-06-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

So I found this new blog site and am very excited about it. It's called "Raising Homemakers". Being the mom to three girls (so far) I can imagine I will learn a lot from this site! And this week they are giving away the Homestead Blessings 10 DVD pack! I've been drooling over this DVD set for a while now. I think it would be such a wonderful resource to have on hand. Head on over to their site and enter to win.

Raising Homemakers

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Tuesday 6/1/10

2010-06-01T07:42:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful weekend camping up on my parents property near Crescent Lake. I haven't gotten my pictures downloaded yet, but I think I have some good ones! Can't wait to find the time to play with them! In the mean time, here's a favorite from last week.

For more "sweet shots" visit Darcy at Life with my 3 Boybarians.

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Tuesday 5/25/10

2010-05-25T08:31:00.000-07:00

We went down to the local elementary school so that hubs and I could walk around the track and let the kids play on the playground. After we were done walking, I got out the camera :o) I thought this one was just too cute not to share!

For more "sweet shots" visit Darcy at "Life with my 3 boybarians".

Blessings,

Menu Plan for May 24th

2010-05-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

Here is my menu for the week. This weekend we will be camping on my parents property up near Crescent Lake. We are responsible for dinner one night and our own lunch and beverages.

Monday - Fish, rice and asparagus (this is just hubby and I, kids will be with my SIL)

Tuesday - Nacho's

Wednesday - Pork chops, potatoes and salad

Thursday - Beef tips (in the crock pot) over rice with broccoli

Friday thru Sunday - We will be camping. Our dinner meal will be carne asada (not sure if it's happening on Friday or Sunday night). We wont be home till Monday afternoon (unless the weather is horrible and drives us out sooner, lol) so I may not get my menu up till Tuesday next week.

For more menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Tuesday 5/18/10

2010-05-18T08:50:00.000-07:00

So I wanted to post these last week for Sweet Shot Tuesday, but due to some technical difficulties, it didn't happen. We got the opportunity to have a three bedroom condo in Klamath Falls for a couple of nights over Mothers day weekend. It was wonderful! We had a very relaxing weekend and my only "job" was to take pictures, lol. Here are some of my favorites:

I just love Little P's hands!

I really liked the depth of field and the uniqueness of this shot.

I just thought this was cute! Not sure why she had her hood up!

I thought this shot just totally captured his personality.

For more "Sweet Shots" head on over to Darcy's at my3boybarrians!

Have a "Sweet" week!

Blessings,

Menu Plan for May 11th

2010-05-11T11:51:00.000-07:00

We were out of town this last weekend, so I planed last weeks menu through yesterday. Here is what I have planned for the rest of the week:

Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday - Taco Salad

Thursday - Crock-pot Rotisserie Chicken, Rice & Corn

Friday - Potato Bar

Saturday - Chicken Divan

For more fabulous menu plans, check out Organizing Junkie.

Blessings,

Menu Plan for May 3rd

2010-05-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry this is late, yesterday I was sleep deprived and this morning has been rather crazy. But we will be eating this week, so here is my plan:

Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday - BBQ chicken pizza

Wednesday - Cheese & lentil enchilada casserole (I'm making this up as I go, hopefully it will turn out edible, lol)

Thursday - Split pea soup with bread and cheese.

Friday - Pork tenderloin with rice and corn

Saturday thru Monday: We will be taking a short vacation to Klamath Falls (staying in a three bedroom condo) so these are the meals I have planned, not sure exactly which day they will fall on.

Breakfasts: Pancakes; eggs, hash browns & toast.
Lunches: PB & J; Ham, turkey & cheese sandwiches; egg salad sandwiches (green salad for me)
Dinners: Steak, potatoes & salad; Hearty's Burgers and fries & green beans; Spaghetti.

Because of our mini vacation, I probably wont get next weeks meals done until Tuesday either. I hope everyone has a blessed week!

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Tuesday

2010-04-28T12:33:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know today is Wednesday, not Tuesday, but hey, better late than never, right? So, I haven't gotten my camera out every day this week (I know, 1000 lashes with a wet noodle), but I did get it out a few times to play around. :o)

I'm still working on getting the white balance right. For some reason it's hard to see the difference while looking at the pictures on the teeny-tiny screen on the back of my camera. But I am getting better, lol! I've also been playing around with some of the other settings on my camera, like portrait and black & white.

Another thing I've been trying is manual focus. I fight with my auto-focus CONSTANTLY! For some reason it never wants to focus where I want it to and I can't tell you the number of great shots I've missed because I can't get the camera to focus where I want. Or the number of pictures I delete cause it's focused on some random object and not the subject. {sigh} Then, recently, a friend posted on FB that her next "lesson" would be manual focus. BRILLIANT! Why didn't I think of that?!? If I focus manually, I don't have to fight with the auto-focus! (Yes, I am a little slow sometimes, lol). And now I've decided I need to get my eyes checked! Now that I've downloaded my memory card to the computer, I'm discovering that several of my shots are actually out of focus. {sigh} I guess I just can't win.

Anyhow, here are a couple that did turn out decently :o)

Can you tell she was eating grape lafy-tafy? LOL.

This is my cousin's beautiful new baby. She's three weeks old. They came over for a visit yesterday and the lighting in my living room was HORRIBLE!!! I actually resorted to using the flash {gasp!} to take pictures of my girls holding her! They were coming out either too dark or with the white balance all wrong, even on auto! {sigh} For this one I actually switched the camera to B&W and it turned out pretty decent. I like the B&W feature, I'll have to play with it a little more :o)

Well, that's all for this week. For more "Sweet Shots" visit Darcey @Life With My 3 Boybarians.

Blessings,

Menu Plan for April 26th

2010-04-26T08:57:00.001-07:00

Here is my menu plan for the week:

Monday - No kids tonight, hubby and I will probably grab something in town

Tuesday - Leftovers (they are starting to take over the fridge, time to do something about them, lol)

Wednesday - Potato bar

Thursday - Crock-pot Chicken, Rice & Corn

Friday - Spicy Black Bean Soup

Saturday - Oven Fried Chicken, AuGratin Potatoes & Green Beans

Sunday - Not sure yet.

For more menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie. Hope you all have a blessed week!

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Tuesday

2010-04-20T09:15:00.000-07:00

OK, these are for Susan :o) After posting my last post she admonished me to simply get out the camera and take some pictures of the baby and post them! So, I did! I need more practice shooting indoors, the lighting in these turned out a little orange! I would have spent longer trying to mess with settings to get it right, but she was starting to get grouchy. And pictures of grouchy babies, just aren't very "sweet", lol.

For more sweet shots, head over to my3boybarians.

Blessings

So Today is Tuesday.....

2010-04-20T08:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, today is Tuesday (Tuesday April 20th, 2010, to be exact). Which means I should be posting a picture to link up with "Sweet Shot Tuesday", but once again, I have neglected to get my camera out this week {sigh}.

So, I'm going to challenge myself. I've heard rumor of a "365 challenge" going on (I think it's through Flicker?) that I believe is a challenge to take a picture of something different everyday. And, while it's obviously too late to join that challenge, I'm going to do something similar. I'm going to challenge myself to get my camera out (rain or shine!) and take at least one picture everyday. Even if it means taking my camera with me to the grocery store! I've been stuck in a rut, thinking I have to have perfect lighting (read that to be a sunny day!) and a perfect subject/set up in order to get a perfect picture. But wouldn't it be more of a challenge to get a great picture on a cloudy/rainy day ('cause let face it we have a lot of those around here!) of some random object? Hmmmm....... I think it's time to start thinking outside the box.

So, I probably wont post every picture, after all, I'm sure they wont all turn out :o) But I will post some of the good ones. And, hey, maybe I'll actually learn to use my camera along the way ;)

Blessings,

Our Bedroom Re-decoration

2010-04-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

So, like I said in my last decorating post, Hubby and I are working on redecorating our home and we started with our bedroom. Now, I didn't remember to take before pictures. However, I did think to take a picture of "The Wall" before we changed it :o) Here it is:

Now, this wall has been an annoyance ever since we moved in almost 6 years ago (yes, it really has taken us that long to do something about it, lol). First I should mention, our room is basically blue. The carpet is a light blue, the blinds are blue and the bathroom has blue tile. So why the people who lived here before us (Hubby's grandparents rented it out for 7 or 8 months before we moved in) thought Forest Green would be the perfect color for this wall, I will never know (and, no, the picture doesn't truely show the color well). They also did a horrible job of painting it. The wall originally had wallpaper on it that was put directly on the drywall. They simply pulled the wallpaper off and slapped up some paint. They didn't use any kind of primer, they didn't texture the wall and they only did one coat of paint. The result was, you could see every blemish in the wall, there were thin spots where you could see the wall through the paint and there were holes forming everywhere (notice the rather large hole in the paint in the middle of the wall!) Here is the picture again, so you can truely appreciate the change :o)

So, Hubby and I spent the weekend painting and this is what "The Wall" looks like now:

We started with a light blue (and yes, we primed first!) and then I "ragged" on a purple and a darker-basically-looks-brown-purple. We decided not to texture, since the paint technique we picked would give the illusion of texture (and it does :o)). The color combination looks soooo much better with the rest of the room! Here are a few more "after" pictures of the room. And, for those of you who have never seen our room before, the curtains and the shelves with the dolls are new. Oh, and it's clean :o)

So we are basically done with our room now. We still want to change out the light fixtures (I REALLY don't like the ones that are there!), but we haven't found ones that we like and that are in the budget. So that may have to wait a little bit. But in the mean time, we have a much nicer "retreat" for ourselves.

The next project on the list will be the kitchen. This time I WILL take "before" pictures, lol. As a matter of fact, I may just go take the pictures NOW, so that I don't forget when we get ready to work on it :o)

Blessings,

Menu Plan for April 19th

2010-04-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

Here is my plan for the week:

Monday - Hammy Mac & Cheese, Salad

Tuesday - Shepherds Pie

Wednesday - Individual Pizza's

Thursday - Pork Chops, Rice & Green beans

Friday - Taco's, Beans & Rice

Saturday - Steak, Potatoes & Salad

For more menu plans, check out Organizing Junkie. Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Blessings,

My Decorating Project

2010-04-15T19:39:00.000-07:00

So hubby and I decided it was finally time to make our house "ours". (For those of you who don't know, our house was previously his grandparents house for 45 years.) So we will be slowly changing the "decor" in various rooms. We decided to start in our bedroom so that we had "our" space first. Of course I forgot to take "before" pictures :o) But I will post "after" pictures when we finish.

I had a candle holder on the wall in the "hall" of our room that I moved to our bathroom. I then decided that I needed something else to put on that wall that went with what we were trying to do in the rest of the room. Here is what I came up with. (Sorry for the really bad pictures :o))

I went to the dollar store and picked up three of these frames...............

And went to Micheals and found these three crosses...................

And found this scrapbook paper in my stash...............

And this is the final product!

And here are close-ups of each frame.

So over all it took me about an hour to complete and it cost less than $25! And I think it turned out pretty good ;o)

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Tuesday

2010-03-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

So the other morning I was up much earlier than I would have like to be. As I looked out my kitchen window (during a rare period of no rain) I saw that the light from the rising sun was hitting grandpa's old shop in a beautiful way. I quickly grabbed my camera and headed outside to try and capture the lovely image. This is what I got.

This one is SOOC.

And this is the same shot edited to look like an old-time photo. I thought it turned out kinda neat :o)

For more "Sweet Shots" visit My 3 Boybarians.

Blessings,

iheartfaces - Dramatic Black & White

2010-03-29T22:24:00.000-07:00

This weeks challenge at iheartfaces is Dramatic Black & White. Ever since their "Hands" challenge a few weeks ago, I've been thinking about different "hand" shots. I really wanted to get some pic's of Little P's hands, but had never gotten around to it. When we were at the beach a few weeks ago, Hubby and Little P were standing hand-n-hand looking out at the ocean. I thought it would be a great shot, so had them continue the "pose" for a few minutes while I snapped away. I think as I got to this shot, Little P had had enough! But I still think it's a great shot :o)

For more amazing Black & White shots, visit iheartfaces!

Blessings,

Menu Plan for March 29th

2010-03-29T09:03:00.000-07:00

This week we will be having..............

Monday - Kids will be at their aunts. Hubby and I will pick something up while shopping.

Tuesday - Split pea soup with bread and cheese

Wednesday - Spaghetti with salad

Thursday - Pot roast with carrots and potatoes

Friday - Potato bar

Saturday - Beef enchiladas with beans and rice

Sunday - Not sure what our plans our yet :o)

For more wonderful menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Blessings,

Photobook Review

2010-03-23T10:46:00.000-07:00

So last month I stumbled across an offer for a completely FREE photobook (meaning the book AND the shipping were FREE). I didn't share it with you all right away because I was a little skeptical of the offer. After all, how good can the quality be if you can get it for free? The deal is, you can get one completely free book per month. So what's the catch? The catch is there are advertisements in the book. The site claimed they are easy to remove and "family friendly". My experience: They were easy to remove and they were for the company I got the book from, so hard to say what the other advertisements can be like. (On a side note: I thought it was a little "low" that the coupon on the advertisement had an expiration date of two days after I MADE the book, so three days before the book even SHIPPED!) Overall though, I'm happy with the book. The shipping took FOREVER, but I think that was the post office, not the company. So here are the pros and cons as I see them:

Pros:

FREE
Decent background/layout selection.
It's FREE!
Pretty easy to use the site.
Decent quality.
And did I mention, it's FREE

Cons:

Background/layout selection. I know I put this on the pro list too :o) While the selection is decent, it's not as extensive as some of the other photo sites out there and some of the backgrounds weren't to my liking (sculls, flames and such). However, I still consider it a "pro" because it's free :o)
Image size is a little small. Unless you go for the book that has full page pictures, the images are a little small. I didn't measure them, but they look a little smaller than a 3 x 5 print.
Text. I didn't like the fact that the front of the book has your title, but also says "My Hotbook" or something like that (depends on which layout you get I think). Also there was a text only layout page, but it only gives you a line or two, not a whole page. You can add captions to your photos (I didn't do this, so not sure how it turns out).
Shipping. They appear to use media mail shipping, which is not a priority as far as the post office is concerned, so it can take a while. Also, the shipping and postage info is listed on the back of the book. They simply put the book in a clear plastic sleeve and mail it to you (like some magazines). This also makes it more vulnerable to damage (it is a soft-sided book).
There are advertisements in the book. They say they wont be printed on the same pages as your pictures, are family friendly and easily removable. If you don't like the idea of ads, you can purchase the book for $3.99 + shipping (not sure how much shipping is).

Like I said, overall I'm happy with it and will most likely order more :o) My thinking is, as I take pictures each month, I'll put the ones I especially like in a separate "to print" folder and at the end of the month I'll make a FREE book with the pictures that I've set aside. This way I get "printed" pictures without having to spend an arm and a leg.

The website is www.hotprints.com. They also have a calendar that is a similar deal to the photobook, but I haven't checked it out.

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Tuesday

2010-03-22T23:10:00.000-07:00

This is my sister-in-law holding Little Bit up at my in-laws. The framing isn't quite perfect (Bits moved her head at just the wrong moment, lol), but I really loved the way my SIL is looking at her and the effect of the sun. For more Sweet Shots, visit My 3 Boybarians.

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Day

2010-03-16T08:28:00.001-07:00

Darcy at Life With My 3 Boybarians is having a Sweet Shot Day. It was hard to pick just one :o) I have several shots from our beach trip that I love, but I decided this one would be it. I just love how beautiful the colors came out.

Blessings