Unlikely Mother

Yum! - a journey update

2011-12-10T08:54:00.001-06:00

Here we are, so many miles from home, enjoying the endless bounty of breakfast sweets. It doesn't rank as the best breakfast ever, but any place that offers this much sugar in variety is a hit with the kids.

In other news, we put 800 miles on the Ody yesterday. The kids did really well for being cooped up for 13 hours. They watched 2 redbox movies, sang to their favorite Skillet songs, and played Angry Birds on the Nook.

As for me, I drove for about 170 miles, from Kansas City into somewhere in Oklahoma. I had my Droid X2 with google navigation mounted above the Ody's navigation, so how could I get lost? I absolutely love technology, by the way. As we drove, we decided we needed new music, so we downloaded Bebo Norman's Christmas album from Amazon mp3. Not to mention my brother and best friend was tracking my every move on google latitude! Cross country journeys are so much more fun than they used to be. The last time we did a journey like this was in 2002.

I better eat my muffin. Then it's back on the road for just 3 hours!

Feels good to be doing school again!

2011-11-21T14:49:00.001-06:00

First the kids got sick, and then I got sick. It's pretty hard to read when you have a cough every 30 seconds! Then it was Serena party time.

But now ... it's school time! I have my cup of cappuccino, and I'm ready to go!

Party Time, Part 5

2011-11-16T11:45:00.001-06:00

Instead of making one color per day for 4 days, Alayna really wanted to make the final 3 colors the next day. We could, because I had gone to Walmart and bought a few more itty bitty plastic containers of cream of tartar. Why can't they sell that stuff in a bigger container, I don't know.

I mostly made the next color, red, but after that, Alayna took over and completely made green and blue!

Finished!

Party Time, Part 4

2011-11-14T15:48:00.001-06:00

As you can see from this post, I assembled the ingredients for something. What, you ask? The first of the Kool-Aid Playdough party favors. We bought Lemonade (yellow bird), Lemon-Lime (green pig), Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade (blue bird), and Cherry (red bird). I did add about 10 drops of yellow food coloring to the finished product to give it more of a yellow look (it was fairly pasty before that addition).

I made 9 balls that weigh 2.5 ounces, and that gave us some leftovers for the girls to play with.

Maria with her pizza crust.

Alayna with her pie crust.

Serena with something undetermined.

I would make more today, but this recipe calls for a heck of a lot of cream of tartar, and I'm out! Three more colors soon to follow, hopefully before the big party day (Friday).

What are we making?!

2011-11-14T14:40:00.001-06:00

Party Time, Part 3

2011-11-13T17:24:00.001-06:00

The first thing to make was invitations. I bought cardstock from Walmart and drew the faces and white bodies. Here they were before being mailed out a few weeks ago.

The next project was party favor bags. I made a total of 10 bags with the yellow bird, red bird, blue bird, and green pig. I bought the bags at Michaels. The kids are excited to fill them! That will have to be part 4 as I'm beat! I've been battling a cough for a few days, bad enough to pull a muscle in my back yesterday. No fun. I am headed to the doctor tomorrow so I can get back on track, ready for the party later in the week!

Choices

2011-11-07T15:48:00.001-06:00

< Insert long, thought-provoking post about the issue swirling around in my head and the choice I need to make, concluding with a paragraph that clearly states the correct path to take. >

This may take awhile to write.

I guess I'll keep working ...

God has a favorite football team!

2011-10-31T11:19:00.001-05:00

Aaron was reading out of The Beginner's Bible this morning. Serena was listening in. when he finished, Serena asked, "Does God like the Vikings?"

Now, we are Vikings fans in this house, but I'm not going to presume that God has a favorite football team. I'm sure my husband would say He does, and it's the Vikings. My father-in-law would say Packers!

Anyway, I told her that God loves all the football players. She gives me this look like I'm daft and says, "Mom, He's wearing Viking colors. I think that means he likes the Vikings best."

Well said, Serena!

Party Time, Part 2

2011-10-30T18:29:00.001-05:00

The first thing I wanted to do was make the invitations. I searched online and found some that I could have printed. My brother Kevin tried his hand at designing one, and I think it was really cute! I cut and posted half of the card here. In the end, I decided I wanted to make some, though.

I found this link with a template to make Angry Birds balloons. I decided to draw the faces and color them with Sharpies. These designs (and I need to do the blue bird yet) are going to be the invitations and party favor bags. I might do the balloons, too.

When we were at Walmart, I found some Angry Birds stickers and an Angry Birds poster. At the Dollar General, I found paper plates, napkins, and cups in the perfect colors, and for a fantastic price! My kids complained about the orange plates since there is no true orange bird, but in the Angry Birds Seasons 2012 Ham O' Ween, the newest little yellow bird inflates and becomes orange ... so there! Big orange plates!

And yes, Serena did find out about the plans today. I had some invites and one party favor bag done, and we were really excited to show her what we were up to. She's even more excited for her birthday now! She had been bumming about it because her birthday falls on Thanksgiving this year (and she was born on Thanksgiving in 2005), so her special day gets overshadowed a bit. Her party won't be on her birthday this year, but I think she'll still have a blast.

Up next ... more invitations, party favor bags, making of stuff to put in the party favor bags, making a pig pinata, planning a menu, and whatever else comes up between now and then!

Party Time, Part 1

2011-10-30T07:57:00.004-05:00

I've been wanting to do a themed kid party for a few years now. Heck, a kid party without a theme would work, too! (A "kid party" being a party we invite other kids to. Normally we invite close family to the birthday kid's dinner.) I have to confess, though. Life was just busy with always having a baby in the house! Of course I had to complicate it by either knitting for Adventure Knits or doing school (M-TEC), and then working as a medical transcriptionist. Even so, I had every intention of doing a kid party for Serena and Aaron last year, but they both were sick around that time. For Alayna's birthday, she wanted a trip to get her ears pierced.

However, we are now close to Serena's birthday once again. On October 24, I posted on Facebook that I had the idea to make an Angry Birds party for her this year. Then I googled it. I had no idea my idea had already been covered in great detail! Obviously there are a lot of people who have kids who love Angry Birds! It's been fun to search Etsy, Amazon, and Ebay for ideas. And now that I have more time, I can be creative like I've always wanted to be but never had the time. Now I can atone for the missed opportunities I've had in the past.

Serena really loves Angry Birds. All the kids do, but she seems to especially love playing it. We all started playing Angry Birds when I got my Nook Color. I downloaded the app, and we were hooked. We beat all the levels, and then it was my quest to get 3 stars in every level. I'm such a nerd, I know! I'm not a gamer, but I do enjoy this game because it's fun to play a level or two as I wait for pancakes or toast. Later in the summer I got a Droid X2, so the entire Android Market opened up to me ... which meant more Angry Birds! After that I rooted my Nook Color, so we're able to play all the Angry Birds on there, too ... anyway ...

I was thinking about the children I want to invite to the party, and I realized most will not know anything about Angry Birds! Pretty funny that I would choose this as a theme, huh. It's such an easy theme to have, with easy-to-find colors. We'll just have to give a crash course on the birds and what they do! I'm sure Serena would love for me to hook up the laptop to the TV and play a few rounds!

A few days ago, I started a sheet in OneNote for all of the links I'd found, ideas, etc. I have started the invites and some decorations today, but I can't work on them while Serena is around, so it has to be early morning or late at night. She's already seen a few of my Chrome tabs with Angry Birds stuff on them, so I need to be more careful! I'll post Part 2 after I take some pictures of this morning's work.

For my friends who want to read more about Angry Birds: See Wikipedia!

Anger Management

2011-10-30T06:20:00.000-05:00

I am working on invitations for Serena's AB party this morning and saw this on FB! Cute!

Angry birds and cute kids

2011-10-27T14:33:00.000-05:00

So I was walking along our sidewalk today and I thought I saw something. Hmmm ...

What do you know, it's a black bird!

It's an ...

ANGRY BIRD!!!!

Sorry, couldn't resist. He normally rides on my purse.

I did find these cute kids along our sidewalk, though! Maria looks a bit angry, but I think I just caught her off guard.

IKEA knows me.

2011-10-21T10:22:00.001-05:00

2012 catalog came in the mail!

Seen on Facebook today ...

2011-10-17T11:59:00.002-05:00

Apple pie!

2011-10-14T15:23:00.000-05:00

This is the first apple pie that I've made. At least I think. I don't remember doing one before.

We've been given many apples this year, so I suppose this pie is overdue. I hope it's good! I'm not a fan of pie, but I might try a little bit. See, I'm still on this "make desserts that you don't like" kick. I do have a bag of Ghiradelli chocolate chips in the cupboard, but I know what'll happen if I turn those into delicious cookies!

Fall Color walk, 10/06/11

2011-10-14T07:41:00.001-05:00

Last week we had amazing fall colors in and around our yard. This maple in the front of our yard is probably my favorite. It was a beautiful sight when you were in our porch. To the left of it is a beautiful bright yellow, too.

We knew the peak for fall colors in our area was getting close, so we debated on a trip to Duluth and the north shore area, but in the end we decided to stay in our own "backyard" and take a hike on the Ice Age trail.

Maria was, hmmm, challenging on this walk. She enjoyed parts of it, but it really was a long hike, 3.39 miles according to my CardioTrainer app that tracked our movements using GPS. We both took turns carrying her, but she did walk a good amount of it.

Before we got into the really woodsy segment, I think Aaron had given up, too! It was a pretty warm day, warmer than average for our area in October.

My husband, scoping out the area. He ended up finding a bench at the top of a hill, and I am pretty sure I would have walked by him without noticing! One of the kids spotted him sitting there, though.

I found many photo opportunities along the way.

The trail went alongside a stream, and the kids had a lot of fun exploring.

We also found some huge rock formations along the trail. We had to take breaks to explore them and give me cause for alarm!

Alayna took this picture of us. :-)

My little ham!

Aaron found an adorable tree frog by the big rock.

Half of the kids liked the walk, the other half didn't like it as much (though they all loved the rocks and stream), but overall it was pretty fun. The leaves were starting to fall that day, and by the next day ...

My beautiful red tree had nearly lost all of its leaves.

And now ... over a week later? It's looking pretty brown and bare around here. Snow, here we come!

When trying to lose weight ...

2011-10-13T17:00:00.000-05:00

Make desserts that you don't want to eat! Any product with nuts will prevent me from indulging. :-)

Pictured are nutty shortbread bars. The husband is eating them, and the kids keep coming inside to take bits and pieces, so I guess they are okay. I think I took them out too soon, though, because the middle seems pretty soft. I'll post a recipe if someone asks, but I know my best friend won't ask, because she's trying to avoid sugar and go gluten free in her diet! Besides, I think she has the same cookbook as I do. ;-)

Hermione hat #3

2011-10-13T14:43:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, I posted pictures of my Hermione hat both here and on Facebook. A local friend asked if I could make her one, and I was happy to! I love yarn and having a reason to make things! I tried to order some here in town but that didn't work out, so I decided to travel to a yarn shop a little ways away in the country to find the perfect yarn. What was funny is that I wore a bluish shirt yesterday and decided to go to the library for storytime at the last minute. We're talking it's 10:12 and storytime starts at 10:30! I ran into my friend there and she commented that the shirt was exactly the color she was looking for! So with the shirt already on me, I was definitely more prepared to find the right color.

I found a few colors that were okay but not close enough, but then I found this yarn in Malabrigo. I love Malabrigo, so nice to knit with! I think the color is a pretty good match, perhaps a speck ligher than the blue of my shirt, but it was definitely the closest I'd found in the yarn shop.

I'm going to post updates as I think about it. :)

I just titled my post #3. Yes, I did make another ...

Got my workout in!

2011-10-13T07:23:00.001-05:00

What have you done today? :) Get moving!

Where to start?

2011-10-12T06:53:00.002-05:00

I have a lot on my mind. The problem is, the things on my mind would be best served by multiple blog posts, written in great detail. Will I actually get around to that? I'd like to think so, now that I'm no longer working. Yes, that is one of the things I want to talk about!

Being that I don't have a lot of time right now, I'll just say that I am determined to blog better. I know that I often come across blogs in my searches, and I love it when a complete stranger's writing helps me in some way. I hope that my blog has done that for others.

Since a blog post is incomplete without a picture, I leave you with this for now. Until then!

Awesome.

2011-09-25T14:52:00.001-05:00

I can update my blog from my smartphone.

Why am I surprised?

Maybe I will keep thing updated now!

And more knitting!

2011-09-09T11:14:00.002-05:00

I finished Hermione's Cable and Eyelet hat! Funny, though I've already seen the movie, I'm reading through (Harry Potter) The Half-Blood Prince for the first time. I love how Dumbledore says he loves knitting patterns, too funny!

I followed the pattern pretty closely, though I cast on 132 stitches and added one extra K6, P5 row near the end but did not add the extra cable for the woman's size hat. The results fit me quite nicely!

It doesn't appear to match the scarf all that well, and I suppose it is a more muted shade of orangey-yellow. It still goes well when they are worn together, though. And I have another beautiful skein of yarn that will become another scarf, and of course it has this color in it.

I'd love to make hats like this for all of my girls now ... Then I need to find patterns for the boys in my life, too! :-)

Knitting again!

2011-09-07T14:35:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago, my husband and I went shopping. Shopping isn't fun shopping unless you go to a yarn store, so we went to Darn. Knit. {Anyway}. I was thinking about getting yarn for either a scarf or a hat. I found this yarn, Malabrigo Chunky, Snow Bird, and it reminded me so much of the fall colors that will be here soon. I was carrying 2 skeins of Snow Bird, but I had wanted a scarf with more orangey-yellow in it, so my husband suggested getting Sunset and striping the scarf. Great idea!

I cast on 19 stitches with 10.5 needles and made each stripe to be 23 rows long. I wanted a longer scarf, but this was nearly 2 skeins! And it's funny, but do the colors resemble anything? I'm not saying what!

Next is the hat to go with it! I started that today. Then another scarf that has the same orangey-yellow in it. I love knitting!

11 years!

2011-08-07T11:38:00.004-05:00

We celebrated our 11th anniversary last month. I won't lie and say it's been all unicorns and fairy dust (aka happy and great?), because lately we have had some things rock us and shake us, but we came out of it stronger, and our marriage is stronger than it ever has been. We've always loved each other, but lately we are becoming the best friends that we used to have ... each other, back when we were high-school sweethearts way back in 1998!

The Book That Made Your World (Vishal Mangalwadi)

2011-06-13T19:49:00.004-05:00

The Book That Made Your World by Vishal Mangalwadi is a very in-depth and interesting study about how the Bible has made such an impact on our world. I was given a complimentary copy from BookSneeze.com, and had I known it was close to 500 pages, I might not have requested it, due to my busy life as a working and homeschooling mom of 4. After I made it through the first 50 pages about Kurt Cobain and his music, I was very much interested in the history of how the Bible's teachings have affected my life personally as well as lives of others who lived long ago. Reading the personal information about the author's life in India was also insightful, because I do lack awareness regarding life in other cultures.

I figured that I would probably just nod and agree with a lot of the content, but I was very much surprised to read things that made me appreciate how different and liberating a Bible-based culture is. I found that a lot of my questions about world history and the differences between Bible-believing cultures and other cultures were answered. I was impressed by the way the author showed how the Bible and biblical principles have influenced literature, science, medicine, and education in both large and small ways. I felt a new-found appreciation for not only the change that the Bible can make in one individual, but the changes that have taken place for entire cultures throughout our history. With each chapter, I found something new to highlight and share with my family, which made for some good discussion time. When my children are older, I will have them read this book as part of our homeschooling.

* As I said, I received this book from BookSneeze.com, but I was not obligated to post a positive review, and all opinions are my own.

May 2011 Book List

2011-06-12T01:00:00.005-05:00

Since getting the Nook Color, I've been reading here, there, and everywhere. I thought I'd keep track of what I've been reading by the month. I had posted this list at the Sonlight forums, so it's just a quick copy and paste. :-)

1) The Shack, (William P. Young) - 5. I was reading the paperback from a person from church, but as I got into it, I realized I wanted to own it and read with my Nook, since it's so much more convenient that way. I really enjoyed this one.

2) Redeeming Love, (Francine Rivers) - 5. I read this as a teenager. I know I enjoyed it then, but I got more out of it this time. Definitely made me cry a few times. I didn't find this on the ebook library, so I figured I'd buy it with a $10 GC I had for B&N (through Swagbucks).

3) The Pastor's Wife, (Jennifer Allee) - 3.5. I got this as a free book from the Nook Deals blog. It was pretty good ... kept my interest long enough to finish it, though it was fairly predictable.

4) Oceans Apart, (Karen Kingsbury) - 4.5. I had another B&N gift card so I thought I'd try this author for $6.99. I had seen some recommendations on SL plus someone on Facebook recommend her. I'd never heard of her before (it's been about 10 years since I'd read any fiction). This was good ... it definitely evoked strong feelings in me (considering I was yelling at one of the characters).

5) Song of Renewal, (Emily Sue Harvey) - 4. Another freebie. It started out slow for me, but by the end, I was enjoying it.

6) A Rose by the Door, (Deborah Bedford) - 4.5. I think I might have paid $1.99 for this one after hearing about it from Nook Deals. Whatever it was, it turned out to be a good read. I was starting to tire of too much romance! This has a little bit, but that's not the focus of the book. Edited to add that it is still $1.99 as of 6/11 if you want to check it out!

7) Fixing Freddie, (Paula Munier) - 4.5. I was surprised I enjoyed this one as much as I did! It was another freebie. And what's weird is that though it says on the cover, True Story, I didn't realize it until reading the end.

8) The Scarlet Thread, (Francine Rivers) - 5. This was $2.99, so I snatched it up as soon as I saw it on Nook Deals. So far she's my favorite author. I hadn't read this one as a teenager. I really enjoyed it, especially the weaving of 2 storylines together.

9) Daughter of Joy, (Kathleen Morgan) - 4. Another freebie that turned out to be pretty good.

10) Even Now, (Karen Kingsbury) - 5. Library ebook. I could relate to this story, considering I was once a teenager in love. I remember yelling at this book a little bit.

11) Ever After, (Karen Kingsbury) - 4.5. Library ebook. Sequel to the above book. Still good.

12) Between Sundays, (Karen Kingsbury) - 4.5. Library ebook. Okay, the Kingsbury books are starting to have similar themes. But this was still a good book that kept me turning the pages.

13) Every Now and Then, (Karen Kingsbury) - 4.5. Library ebook. Not sure why I read book 3 in a series I hadn't read before, but the holds on the previous books were much longer than this one. Even though I didn't understand all the backstory, it was still a good read.

I also read the first 20+ pages of A Promise of Forever Love, (Vanessa Miller) but I couldn't get past any more pages. It was driving me nuts. Thankfully it was a freebie!

Beautiful Sunday in ...

2011-06-07T08:36:00.003-05:00

Duluth!

Why haven't I bought these before?!

2011-05-21T11:32:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago we were at a good friend's house. Her 3 children and my 4 children were outside in their spacious yard and surrounding woods, having a blast. She had given her oldest daughter a walkie talkie so they could communicate with us in the house if need be. Neat, I thought. It wasn't too long ago that I had been considering the time when we'd get a cell phone for the children for that purpose, although being homeschooled, they are rarely away from me and never without supervision anyway. I figured once they were in their teen years.

Later I thought to myself that we have had 4 walkie talkies in the past, for communicating with other cars when we'd take family trips. Yes, this was before we all had cell phones! These were pretty nifty walkie talkies, with a zillion channels and a very long range. Well, they'd been lost over the years, and besides, with all of the channels I am sure the kids would never be able to communicate properly with each other due to never being on the same channel!

So when the children each found $5 in their Easter egg from the great grandparents, I figured I'd research walkie talkies for children. I went to Amazon and browsed quite a few, and came across Lego Walkie Talkies. Not really made out of Legos, unfortunately, but they had great reviews compared to others I'd been researching. They were simple, too, with just one channel and a 1-mile range. I then searched around for the best price, finally settling on the ones from Barnes and Noble.com. Spend $25 and get free shipping ... can't beat that, considering they were $25.95. I made the kids hand their money over and paid the difference.

They arrived a week later, and that very same day, I was saying ... WHY hadn't I bought these before now?! It's been so nice to call them in for dinner, command them to push someone on the swing, settle disputes ... without hollering out the window! :) And when I am outside, I let the kids use both of them to play with.

I know ... I'm not the first parent to discover this! But hey, maybe when someone googles Lego Walkie Talkies, they'll find my blog and thank me for the review. ;) I wish I would have bought them years ago.

It is truly spring!

2011-05-18T12:02:00.001-05:00

Every Nook needs a Cover

2011-05-16T13:57:00.008-05:00

When I got the Nook Color, I knew I'd want something to protect it. I almost had my husband buy a generic padded case from Walmart just to have something right away, but I decided that I'd wait for something handmade, from someone like me. Some of you may remember that I used to knit for Adventure Knits (and will be having a going-out-of-business sale soon!), and I wanted to support someone like myself as I am very appreciative to all of the Moms that bought longies and shorties from me for all of those years.

I searched Hyena Cart (where Adventure Knits is hosted) but did not find anything that caught my eye. I went to Etsy and found more than enough options for e-reader covers! After wading through pages and pages, I found this seller, Dana Designs. Not only did her covers interest me, but the fact that she was in the same city as my parents was also cool. I contacted her for a custom, something orange ... and this is what was created for me:

It's just perfect! It fits the NC perfectly (and she does make them to fit Kindles and other e-readers, too). I feel a lot better about putting my NC into my purse or just carrying it outside. What is also nice is that the front part of the cover folds under, making it easy to read as it just sits on the table or in your lap. So ... now that I have shared all that, I'm taking this and the coffee/cocoa and headed to read while the kiddos play outside in the gorgeous day! We've already read all of our school books outside today, now it's my turn. Still reading The Book That Made Your World, which is turning out to be very good and very in depth and involved. Probably deeper than I should be reading at this current stage of my life (which is read for 5.5 minutes at various times of the day), but I'm enjoying it, and I can always revisit it later. Before that, I bought Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers with my free $10 B&N gift card. It was awesome to revisit that book again! 400 pages never went by so fast though. :(

That's right, I said I was leaving ... ;-)

Medical Transcription Appreciation Week! May 16-22

2011-05-15T12:17:00.001-05:00

Copied from a MT friend on FB:

A proclamation by President Ronald Reagan designating the National Medical Transcriptionist Week in May 1985:

A century ago, physicians knew many of their patients from birth, knew all their ailments, and provided all their medical care. Today, with medical specialization and greater mobility among people, many skilled physicians may treat the average American during a lifetime. Using transcribed medical reports, each physician can easily and quickly review a patient's medical history even if the physician has never seen that patient before. Because of the work done by trained medical transcriptionists, patients can be assured that the history of their medical care is portrayed accurately and legibly. Medical transcriptionists have therefore become a vital link between the physician and the patient.
It is appropriate for our Nation to recognize the contributions of medical transcriptionists. We should encourage hospitals, allied health education programs, and community colleges to provide appropriate courses of instruction recognizing the high standards that must be met by medical transcriptionists and the vital function they perform.

Sign up through me?

2011-05-14T09:57:00.004-05:00

I've won $20 in Barnes and Noble gift cards so far. If you join Swagbucks and search the web, you could earn free stuff too! Not to mention, I'd get more swagbucks because of you! ;) But really, you can't beat free stuff. I haven't been as religious with my swagbucks until now, but since getting the Nook, I am quite interested in adding to my book collection!

DO IT! :)

On reading ... (incredibly long)

2011-05-08T22:53:00.010-05:00

I used to love to read as a child. I read a lot compared to kids I knew. I also read really fast. And I loved to read while eating Pringles. I had that habit for years, still do, though my chip of choice is now Baked Ruffles! The first series I really got into was the Babysitter's Club. I remember being 9 years old, thinking that the 13-year-old kids in the series were so cool and so old! Though I am sure I read other things, I really remember getting into historical Christian fiction when I was a teenager. I loved that section of our local library. I had read everything there eventually, so when a new book would come in, I was thrilled! I think I started with Janette Oke but branched out to other authors, but by far my favorite author was Francine Rivers, especially Redeeming Love and The Mark of the Lion series. Then came the Left Behind series. They couldn't pump those books out fast enough for me! By that time I was about 16 or 17, and I even got my boyfriend (now husband) into reading them. Considering he wasn't an avid reader, I was happy to have that to share with him.

Then ... I got married. I worked 2 jobs while my husband was in school. We decided to try for a baby in our 19th year (yeah, I was over-eager to be a full-fledged adult!), and so my reading shifted to books about pregnancy. Of course the first one was What to Expect When You're Expecting ... then friends gave me more, I started checking books out, etc. After Aaron was born, it was Mothering magazine, What to Expect The First Year, those freebie copies of Parenting or whatever they are! I'd read in snippets as I learned how to be a mom. Those days of reading for hours with a great fiction book? Ha! Who has time for that? I read only what I needed to read. It went from pregnancy books, baby books, parenting books, then homeschooling books ... and then I was reading tons of books TO my children, but I didn't read for the pure pleasure of it anymore. I didn't consider it high enough on my priority list. I started M-TEC the same month I started homeschooling, so my reading time was strictly for school for me or school for them. Of course, I loved to check out a copy of Reader's Digest every now and then and eat [good catch, Lani! ROFL! I needed fiber] it while I ate lunch. I bought a very small KJV Bible last summer, which did help a little in that I could take it along with me easier than my huge 4-translation Bible, but often I'd forget to bring it along just when I wanted it, such as waiting in a parking lot for my husband to come out of the home improvement store. I would read awesome, life-changing books by Andrew Wommack or Joseph Prince too, but even that was hard to maintain because by the time I'd get around to picking the book up and reading, someone would need to be taken to the potty, by which time that book fell off the couch, and I lost my place ... and someone would just put it up in the shelf and I'd forget it by the time I came back!

You can see why using Sonlight appealed to me so much, right? All about reading! I especially loved that I was going to be reading and introducing my children to great books, worthy books, classic books. I felt sad for myself that when I looked at the books list for the highschool-level Cores, I'd read maybe 1 of them in each list. Even in the younger Cores, same thing. I often wished I would have read more of those, but figured that this was the next best thing, being able to own and read them to my children and then later, read them alongside my children so we could discuss them.

So ... I forget how it happened, but I started thinking about e-readers. I considered the Kindle, but then heard about the Nook Color, reportedly so good for children's books because of the color aspect. Yes, this is what I wanted! Except did I want to pay that much for something that was not at all necessary, just something that might revive my love of reading? I put it out of my mind for a few more months. Besides, I was a loyal fan to REAL books. I love our shelves lined up so nicely with Sonlight books, and we only have 4 Cores up there now. I was sure I wouldn't want an e-reader, anyway. And besides, I don't have time to read with working 35-40 hours a week, homeschooling, etc.!

A few months later, thinking about it again. Of course I ask my Facebook people (now all MTs or MTs-in-training) if anyone had a Kindle or a Nook. Yes, there were a lot of happy people with their e-readers. Back to the research. Now I'd decided on the Nook Color. If I was going to get an e-reader, it had to be one that was good for the kids, too, not just me. I read about a software update that gave the Nook Color qualities of a touchscreen tablet with the ability to run apps, email, Facebook, etc. I asked about educational apps, figuring that if I could get some of those, it would be very beneficial to the kids for times when we were waiting at the dentist or even for our food at a restaurant. I was sold on it ... now to sell it to my husband. The short story of that is that I said it could be my Mother's Day present, and since he really messed up Mother's Day last year, he felt he owed me more this year. ;-) That and I said his Father's Day present could be a new grill as the metal of our current one was literally falling apart. He agreed to the proposal, and one week ago I got the Nook Color.

Prior to getting it, I was trying to read a book called The Shack by William P. Young. My dad had read this copy that was borrowed to him by a church friend. That same friend told me I could read it when I was trying to return it to him. In my mind, I was thinking ... yes, I want to ... but I just never will get around to it! And I didn't; it sat for quite some time. I decided to pick it up and really got into the story, so when I got my Nook, even though I hadn't planned on buying e-books (as there are so many free ones or ones to get from the library), I bought it to continue on the Nook. I wasn't quite halfway in the book by that time.

Once it was on the Nook, I flew through it. It was so easy to sit in bed after work was done in the very dim light and read. My husband would come home from work and while he'd check his email and Facebook, I'd just sit and read. In the daytime while the kids were silently doing their math, I'd have it sitting there and I'd read. No need to put a bookmark as it saves your place, which I loved. Since it was expensive, I never just let it sit there after I'd get up, so no little kids were knocking it onto the floor ... then again, it's heavy enough that you can't easily knock it anywhere. I'd be reading The Shack outside, and Maria would come over to me and want me to read something to her, so I'd just touch a few things and we'd start reading Sandra Boynton, only with this, it's interactive and you can touch the book for lots of fun! Yes, I know I could have brought real books outside to read ... I've done it many times! We've brought piles of Sonlight books outside and done school, and I am sure we'll do it again this summer. Inevitably, someone would drop a book into the dirt, and since I'm a little crazy about keeping our books in good condition, I never liked that. The Nook just made reading outside easier. ;-) Obviously, there is only one person who is allowed to carry the Nook around! But the kiddos are free to sit in a chair or on the couch and play with apps or read a book, after their other reading and work is done.

So, I've finished The Shack ... awesome book! Only 1 sentence that I absolutely cannot agree with, and what's odd, it seems very contradictory to the other parts of the books, but yeah, I'll get around to reviewing that later. I'm currently reading The Book That Made Your World, a complimentary e-book from BookSneeze.com. After that, I've got close to 40 free or nearly free e-books that I've downloaded, not to mention some trials of Reader's Digest, my favorite thing to read while eating lunch, so who knows what is next! I'm just really happy to be reading again! I know I didn't need a Nook Color to read, but it truly does make things easier for me and yes, a little more enjoyable. And it's nice that I can take a large collection of books with me wherever I go, so when I want a kid's book, it's there. When I want my Bible, it's there. When I want to just get lost in a good story, I can do that too. If I want to check my email, Facebook, or play a game of Angry Birds, all of those things a real book cannot do, that's just really fun! All in all, a Mother's Day present that is both useful, educational, fun, and very much appreciated.

To see a neat Nook Color commercial, click here. Nope, not getting paid for this gushy Nook lovefest, though I'd love some free e-books! Ha!

Breaking news!

2011-04-27T12:34:00.004-05:00

I was working and heard the screams of joy from downstairs. Alayna asked if she could come up and show me that she lost her second top tooth! If you will recall, this is more of a big deal than normal. ;-)

Music to my ears!

2011-04-19T00:13:00.003-05:00

I was working tonight, and the kids were downstairs. I’d told them to get ready for bed and do something quietly before Daddy came home from his Fire Department drill. At one point, I took my headphones off and heard … Aaron reading! I kept listening. He was reading out of Titanic: Lost and Found. It is scheduled sometime later in our readers schedule.

I often hear Alayna reading at night, and I absolutely love that, too. But Aaron is my reluctant school guy. He loves to spend hours with his pile of Legos, but bring out the workbooks or readers, and you can tell he’s not overjoyed. He has been getting much better with his attitude overall, and sometimes I actually catch him enjoying the reading or worksheets, but when I find him reading voluntarily to his sisters, it just melts my heart. I loved to read so much as a child, and I am happy that he is starting to enjoy it too. I am sure that if I had pushed him to be “on schedule,” things might be different. Sure, he would still be able to read, but would he love it? Knowing him, he would only read the bare minimum to get by. But this scene … totally unscripted, not assigned. They even ignored me as I came down to take pictures.

My cuties :)

2011-04-18T22:16:00.002-05:00

We went for a walk today, the whole family, excluding Puffman.

Good thing, because we are supposed to get more SNOW tomorrow! Ugh!

More words later. All of my typing lately has been for doctors!

Fun with our only cousin!

2011-04-15T14:43:00.001-05:00

FINALLY lost a top tooth!

2011-04-11T12:15:00.005-05:00

When Alayna was about 2 years old, we were making Valentine's Day sugar cookies. She was excited about the cookies that were just coming out of the oven, and as she ran into the living room to tell Daddy, she tripped and fell. Unfortunately, her mouth hit the coffee table, resulting in screams and blood everywhere. After a trip to the clinic, the ER, and then finally an oral surgeon, we were told that her top teeth had been hit the hardest, but they were most likely going to be okay. In the months and years that followed, she's had yellowish brown top teeth that were a constant reminder to us that she'd had the accident so long ago. At that time, we hoped they wouldn't have to be pulled. But when she turned 5 without any missing teeth, 6 without any missing teeth, 7 without any missing teeth, I was a bit worried! Eventually 1 bottom tooth fell out, but those top ones were hanging on. The dentist had assured me it was okay, which set my mind at ease, but still ... all of her friends were losing teeth left and right!

But then ... just a few days ago she lost one of the top teeth. She had bit into a marshmallow while we were outside, and then all of a sudden I hear screams. "My TOOTH! My TOOTH IS OUT! It is on the marshmallow!" :-) She was 7 years 9 months old.

And now that 2nd top tooth is getting pretty wiggly, too. I'll update with that picture as soon as it's out!

Alayna showing her new smile to Grandpa.

Snapshots from our days ...

2011-04-06T23:21:00.001-05:00

Puff ponders his first spring.

2011-04-05T12:08:00.003-05:00

A walk in the springtime ...

2011-04-05T00:10:00.003-05:00

Grandma's Visit - Snapshots!

2011-03-31T17:46:00.001-05:00

Yes, it IS spring!

2011-03-25T15:31:00.003-05:00

12 inches of snow cannot dampen my spring!

How Sarah Makes BBQ sauce:

2011-03-21T23:59:00.002-05:00

Mix ketchup, mustard, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and ... I think that's it ... into a cast iron skillet and cook it down.

If you like, you can add some cooked chicken legs to the skillet and feed it to a 3-year-old:

Excitement!!!

2011-03-21T15:04:00.002-05:00

Sonlight's 2011 catalog ONLINE!

I have recommended Sonlight to many, many people over the years with no benefit to me. However, they do now have a rewards program if you click and buy through my personal link! I have already received $10 off one order, and if you order $50+, you also receive $5 off if it's your first order with Sonlight!

So why not save a little money if you can? Thanks, Sonlight!

Happy Birthday

2011-03-17T10:09:00.004-05:00

Happy Birthday, Grama Inez. I wish you could see your great-grandchildren right now! I know you are in heaven, so someday you can meet them. :)

I always thought we were Irish because her birthday was on St. Patrick's Day. ;-)

Facebook ....

2011-03-12T14:02:00.004-06:00

Adios to you, Facebook. I have kept my profile up so I can retrieve pictures and keep in closer contact with my mom and brother, but otherwise, I'm done. You can expect to see more updates on my blog, I guess ... ;-)

Here is Maria, "working" alongside me as I worked the other day. Jobs are more fun when you have a cutiepie next to you.

Felted Bag #2 - start to finish!

2011-02-22T20:40:00.005-06:00

After completing the first bag, I had the itch to make another one. I wasn't happy with the first bag for me, but it does make a great little bag/purse for my daughter, so she's thrilled! I had spent some time browsing Noro Kureyon colors with my friend Cathy, and I figured I'd order something online. Then one day, I just had this bug in my ear, saying, call the local yarn shop (not exactly local to me, but less than 45 minutes away) and see what colors they have. The lady told me, and among the colors was Noro Kureyon 255. It seemed perfect! My favorite colors are the colors of a campfire, oranges, reds, yellows. Toss in a little brown and green (and some fuscia, ahhhh, not my fave!), and that makes up color 255. And they even had 3 skeins. Perfect!

My first bag was based off of the famous Booga Bag pattern. I liked it as a cute bag for Alayna, but I wanted something different. Something similar to what inspired me to try a felted bag in the first place, the bag of my friend Jamie. What I most liked about it was that you could wear it around your neck and have it at your side. I wasn't seeing much for that as I looked for felted bags. So for this bag, I decided to wing it! I hate following patterns, anyway. ;-)

I started the bag, got up past the bottom and into the body of it and realized ... I wanted it wider, but not as deep. My kids watched in surprise as I ripped all of my hard work out. Serena was most upset, saying I had wasted all that time. I guess she was right! Then I decided to make the strap first, to make sure I had enough yarn. Got halfway through and realized, the strap is too wide, gotta make it thinner. Ripped that out and cast on half the stitches. Got that to a decent length and then started the bag.

Just before the next picture was taken, I decided to take apart my strap and knit it into the bag so that I could make a seamless strap transition once I got to the top. More hard work down the drain! But here it is after I had added the previously knitted strap:

And then we skip ahead to the finished picture. I had agonized over what to do with the strap. I assumed that it would shrink in height just like the body of the bag. I decided I had better make it extra long so I could still throw it over my head. So ....

Of course, this being my 2nd bag, I had no idea the darn strap would STRETCH to be much longer than originally intended! Oh, the disappointment I had. My perfect bag, with an insanely long skinny strap. To think I could have knit that thicker strap after all!

I thought about it for the night as it was drying, and then decided to wing it yet again and make 2 straps by cutting the middle of the long one and tying the ends into the other side. It's hard to see it on here, but I guess that's the point as I was trying to hide my strap fiasco!

Now on the needles is another bag with yarn I currently have, to test this thicker strap theory. I also have ordered some Noro Kureyon from Vintage Knits in color 149, and that will be my 4th felted bag!

Felted Bag #1 - finished!

2011-02-16T20:43:00.003-06:00

Felted Bag Progress

2011-02-12T09:25:00.001-06:00

Just a note to share some progress on the felted bag:

Ahhh, it feels good to knit!

2011-02-08T16:47:00.003-06:00

I posted earlier about planning a felted bag project. Well, the following day my BFF Cathy and I headed to a yarn store. I needed needles in the right size, and she needed yarn. We both were need of some coffee and some time to spend together! We got to the yarn shop at 9:00 AM on the dot with coffees (and baby Hannah and our bags!) in hand. 5 HOURS later, the bottom of the bag was finished. Let's just say I'm a bit rusty, or perhaps not used to picking up more than a few stitches here and there! Afterward we went to lunch and had some homemade soup and paninis and took a cold frappe to go. It was a blast!

I've been working on it some here and there, and here is my less than stellar cell phone pic to show you!

The true colors are represented in the post before this one. It's not as washed out as it appears!

Hummingbird!

2011-02-06T13:47:00.003-06:00

I've had this yarn called "Hummingbird" (Malabrigo worsted) for quite some time. Before winter, at least. I had wanted a pretty, variegated yarn to make hats for the girls. Well, time got away from me, and I just never did it. I was never 100% sure that the yarn was supposed to be made into little girl hats, anyway.

Then I started thinking about a cool felted bag that my friend has. I have plenty of bags, to be sure. Probably too many. But I could see this yarn of mine being perfect for a felted bag. I've never made a felted bag. I tend to be the person who finds 1 or 2 things to make, and I make hundreds. Well, now that the longies and shorties hobby has come to an end, I think it's time to move on.

I'm so excited about this new stage in my knitting. I'll be sure to update with pics when I begin. The first step is to find some bigger needles. :)

Egypt in Legos

2011-02-03T11:51:00.004-06:00

We just finished up a study on ancient Egypt (Sonlight Core 1). The kids really enjoyed it (as did I), and this gave Aaron an interest in Lego's Egyptian-themed sets. We went to the MOA recently and he bought a smaller set with his birthday money, but of course that set didn't last too long! The set-by-instructions only last for a few days, and then he is tearing it apart to make a new creation!

This is the entire Egypt set he made. The pyramid (something he really wants) is a bit too pricey for his budget, so he made his own! I like his a lot better!

I guess there is a plane in this particular Lego set, so above is his version of that.

Looking up the steps of the pyramid. He put so much detail into this. The gray circle on the left of the picture is a snake pit with 2 snakes!

Here is the detachable scorpion. It just love how he pulls pieces from a big bin and makes them look so much like the originals. And of course, he has no instructions; he just looks at the pictures in his Lego magazine or in books for inspiration.

He really wants to see his creation in the Lego magazine, so here's hoping they'll print it!

Puff's New Lady

2011-02-01T22:15:00.001-06:00

I was just eating breakfast, looked over and saw him getting snuggly with Ms. Bronto. Love is in the air!

Breyer's Mint Chocolate Ice Cream

2011-01-31T15:53:00.001-06:00

This ice cream tastes like heaven.

That is all.

Mmmmm.

Fish slayers

2011-01-12T15:15:00.004-06:00

A few weeks ago, I had nothing going on at work, and because we homeschool on my husband's work schedule, we headed to the local lake on a weekday afternoon. It's a few blocks away, so I put Maria on the sled and we made the trek.

The kids found a couch that someone had made in the snow.

Daddy ends up doing the hard work, while I take pictures!

Aaron and Alayna caught the first fish of the day. The one pictured is Aaron's. Isn't it pretty? I always feel so sad for the poor things, but I must admit they are tasty for dinner.

After this point, there are no more pictures. Why? Because I proceeded to start fishing and I caught all of the fish! Ok, I think Daddy caught 1 fish. ;-) I think we ended up with about 15, which is good for a fish fry dinner. And I even took some of the fish off the hook, too! I must be improving.

Fun times with Kevin

2010-12-30T15:04:00.000-06:00

Puff the Bearded Dragon

2010-12-21T18:06:00.007-06:00

It was sometime in October. We had been at Cathy's house, and the kids found a salamander. We brought her home, made a neat habitat for her in a 10-gallon tank, loved and cared for her for 6 days, and then ... she passed away. Oh, the heartbreak. Not as bad as when Flappy died (of course I haven't shared about her either!), but it was enough that I said, "Enough is enough. It's time to find a small creature that will not die on us in a few short weeks!"

I started googling "Best Lizards for Kids" and also asking about it on Facebook. Oh, Facebook, how I love thee. We found Rylee on Facebook back in 08/2009. Anyway, this time, I had a fellow MTEC friend who messaged me about bearded dragons. After researching them and their needs, I decided that that was the perfect little pet for us.

I found beardeddragon.org, which appears to be THE site to go to for info on dragons. I eventually found a breeder there in the "For Sale" section, and after scrolling endless pictures of little baby dragons, I found the one. He was discounted because of a slight bend in his tail, but it wasn't very noticeable. Of course I had to post the picture of him on Facebook right away!

Everyone seemed to love the little guy and the idea of getting him, except my husband. Of course! He did offer the name suggestion of "Puff" one day, but he was mostly joking, I think. Alayna really liked that name, and then it was also suggested by a fellow MTECer and co-worker of mine, too. We decided to go with Puff. :) Now that he had a name, he just needed to wait until some good shipping weather, as he had to travel from Florida! In the meantime, his breeder at Rio Reptiles sent me some pictures of Puff.

Finally he arrived on 10/20/2010. He had been shipped the night before, and I tracked him all the way to the delivery truck. I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Now it's been 2 months since we've had Puff-Man, as I like to call him. He's as much fun as he was when we got him. I'll let the kids hold him as they read to me, or I'll put him on Maria, and she'll stay really still so he doesn't scurry away. I can actually feed him his food, dubia, AKA roaches! He chews them with happiness. Maria cheers and shouts, "PUFF-MAN ATE HIS ROACHIES!"

Now you know about Puff! More updates later!

First video

2010-12-21T17:10:00.002-06:00

My brother Kevin is here, making an "ossim" video of our dragon, Puff. I don't believe I've shared about him yet! Anyway, Kevin inspired me to slightly edit the one thing on my camcorder, my kiddos. :)

Well, hey!

2010-12-20T16:43:00.001-06:00

I've been a little busy. Adding full-time work to normal home and homeschooling life has been interesting, for sure. Just wanted to update and say that I'm still here, and that I plan to do more blogging in the future.

For now, here's a pic of the kiddos at a recent IKEA trip:

It's been awhile!

2010-08-15T23:31:00.008-05:00

* disclaimer: Some things in this report you will not understand if you aren't from M-TEC. Just nod, smile, and keep reading!
** I typed this over a week's worth of time. Disregard any errant commas. I tried, but I would really like to publish this now.

I know I haven't been keeping up with the blog. Right around the time I stopped, I had a lot going on. For those of you who know me or keep up with my ever-changing status updates on facebook, it was because I was close to finishing my M-TEC journey. I briefly shared about it here, but other than that I don't think I talked about it much. I kept in contact with fellow students and grads through facebook mostly, because regular people don't understand what's going on when we say stuff like, "Just turned in Test 8!" or "I got a 96%, I am SO BUMMED!" Oh, and if any of you students say you got a 96%, don't be bummed!

The end of July was my end date. Take that back. October 22, 2009 was my end date, but thanks to extensions on a monthly basis, I was able to extend my end date to my final end date, the END of all dates, which was the end of July. And that was when I submitted my PE (translation: Pre-employment exam, definition: sheer terror!). But maybe I should back up a bit, take some time to reminisce ...

My educational goals after finishing high school were to work while my husband was in college, and then I would go to college after he was done. Midway into that plan, I decided I wanted to have a baby. Nothing could sway me! We had Aaron when my husband was 1 semester away from graduation. I quit my job as a secretary and awesome shirt-folder at Old Navy. Fast forward to moving back to Wisconsin, having Alayna 19 months later. I decided I wanted to pursue my first career love, law enforcement. I enrolled in an online university and spent 8 months studying and taking online classes. I had a 4.0 GPA and was doing well when I decided I did not want to leave my kids for 8+ hours a day. I quit because I didn't want to continue to have educational debt when I had no eventual way to pay it off.

In 2005 I started a knitting cloth diaper covers (longies and shorties), and I decided to try and sell them. I had success, so Adventure Knits was born. I enjoyed knitting and the money was a bonus, though it certainly wasn't an income. Just fun money to spend on the kids, which I did enjoy doing!

In 2008 my mom asked me if I'd ever looked into medical transcription. She said it looked like something I'd enjoy doing. I looked into the materials she had from an MT school that I did not end up enrolling in. Hmmmm, looks interesting. I could work from home. I could do that! I was all set to enroll there, but something held me back. I researched MT, the industry, the different schools, and I found a school that I felt really good about. That was M-TEC. I enrolled in April of 2008 when Maria was just a few months old. What was I thinking?!

Well, I didn't realize the depth and intensity of M-TEC's course. No, medical transcriptionists do not type what they hear. If you did, you'd end up with some non-intelligible and dangerous reports! You have to know the difference between ilium and ileum. You have to know the difference between -pathy, -ectomy, -scopy, or what nephr/o-, adnex/o-, or chol/e- means. You have to know how that ALLERGIC TO BITTER FUR actually means ALLERGIC TO ********. Yes, Charlene, that was the best one of the Foreign Accent PDs! And I blanked it out so that students won't see the answer! ;-) Basically, you have to know medical stuff. Not like a doctor, but your researching and critical thinking skills have got to be good, and you need a great foundation as your base of knowledge. You can get that at M-TEC! <------ No, not being paid to promote the school. I'm just happy because ... I graduated (meaning, got my PE back, graded, final GPA given) and I got a job! I received my PE back on Tuesday, then sent some resumes that night and had an interview set for Thursday. I was hired, then started work on Friday!

So, here is an update after a week's worth of work: I didn't sleep much the first few days. I was so excited to learn everything! Working is a whole new ball game. I found that M-TEC stuff was on autopilot, thankfully, so I could focus on other things like different account specifics, new specialties, etc. I was started on Oncology reports, and I hadn't had those since Basic! So it takes awhile to make progress. I would work on 1 report for HOURS! But you want to get it right, so you take your time! Thank goodness for great QA and the ability to flag your questionable areas!

Being an IC (independent contractor, not an employee) is a very flexible position. I have found that it's not a burden at all to "fit" working into my life. At the end of my M-TEC journey, I was already at the computer for nearly the entire day! I was able to take days off for our camping trip that had been planned without a problem. I'm very thankful for the flexibility! Because of that, I am more than willing to get up early or stay up late if I need to continue working.

12+ minute reports in school are torture. 12+ minute reports in the working world are great! The reverse is also true. The shorter the dictation, the faster they talk, it seems! I spent as much time on the shorter ones as I did on some longer ones! Obviously the pay was peanuts at that point! You start to like your dictators, especially if they say thank you and they speak clearly most of the time. :-) Now that I'm working, I feel more of a people-connection with who is speaking. The reports for school are for school. They aren't current (as in just dictated that day). You are working for a grade in school, but you are working as a part of the health care team when you are working. Maybe others realized that before they started working, but I felt it more as a working MT. And it's not to say I didn't care about my reports in school ... anyone who knows me knows that I cared very much! But I felt a shift from personal caring for a good grade to caring for someone's health record. And it's just amazing to think that you can do that from your home, across the country from these hospitals and clinics. It's very humbling, actually!

Networking as a student is very important, and it is also important as a working grad. I am so happy that I "know" so many people at my company. Some have been there for years, and some just a few weeks, but it's great to feel connected to the group, even if you will most likely never meet. Yahoo IM and facebook have been great "break rooms" to hang out and chat! Working is awesome. It's so great to put all that M-TEC stuff into practice. It was weird not relying on the TT as my account specifics, though!!

And now begins the task of putting all of my hats on. ;-) I'm looking forward to this new season of homeschooling, working, taking care of the family as always, and whatever else comes our way. Onward and upward, as my great 2nd instructor always said!

Look how far Maria has come since I started! And the first picture was a few months into my studying!

Como Zoo Trip in Pictures

2010-07-13T15:47:00.000-05:00

Whoa, Serena!

2010-07-04T21:41:00.004-05:00

Look who is riding a BIG bike!

Serena has been riding the small bike with training wheels, and we noticed that she wasn't relying on them much today. So Daddy put her on Alayna's bike and away she went! Since the bike was a bit tall for her, she couldn't stop on her own, which caused a few spills and one crash involving poor Maria. But Serena kept getting back on the bike, so I'm sure she'll master the art of stopping soon. She's excited about riding with the big kids now, but I'm not sure if she's ready for that. She's only 4-1/2 years old, so I'm not sure she can watch for obstacles, cars, kids, etc., and still ride her bike. We'll keep working on it! When that happens, we'll only have 1 little one in the bike trailer! Maria will be pleased about that. ;-)

Wordless Wednesday (of Monday's adventures ... haven't I typed this before?)

2010-06-09T19:36:00.003-05:00

Just a few caterpillar pictures

2010-06-07T12:50:00.003-05:00

A close-up shot of the older caterpillars on May 24th. They were a little over 1/2 an inch then.

An open habitat that we set up, because we had to clean up their Tupperware containers. It didn't last too long, because they really like to roam! We found them in the kitchen, porch, living room ... even days afterward! They are back to their Tupperware containers!

I had to clean out the containers again today, so we lifted the lids and rested them between 2 toy bins. We have 6 hanging caterpillars, turning into chrysalises soon! I am looking forward to watching the process more closely this time.

As we were cleaning out the containers, Aaron found a chrysalis on a stick! We never knew it was then there. We put it in the butterfly habitat, the first of our chrysalises. Only 200 more to come!

I do not like green eggs and ham!

2010-06-03T21:18:00.003-05:00

Aaron has always been my reluctant child when it has to do with anything academic. He is incredibly smart when it comes to the things he wants to learn and do, but from his pre-k years, he made it clear he wasn't interested in learning to read or do math!

This year, however, he has made some wonderful breakthroughs! Tonight he asked me if he could read his reader (from Sonlight's Readers 1 package) to Serena. Of course I said yes, even though it was bedtime. I walked into the room, and he said he was going to finish the book tonight (we were about halfway in our scheduled reading for the week). And he did! He said he was happy that now he doesn't have to read anything tomorrow or the next day, but then later said that he wanted to know what the next book was. Woohoo! My son, a voluntary reader! I deliberately took a laid-back approach with him, not wanting to force him to read when others his age were beginning to read because I didn't want him to hate reading. I loved reading as a child, so of course I want to instill a love of reading and learning in the kids.

I am almost certain that his interest in reading has picked up now that we are getting into some fun chapter books, such as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (currently what we're reading), and other great books this past year. His favorite part of school is me reading to him, and now I think he's realizing that he could open up this amazing world himself! Many thanks to Sonlight, for choosing such awesome books that the kids love to read over and over again.

I especially loved that he wanted to read to Serena and not by himself in bed. The kids are so close. Yeah, they squabble about things, but you can see how they love each other in unscripted moments like this.

Wordless Wednesday (of our Monday's adventures)

2010-06-02T16:36:00.004-05:00

And to show I have a life outside of caterpillars ...

2010-05-26T22:27:00.004-05:00

No, not one accused me of not having a life outside of caterpillars, but I know what you are thinking.

I met with my friend and 2/3 of her children the other day for a walk on a local trail, and I took this picture as the oldest 2 of each family rested on the bench by the library.

We had a great talk about our children, ourselves, people in general, and the particular topic of the autism spectrum. It was a fascinating, liberating, and freeing talk! I talked about my children and their differences when it comes to situations, food, schooling, life! I talked about myself and how I always felt different, too. Why the topic came up, you ask?

I've been researching different "disorders" lately, and while I personally don't see a need to get anyone (myself or others in our family) diagnosed with ADHD, Asperger syndrome, dyslexia, etc ... I have found it fascinating to consider a different kind of normal, one where I'm (or someone else) isn't weird or strange, but normal in their own way. A different perspective on how someone else views the world. A realization that there is nothing wrong with me, that I am not the only one on this planet who feels a certain way, and there is nothing wrong with being yourself.

Now I better go and check on the caterpillars.

Caterpillars: Just an update!

2010-05-26T21:31:00.004-05:00

These Painted Lady caterpillars hatched on May 23rd, so they'd be 3 days old now. They grow amazingly fast! They were about 1/16th of an inch after hatching, and the largest ones are 1/4 of an inch long. We are continuing to get little babies and will be for the next day or so.

Here is a comparison: May 23rd caterpillar and May 26th caterpillar.

Oh Sarah, what did you get yourself into? Caterpillars!

2010-05-24T12:16:00.005-05:00

There are people who buy or make a butterfly habitat, and buy or find some caterpillars to put inside, with the hopes that the caterpillars will form a chrysalis and then emerge as a beautiful butterfly (and every time I say that, I say it like the caterpillar from A Bug's Life). When their butterflies emerge, they observe them for some time and then let them go.

Ah, not I. That was my plan, but as we were thinking of letting them go, I saw that one butterfly was depositing "things" onto the mesh. We got the magnifying glass and saw a very tiny, pale lime green EGG! And then we watched her lay many, many more, and then over the next few days, we have eggs on the mesh, on the floor, and then I did some research and found that they usually lay their eggs on host plants. It wasn't too hard to find out what the Painted Lady's host plants are, and I bought some small hollyhock plants from the local greenhouse. Then they started laying on the hollyhock leaves!

(I took the picture through the magnifying glass to make them easier to see. They are no bigger than a small period dot.)

In my further research, the biggest problem with caterpillars seemed to be that they were incredibly tiny and could not be contained in the mesh habitat. So I tried to remove the eggs from the side of the mesh ... and they didn't want to budge. So I determined that when they did hatch, I would have to move them onto some hollyhock in a plastic container. I had been putting the egg-laden hollyhock leaves into another container as well.

The first eggs were laid on May 19th, according to my status post on my facebook page. I keep such good records, don't I? Yesterday morning, May 23rd, some of the eggs on the mesh started turning black. Hmmmm, they were either dying or going to hatch soon! I figured it was the former, because the pupa turns dark a little while before it emerges as a butterfly. And I was right! About an hour before we had to leave for my sister-in-law's baby shower (that was hosting!), we had itty bitty caterpillars crawling on the mesh. We were freaking out, let me tell you!

I took some plastic containers, hollyhock leaves, and then used a fine paintbrush to lift the babies off the mesh and place them inside. I can't imagine another way to move these little guys ... they are 1/16th of an inch or a bit smaller when they hatch, and they are very thin!

(This picture was taken on May 23rd, shortly after we starting putting them on the hollyhock leaves. The leaves were about the size of a quarter in the picture above.)

Then we had to head out to my sister-in-law's baby shower, and guess who came with us? The habitat, butterflies, baby caterpillars, magnifying glass and paintbrush! I had to be able to nab the babies right away or they wouldn't get to their food source. Doesn't everyone bring their science project to random events?!

When I woke up this morning, I found that another batch of eggs had started hatching, so I moved them onto a fresh leaf and I moved yesterday's caterpillars to the same fresh leaf. You can see here how much they grow in just one day, practically double in size! The color of the new ones are dark gray, and the day-old caterpillars are more brownish.

(Taken through a magnifying glass so you can see the difference in size between yesterday's and today's caterpillar. Click the picture for more detail.)

And so, there are people who have a butterfly habitat and raise and release caterpillars. :-) I know my husband probably wishes I would have just done that, instead of being mildly obsessed with these creatures. I have a million other things I could be doing, but all it takes is one idea to stick in my brain and I cannot let it go. And so ... the journey of the 500 caterpillars has begun.

In other news, we released our mature butterflies today, but I'll leave that for another post.

Butterflies!

2010-05-18T17:34:00.002-05:00

The last time I posted about our butterfly habitat, we had chrysalids. Last Thursday one of the butterflies hatched, then Friday 3 of them hatched, and Saturday the 5th one hatched. We were able to watch the last 2 emerge from their chrysalis, and that was really cool!

Here they are today, getting some fresh air on our deck. I really want to let them out, but the nice lady at Insect Lore said it's really best to wait until the temps at night are above 55*.

I had to sneak the camera into the habitat to get a clear shot ... amazingly no one escaped, though they are lot more frisky outdoors! I think they sense freedom!

I'm not sure who enjoys them more, the children or me!

Our Monday in Pictures

2010-05-17T19:07:00.008-05:00

We took our schoolwork to the coffee shop and park today. :)

We did school in between pushing Maria on the swing.

Then we went to the greenhouse and bought veggies and flowers for the deck. I feel silly, but I spent more on inedible flowers than I did on actual food-bearing plants. :-O I hadn't planned on that.

Alayna was my helper, while Aaron and Maria hung around in the yard, and Serena fell asleep!

The finished pots:

2 of the above.

I stuck with the same types of colors for the 3 different flowers we chose and no variety other than different colors in each pot. Even in flowers, I like things to match and be the same! Oh well, they are my flowers and I can do that if I want to. :-)

I hope you enjoyed the pictures from our Monday.

Butterfly Habitat

2010-05-10T17:48:00.003-05:00

I gave the children this butterfly habitat for Easter, but it was also a Science activity suggested by Sonlight's Science K program. We read about butterflies in Caterpillars and Butterflies (from Science K) and in other books that we already had. I regret that I didn't take better pictures of the process, but I actually want to do this again this summer, so perhaps then I can photo-document the process better.

When the Painted Lady caterpillars arrived in the mail, they were so skinny and tiny. Over the next few weeks, they grew, and grew, and grew, and I could better understand the story behind The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle! They became so huge and fat, more than doubling their size! Then one by one they started hanging upside down in their little cup, until they were all encased in their cocoons.

As of today, we have 5 Painted Lady chrysalids in the butterfly habitat, which is sitting on our kitchen counter. They have dying lilac flowers surrounding them, and there is a beautifully colored picture on the fridge nearby (Alayna's winning picture from the fair) so that when they emerge from their cocoon, they will look forward to the day when we release them into nature. My hope is that it will be warm enough to let them go!

Our God - Chris Tomlin - AWESOME!

2010-05-10T11:01:00.000-05:00

Mother's Day ... or Kid's Day? You decide!

2010-05-09T22:03:00.004-05:00

For a "Mother's Day" outing, I took the kids up to a local park to play and then we had some DQ for dinner. Who had more fun?! I had fun watching them play (even hung upside down myself for a bit!) and I enjoyed not cooking dinner ... so we all had a good time. :)

Snowy Lilacs - May 7th!

2010-05-07T20:03:00.002-05:00

Now I want GPS!

2010-05-07T11:44:00.000-05:00

Does anyone have a beautiful private island for sale?

2010-05-03T17:05:00.003-05:00

I've been looking at Google Earth a lot lately. It is so amazing to view places that you have lived, sights you have seen, and even places you haven't seen and most likely won't ever get to see. One thing that has utterly fascinated me lately is North Sentinel Island, which I found out about from Google Sightseeing. You can see the specific entry I read here. I spent a lot of time looking up information about this and the neighboring Andaman Islands as I was typing up fictitious operative reports for M-TEC's Advanced Orthopedics session. It's nice to take a break from typing and just get lost in the fascinating sites of the world, all in the comfort of your own home.

Apparently we know very little about the people of North Sentinel Island. They are called the Sentinelese, yet they wouldn't call themselves that because ... they don't know that we call them that. And we don't know what they call themselves. We don't know how many live on the island, though they have estimates from aerial views. People have tried to reach out to them, but they are hostile and reject the attempts, though they would take gifts of coconuts and other items. That's just amazing to me, that I can view a tiny little island that is a part of India, yet not very close to India in location, and the inhabitants are almost completely unknown to the rest of us. You can even zoom in on the island to view a shipwrecked vessel, most likely the Primrose from 1981. Absolutely amazing, as I sit here on the internet, with electricity, all the modern conveniences of our world ... and there are people who are totally isolated from all of that and they want to keep it that way. I'm amazed that they have been allowed to, with our human tendencies to want to colonize and domesticate! The people on South Andaman Island haven't been as fortunate.

So, I am certainly not an expert on the Andamanese or Sentinelese Islands, but I have really enjoyed my impromptu research on them. And as I was researching, I wondered why I was so fixated on this particular part of the globe. My mind was not flitting from one part of the earth to another, but very focused on these little islands and their inhabitants, their history, their climate, everything. It spawned all sorts of questions within me that kept me awake at night, well, with the help of caffeine too late at night!

I realized today that it was a month or two ago that I had remarked to a few people that I wished I could live on a deserted island, with my family, but leave everything else behind. To get away. To not be a part of any group, but to just be with the people that I am closest to and just ... be. To not have to be associated with anyone, anything, to be put in a box. Life for me lately has been like lunch at my 1 public school high school sophomore year, not being close to anyone, but being able to sit with this group on Monday, this other group on Tuesday, sitting alone on Wednesday, etc. Lately I just want out. I don't want to belong in that box, that table, that group anymore. I just want to be.

So perhaps that is why I was drawn to North Sentinel Island. No, I don't want to hop a plane and join them, and I'm wise enough after reading their history to know that it wouldn't be a good idea for me to try it! But just thinking of a life where you just don't know about the rest of the world and its issues ... that's amazing. And I probably sound very selfish to say that I want to ignore the rest of the world, but ... that's just where I've been at lately. There have been things that have been dragging me down, making me want to find that deserted island and just be alone with my people. And if that deserted island had dessert, even better. Mocha frappe with 2 shots, please?

Not-quite-wordless Wednesday

2010-03-17T12:31:00.004-05:00

You didn't think I could actually have a Wordless Wednesday post? I don't like to be normal, so I will continue to be as wordy as ever!

Today on facebook, I saw so many people making St. Patrick's Day goodies, such as green food items, corned beef (I don't think I've ever had this?!), cabbage, and whatever else there is ... I'm not really sure! I've been pretty busy lately with my fast and furious M-TEC studying, so I didn't exactly plan out the perfect St. Patrick's Day meal. But! I did have the bright idea to put green food coloring in their milk for lunch! See their mustaches!

So, happy St. Patrick's Day!

Not too long ago, we read the story of St. Patrick from I Heard The Good News Today, a collection of 93 missionary stories. I had never known about the real St. Patrick (though my mother assures me she did tell me the tale, I'm sorry Mom! I really didn't remember!). Today we read about St. Patrick's Day in our Childcraft Holidays and Birthdays book (thank you Jen for telling me to grab these at the library book sale a few years ago, I love having them as a resource!).

Today also is my late Grama's birthday. St. Patrick's Day, the holiday, was never as important to me as celebrating her birthday when I was a child, perhaps that's why I didn't know all that much about the holiday as an adult! I used to think she was automatically Irish because she was born on March 17th!

I guess there is still hope for a greenish dinner ... but it has to be simple because hubby is at work and I have a lot of studying to do! Hmmm ... I guess I could just cook some broccoli!

Our spontaneous trip to the Cities!

2010-03-13T23:09:00.013-06:00

On Wednesday, I casually mentioned to my husband that IKEA had sent out an invitation email for $1 meatballs, mashed potatoes, gravy, and berries, only valid Friday through Sunday. I mentioned that Friday would be a great day to have a meatball dinner, in a joking sort of way. But I began to think about it more and more, wondering what else we could do in the Cities on a Friday. Then I had a thought: The Conservatory at Como Zoo! We are studying plants in our Sonlight Science K program right now, and I told my husband that it would be nice to see some real plants, because everything is covered in snow. He told me that it was pretty dumb of me to be studying plants in the middle of winter! LOL! So after I punched him, I told him it would be a great day, going to IKEA and the Conservatory. He said that on a scale of 1-10, his interest level was about 3.5. So I put it out of my head (well, not really, but I tried) ... until ...

He called me and told me that a friend from church had told him about a service in the cities with Dr. James Maloney. I had heard of this same service because I had been told by the friend's wife, and she told me because Dr. Maloney had been one of my husband's professors at Christ for the Nations. I also knew that my Dad was going to this service on Friday. Anyway, my husband me that he told his friend that we'd be in the cities that day anyway (Really? News to me!) and maybe we could go there, too AND stay the night in a motel (the same one that the friends and my Dad would be at). Okay then! I went from thinking we weren't going to going and staying longer and doing more than I expected!

What follows are pictures from both my phone and my camera. As the day went on, I had posted the phone pictures on Facebook for my mom to see what was going on with us that day. Here is our day in order!

Como Zoo Conservatory. See husband and the kids up ahead as I take the picture.

Before we went into the Conservatory, we visited a few of the reptilian and amphibian members of the Zoo. Serena especially likes snakes so this was fun for her!

This bright colored bird greeted us as we entered the Conservatory. Its colors were so vivid!

Aaron said that he was getting some shade like an Egyptian!

One of my favorite flowers of the day, and the perfect example to illustrate petals, stamens, and pollen!

This really shows 2 different picture-taking personalities! Alayna is all smiles, and Serena has one of her expressions!

Aaron's shirt and these flowers go together well, don't you think?

These were Alayna's favorite flowers. Yes I should know their name, but I did try to hunt for the name tag among the leaves and I couldn't find it!

This was Aaron's favorite flower of the day.

Some of these plants and trees were massive! We really felt like we were in the jungle.

This was Serena's favorite flowers. She gravitated toward flowers that were unusual. These ones were very spiky!

Maria and the other children peering into the pond of giant goldfish (or are they Koi? I'm not sure).

As we left, this sloth lazily said goodbye to us! It took me awhile to figure out that it was actually real, it barely moved!

After the Conservatory, Daddy said he was starving so we drove toward the Mall of America in search of food. I don't know why it's so hard to find a place to eat when you are surrounded by hundreds of restaurants and fast food places, but it was! We finally settled on Wendy's, and I snapped a cell phone picture of Serena finishing up her chicken sandwich.

From there, it was ...

and we took this cell phone picture while were were on the 3rd floor, overlooking the huge Lego creations below. The kids are always amazed when we come here!

We wandered the MOA for awhile, bought a few dresses for Alayna (to her delight and to Serena's sadness, but Alayna was in need of dresses that fit!), and then left for ...

My FAVORITE place! I could spend hours, maybe days, here if my husband would let me. Today wasn't the day for that, though. It was pretty much Swedish Meatballs and then head out to look for our motel.

We had meatball dinner at IKEA after all! Yay! It was the best $1 meal that I have ever had.

And there are no pictures of the church service, though I did discover a great song that the worship team played: I give you glory" by Klaus. I love finding awesome new music!

We got back to our motel around 10:30 and promptly crashed into bed! The sleep wasn't so great, mostly because my kids are noisy sleepers! Not so much bodily noise, but just wiggly noise.

We woke up on Saturday morning to these cuties:

And then we went downstairs for a cafeteria style breakfast. My Dad joined us, and our friends from church were there also. The children loved the buffet-style breakfast, especially the tiny cereal boxes. Normally we don't have cereal such as Fruit Loops (Maria and Serena) or Lucky Charms (Aaron), but Raisin Bran isn't so horrible (Alayna), is it?

And so that was our trip. Husband had to get back to work and so we packed up the kids and the leftover Fruit Loops and we headed home! So there you go, our impromptu trip with pictures.

Growin' beans

2010-03-13T11:36:00.005-06:00

I really wish I had taken pictures of our science experiment (from SL Science K) back when we first started, back when they were hard red kidney beans. The kids are just delighting in watching them grow and change every morning when they wake up! Even though we have had gardens for a few years, it's very neat to see how things grow through the glass jar.

Everyone with kids should do this at least once. :)

Edited to add (for Cathy):

We had kidney beans from our SL Science Kit K. We took a paper towel and lined the jar with it, got it wet, and put 5 beans between the paper towel and the glass of the jar. Within a week we had little roots, and now we have plants that have just taken off! Maybe we'll do it again but with daily pictures to show the growth.

What to do on a beautiful March day?

2010-03-06T23:30:00.004-06:00

Go ice fishing, of course! Last Wednesday it was around 40 degrees, and my husband had the first of 3 days off, so we decided to spend an afternoon on the lake. This was our first time out as a family, and even Rylee came along and had a blast! We brought the ice house, but decided we didn't need it because it was so nice outside. All of the children (not including Maria) had a chance to reel in a fish, and I think Serena caught the most out of all the children. And as the picture shows, Mama caught the biggest fish of the day, and Daddy caught the smallest! He caught an even smaller one than the one pictured, too!

Enjoy the pics! I took video, too, but I still need to figure out how to edit it and upload it to the computer.

And this was Maria after a long day of fishing!

Busy, busy, busy ...

2010-03-04T14:17:00.003-06:00

I've been pretty busy lately, knitting for an upcoming stocking at Adventure Knits (my online store), in addition to the every day life of homeschooling, studying medical transcription for myself, cooking, cleaning, reading, etc. I thrive on being busy, but there is a fine line between busy and going crazy! I can cross that line almost daily!

Here's a look at what sometimes happens here at my house. I had put the children (big 3) to bed, and started working on the last pair of shorties. Maria was wandering from the children's bedroom to me on the couch, and she seemed happy and content with that, so I just knit, knit, knit ...

Here are my shorties, almost finished! I was really on a roll. I heard Maria having fun with Alayna, and I was happy for the uninterrupted time to finish these shorties in time for our Saturday's sale.

And then ... Maria comes out to me and shows me her hands. They were full of flour. Then I noticed her fleece pajamas. She was entirely covered in flour, from my big 50# bag of organic unbleached white flour that was under the stairs. Oh, I guess she wasn't playing with Alayna like I thought she was! I got up to check the damage and this is what I saw:

You can barely see Rylee in the kennel there. Why didn't she tell me what was going on?!

Ahhhhhh. Not only was it here, but Maria's footprints of flour were in the living room, too. So what did I do? I placed her by her bear rug in the living room and began to clean up a bit. I was surprising myself because I wasn't mad. The first thing that I thought was that it was going to be a funny memory when she's an adult, and I should take some pictures! Then I realized that as I was taking pictures and cleaning up, she had fallen asleep on the floor!

I guess we can say that Monday night was a busy night for both of us!

After I had cleaned up a little bit, I sat down and finished the shorties. As I knit, I was thinking about the fruit of the Spirit, found in Galatians 5:22. Actually before verse 22, it talks about the deeds of the flesh, and one of those is outbursts of anger! I have definitely had those before, for situations that involve explosions of flour or similar things! Galatians 5 is talking about if we are led by the Spirit, and not by the law (v18, and the preceding verses in Gal. 5 speak about the law in more depth), we will have the fruit of the Spirit, one of which is patience, which I definitely experienced on this messy Monday night. Now, think about fruit. Do you force fruit? Can you make an apple tree produce apples? Or does it produce apples naturally, because it is an apple tree? Likewise, we produce fruit because we abide in Him. (John 15:5) Fruit is a natural thing. We don't coerce fruit to happen. Apart from Jesus, I can do nothing. I certainly can tell myself that I need to be more patient, I need to be more loving, I need to be more gentle - and I have done that, and it does work for a time until I mess up ... because I was never abiding in Him, receiving His ability, but relying on my own ability, my own efforts to do the right thing. I was focusing on the fruit and how I can produce it, not realizing that it's the vine that has the power to produce the fruit through me.

I could go on about Galatians 5 and John 15, but to sum it up, I know myself, and I know what I would have done. (I would have been angry!) I have had moments where my reactions were not my reactions - they were "Christ living through me" moments! Now, Christ is always in me, as a born-again believer, but I need to get out of the way and just rest, abide, and trust in Him, learn about Christ and what He's done for me, and that's when fruit is produced! So as I sat on the couch, smiling to myself about Maria and her antics, I realized that Jesus has done an amazing thing in me. I don't have a testimony of being saved from a life of addition to drugs or alcohol, but that doesn't make me a better person ... it just means that I had different battles. Mine have always been mental, personal, easy to hide. But I have exchanged my life for Jesus's life (Gal. 2:20), and when I stop and He starts, awesome things happen, even as simple as my reaction to a big mess when I was busy and not in the mood for cleaning it up. I didn't have to think, "Sarah, don't get angry, don't yell at Maria" ... I just had the patience to deal with the situation without trying, and for me, that's definitely something to smile about. Besides, white flour isn't good for you anyway. ;-)

Gotta have humor!

2010-03-01T13:21:00.003-06:00

As I was all snuggled up on the couch with the older children, ready to read Living Long Ago, I hear Maria still awake in her room, where she is supposed to be napping.

"Maria! Take a nap!"

She answers back, "Poooo". Uh oh. She's got a messy diaper. I tell her to come here with a new diaper and I'll change her, thinking that I will quick read a few pages while she gets out of bed and finds a diaper.

She comes out, holding both hands up and they are covered in ... yeah, you know. So much for snuggling and reading!

"Kids, stay put while I change Maria (and then myself, since she got it on me)!"

After that, I sat down on the couch and thanked God for humor, because I just might go insane without it!

Dolphin Lapbooks

2010-02-20T09:00:00.000-06:00

This past week I read a book to the children from Sonlight's Core K called Dolphin Adventure. I couldn't keep the children down to 2 chapters a day on this one, because they were begging for more until we finished it (and then they wanted to start the sequel, Dolphin Treasure, but I'm holding that off until tomorrow!).

Because they were so interested in this story, and because they like dolphins in general, I thought we'd try our first-ever lapbook about dolphins. I've researched them before, and usually decided that it would be too difficult because I don't have a printer. (Most lapbooks that I have seen have lots of printed material from homeschooling websites.) But then I thought that even a handwritten lapbook is better than no lapbook at all, so I started by folding some file folders, getting some blue paper, finding a dolphin stencil, and bringing out all of our dolphin books!

Here are the outsides of their lapbooks. Alayna's is on the left, Aaron's on the right.

This is the first page of a story that Aaron wrote, called Sid the Dolphin. It was a happy tale, ending in "Sid was happy because I love Sid and he loves me."

Here is the first page of Alayna's story, called Shalley the Dolphin. This story began nicely, with Alayna helping Shalley recover from an injury, but ended in sadness because Shalley didn't like her aquarium home that she was put into, so she was released and never came back to see Alayna. So sad!

The idea for the stories they wrote came from our SL Language Arts program. The assignment was to write a story about a pet that you'd like to have, and I figured we'd just do it about a dolphin pet!

The 2 pictures above, and 1 not pictured, are about Dolphin Moves. Spyhopping, breaching, and fluking!

The other pages were about dolphin anatomy, dolphin facts, and things that they thought were neat about dolphins. Aaron had to put that dolphins can go up to 25 mph and that dolphins nurse their babies, and dolphins are intelligent, and Alayna put that dolphins are very intelligent and that dolphins are playful.

So there you go, pictures of our first lapbooks! I don't do these kind of things with the children often, usually they are making their own pictures and crafts, but this was fun. We'll probably do it again. ;-)

Busy for Valentine's Day!

2010-02-19T11:42:00.005-06:00

The day before Valentine's Day, Cathy and her crew came over and we baked some Valentine's Day cookies (and knit, play, eat, etc!):

And then the next day was the local homeschool group Valentine's Day party. They played games, exchanged Valentine's cards (see our last-minute decorated box below), ate some Valentine's treats, and then we all headed out to go sliding! It was the first time I've been sliding with all of the children, and I survived! The worst part is having to go back up the hill, carrying a 2-year-old who isn't able to walk up herself! I didn't get any pictures of that fun, though, because I was busy going up and down the hill.

Whew! It was a busy 2 days, but we all had a great time!

Friends!

2010-02-10T18:43:00.002-06:00

Today my husband and I tag-teamed to homeschool the kids so that we could finish school earlier so that they could have the afternoon to play with some friends! We have known them for a few years, even before either of us were technically homeschooling our children. It worked for them to come out and play today because we both have flexible schedules, and even though the weather wasn't wonderful, we bundled them up (us moms, too!) and we enjoyed the brisk sunshine.

When they had had their fill of the cold, they came in but continued the fun. I took a picture as my friend's 7-year-old daughter was reading to the rest of the children, as they sipped hot cocoa and played with playdough. Precious!

Reason #143 of why I love homeschooling: Playing with all ages is just natural to my kids (and my friend's children) because they are rarely segregated by age. When I was 7 or 8, I didn't want to have anything to do with someone who was 6, let alone someone who isn't even in school yet! Then again, maybe I was just a stuck-up snot in school? Don't answer that! I realize that playing nicely with all ages of children isn't a homeschool-kid phenomenon, but I do get to cultivate their socialization and relationships as much as I desire, and I appreciate that!

Now that I think about it, I was going to write a post about homeschooling and why I chose it, why it works for us, and what I love about it. Stay tuned for that! :)

Worship

2010-02-04T10:48:00.006-06:00

I met my husband-to-be through worship, 12 years ago. In fact, our 12-year dating anniversary was yesterday, February 3rd. The first time I really noticed him was when he was leading a worship song on guitar. He was 15, I had just turned 16. I knew, even though I didn't know a whole lot about what it meant to truly be a Christian, that I wanted to have a Christian boyfriend, because you weren't supposed to be unequally yoked, you know. ;-) Little did I know that both of us had some major unlearning and then relearning to do before we would really understand what being a Christian meant! I'll save that for another post.

Worship has always been something our family has done together in a church setting. I started out following my boyfriend's family as they traveled around and did praise and worship at various area churches. Later when we were married, we led worship at the small church we attended while he was attending Christ for the Nations. He lead with guitar, and I played drums - it was a fun experience! Later on we moved back home and he led worship at various events or churches, and I would drum or sing with a baby on my back, literally, in a sling! Then after Serena was born, I pulled back to care for my little ones, and my husband continued to lead worship or play with the rest of the worship band. Yet, even though we were doing these things, it wasn't a lifestyle. In fact, most of the time I questioned a lot of things about Christianity, and this affected how I approached and practiced praise and worship.

There was a time that I didn't feel good enough to be there, depending on what was going on in my life. I shrunk back, feeling unworthy to be there with the rest of the Christians with their arms raised and voices raised. Then there was a time where I felt that the worship was hypocritical, and that all of those people worshiping had so many problems, how could they sing songs about surrender and loving the Lord? They didn't do the things the Word commanded them to do as Christians, so they shouldn't be worshiping as though they have it together!

And then ... I came to the place where I realized that it is not about us. (Yes, I would have told you that years ago, but it was only head knowledge!) It's not about whether we had an argument on the way to church and we're not fit to worship. It's not about other people and their lives. Christianity is about relationship with Jesus, not religion with rules. Even in the midst of a certain sin or trouble in my life, that is the time to praise Him! To praise Him that He has paid for MY sin, paid my debt, and that I am free! My sin is not a problem with God - it's been atoned for! The sins that anyone else may face - they've been paid for! And perhaps instead of condemnation in my heart for them and their supposed hypocrisy, they could use someone to remind them that God loves them even in the midst of their struggles, and perhaps that glimpse of grace will help them discover more, that it is grace that gives us the power over sin. "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace." (Romans 6:14) The same went for me ... I had to learn that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! (Romans 8:1) I learned that I didn't have to ask God for a clean heart and to renew a right spirit in me every time I worshiped (as David did in Psalms 51:10), because David wasn't a born-again believer who has the Spirit of God within him, but I do! (Romans 8:11 and many others!) My mind may get dusty and need renewing (Romans 12:2), but my heart has been sprinkled to cleanse me from a guilty conscience. (Hebrews 10:22)

Back to worship. I may not be up there with the band anymore, or even in a church service much anymore, but praise and worship is a daily thing. It comes in moments where we read something wonderful from the Word and I just stop and thank Him because His Word is just awesome! It comes when I see Maria lugging the Bible around and saying "Dada" because she sees her Daddy reading the Word, and I am so thankful for that! It comes when your littlest one is needing some Mama-time, and you pop in a great CD and gently dance around the kitchen with her in your arms, and you are filled with so much love for your child and you realize that if we, imperfect parents, can love our child so much, how much more does God love us, and He gave up His only Son for us! There was no one up front to remind me of God's love, but it was spoken so clearly to me as I held my baby and sang along in worship. When you are so aware of the Father's love for you, praise and worship just flows naturally ... and even in the midst of your 3 other children asking for snacks and taking pictures with your camera. ;-)

Happy, Happy Birthday, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!

2010-01-31T19:10:00.002-06:00

Happy Birthday, Maria! If you know Maria, you know that she loves Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. She has worn out our book pretty well, so for her birthday I bought her a CCBB board book AND I decorated her cake with the beloved coconut tree.

So now it's official: She is no longer a baby. There are no more babies in the house! Only 1 big boy and 3 big girls here. Maria has been doing a lot of "big girl" things lately, like using the big potty, sleeping with the big kids in their room, using a chair rather than her high chair, and working out with me almost every day. It takes a lot of work to keep that perfect 2-year-old body, you know!

It's amazing to think that it won't be long and she'll be joining the rest of the kids with their schoolwork, games, and all of the other things they do. But not yet! You can see that she likes to spend time with her board books. I snapped a pic because she was saying "Lala" for her Uncle and Auntie's dog, Shayla, who is a golden retriever. :-)

Happy Birthday, Chicka Boom!

Snow family!

2010-01-24T13:58:00.002-06:00

The big one in the center is the one that Uncle Kevin and the kids made on Christmas day. The rest of them are today's creations! 3 children to the left, Daddy, baby in the middle, and Mama on the right!

Serena made all of the little ones!

Mama and Alayna made the "Mama" snowman, and Aaron helped me lift the middle section on top of the bottom section. :)

And then I left them to go inside and put Maria down for a nap, but they were beginning to make forts out of sleds, sticks, and kid picnic tables! Winter CAN be fun!

Homeschool Thoughts

2010-01-21T14:39:00.007-06:00

I've been thinking about our homeschooling schedule lately. We use Sonlight Curriculum, for those who don't know, and I love it. I absolutely love that I can open the big blue binder ...

and know instantly what we are doing on any particular day. I turn around on my stool and ...

grab whatever book we need at the moment. :) I love the literature-based approach to learning that Sonlight offers, and even though my 2 kids have different learning styles, they both benefit from what we read and learn. I love that they can learn together!

Before I get sidetracked on a Sonlight love-fest, here are some of my thoughts. Anyone is welcome to give me some input, although some of the thoughts are Sonlight-specific.

Right now we are doing Core K, which is good for grades K through 2. Aaron is a 2nd grader, Alayna is a 1st grader (on the young side, though, she'll be 7 in July). Aaron is my reluctant learner, always more into "hands-on" things and factual books. Alayna is my eager student, always wanting to go above and beyond what she needs to do. This girl copies recipes out of books for extra copywork (and then wants me to make them)! So, Core K is going well. I'm glad we didn't start it any earlier than we did.

The issue is that our weeks are so goofy. My husband works 6 days on, 3 days off. I tried to school traditionally at first but it didn't work out. We needed his off days to be days that didn't have a lot of commitments, in case we wanted to do family things, or just relax with him and hang out. Ok, that's worked out fine. We end up schooling over the weekends sometimes and then we have a 3-day weekend on Tuesday through Thursday. The issue is that I really should be doing 6 days of school a week, but what happens is that "something" always happens on at least one of the days, and we'll do 5 days of school over the course of 6 days. That means that Core K will be stretched out more over the course of the year, which is fine, because we school year-round. I don't worry about them not getting enough schooling in, but it's more of a schedule-type of thing. I could do days 1-5 and day 6 (which is the first day of the next numbered week), but that throws my brain off. I like to finish out a week and put the binder away for a few days. So, okay ... it's my school, I can do that. But I wonder, since we will be finishing up Core K later than most (we won't be done by early June), should we move ahead to Core 1+2 instead of doing Core 1 for the following school year? Core 1's upper age recommendation is 9, and Aaron will be 9 in December.

Do I try really hard to do 6 days of school during our 6-day week so we can finish sooner this year, or give myself some leeway and do 5 and allow for that day when things just happen (family visits, field trip, etc)? If I give myself leeway, do I jump into Core 1+2 to accelerate their studies a bit so that we hit Core 3 when Aaron is in 4th grade and Alayna is in 3rd grade?

It's funny, because I was at the MACHE convention last year and was working at the Sonlight booth, answering questions just like this. But, if you know me, you know I like to mull over the options obsessively until I just know I have the right one. :) So, until I'll decide, you'll probably fine me in my normal afternoon spot, between the shelf and the homeschool table!

Today's winter fun

2010-01-19T13:39:00.002-06:00

Maria loves to go outside. If the "big ones" are getting their winter gear on, she says "meeeeee!" and drags her snowsuit out!

Aaron was showing me how he stands up on the sled, but he wasn't watching where he was going! See how Maria's boot is under the sled, and it looks like he's going to take her ankle out! She didn't cry, thankfully he wasn't going fast!

Aaron and Serena like to slide together. The hill that they go down is snow that had been shoveled up to the side of our deck. I am glad that there aren't any rails so that they can do that, otherwise we wouldn't have any sliding hill in our yard.

Maria and "Ya Ya" (what Maria calls Rylee)! Every time they are out together, Maria gets knocked down at least 3 times, but she never cries. She usually yells, "YA YA!" in an angry voice!

Here is the snowman that Uncle Kevin built with the children when he was up for Christmas break. They built it on Christmas day, when there was a lot of heavy wet snow. Then it got really cold and the snowman froze solid, but he's leaning way back! I think he's going to be in our yard for a long time. :)

Still wondering

2010-01-18T16:50:00.005-06:00

I am wondering what direction this blog should go. There are many things I enjoy blogging about. Then there are things I want to blog about, but wonder if I should, because of the particular topic. It's not so much that I worry about offending my vast readership (ha) but I wonder if anyone really cares? Then again, if I write something that touches 1 person out of ... 3, then it was worth it. So ... that leaves me pondering ... pondering if I should just be really real on my blog, or just keep it light and fluffy.

For example, 1 of the 1000s of thoughts that flit through my head in any given 15-minute period, I was folding the little girls' laundry downstairs and the radio was on in their bedroom. One of my favoritest songs ever came on. Now, if you know me (like my husband or my parents or brother) you know that as of late, I talk back to songs. The only music I listen to is Christian, but even then, I find myself getting frustrated at those songs! At least when I'm listening to secular music, I can expect that it's not going to be Christian in nature. Perhaps I should start listening to secular? Anyway, the song has the lyrics of (and this is not in perfect order) "How long must I pray, must I pray to You? I'm on my knees, begging You to notice me, begging you to turn to me, If You're everything You say You are ... " etc. Now, I think this song is great musically. I wish I could say the same lyrically. Now, I have read the entire song's lyrics online, and you know what, I've been there. I've felt the same way. The problem is, singing a song about it isn't productive, and at worst, it's insulting. The truth of it is is that Jesus came down from heaven, died for us, and in that death and resurrection, accomplished everything for us. He has already noticed us! He has already turned to us! Why are we begging God to do something that He has already done? He never left us. He promised never to forsake us. I realize that we all feel like the lyrics of the song sometimes, but what we need is to be reminded of the truth. The truth is that God loves us. The truth is told in many promises in the Bible, and that is what we need to read and be reminded of. When I'm feeling low, it doesn't help to sing a song asking God if He is everything He says He is, asking Him to turn back to me and listen to me. He's always there. What helps me is to turn to the truth found in God's word, and mediate on that, and not my feelings.

Now, I didn't say all of that as I was folding clothes. That just spilled out like that. And that's what I wonder ... can I blog about stuff like that, and then about our trip to the Zoo, and about making a new recipe, about ice fishing, about homeschooling, about knitting ... about my entire life? I feel as though I need to give sufficient background on all of my posts, but that would take far too much time. For example, with the post above, I'd like to share how I have been a Christian for most of my teenage/adult life, but it hasn't been until the last 2 years that I have really "gotten it". That being a Christian has nothing to do with what you do, but everything to do with what Jesus did. And then I could spend about 5 hours writing my testimony, and I don't even have that "great" of a testimony, LOL! So you see that I haven't been avoiding my blog for lack of things to say, but I just don't know if I should say everything that floats around in my head!

I guess I'm looking at getting real. Everything that I have posted so far is real, but it's only partial. And then I wonder, does anyone really care about what I'm saying? I am venturing to say probably not. That's okay ... even my husband doesn't always want to know what's going on inside my head! It helps to get it out, but I could just as easily get it out on my own personal and private journal. So ... I still don't know if that means I'm going to stop blogging, or blog with passion. I'll guess you will find out (if you come back in 1 month and this is still the newest post!!).

Has it really been since October?

2009-12-25T23:01:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone ... did you miss me? I haven't written since October. Amazing. Not because I have nothing to write about, though. I'm not sure why I stopped, but I plan to start again. Call it a New Year's Resolution. We all know how those end up!

Waterfall!

2009-10-03T17:34:00.007-05:00

Today we went on a home school field trip, which happened to be a train ride, and I'll share about that later. But first I want to share what we did after the field trip! We visited a local waterfall and trails, and we had a blast!

Isn't that beautiful?

My crew lined up on a bench overlooking the waterfall.

Aaron and Alayna, down by the waterfall.

Grandpa N. and Alayna, coffee or smoothie drinks in hand, by the waterfall. Grandpa came with us on the field trip and for our exploring.

The children near the base of the waterfall. That's about as close as I would let Maria and Serena get, because they would just hop right in the water if I let them!

Aaron and Alayna climbing a huge log along the trail.

Serena, in the woods along the trail.

Maria, tossing rocks into the river. We followed the trail, which followed the stream that led to the river. It was so beautiful!

p.s. ... click the above picture to see Maria's adorable expression even better!

Our day at the Park (Rylee)

2009-09-26T22:02:00.002-05:00

Now it's Rylee's turn ... a continuation of the previous post!

Rylee was getting bored watching the children play, so I told them to pack it up and we headed over to the dock/boat landing. We had bought a floating Kong Wubba (love the names of dog toys!) for her to play with in the water, and she met that for the first time today. It didn't take her long to warm up to the water, and then when she was really into it, watch out! She was tearing around, flying in and out of the water, splashing for the fun of it ... it was hilarious! Of course I didn't get a lot of great pics because she was so quick, and also I was afraid to have the camera near her because she was getting me soaked! I had Alayna take a few pictures, and then I took over while Aaron and his friend held her leash. When she really got going, she would run out of leash and nearly drag me for a few feet because of the momentum she had going. I wished I could let her off leash but she is in no way ready for that! At one point I had to let go of the leash so that she could swim out to grab her toy, and she just flew past me so fast that I couldn't get my hands on any of the 20 feet of leash that followed her! She ran toward a man and I was expecting the worst - that she'd jump on him, but thankfully she didn't.

Here are a few of the water pics! We laughed so hard at her, she is so fun to watch in the water!

Our day at the Park, Part 1 (children)

2009-09-26T21:49:00.004-05:00

It was a beautiful Saturday today, and I decided to take the children to a local park (for you locals, it's about 11 miles north). Unfortunately, my dear husband was working so I went alone. No big deal, right? I always do things like that. But, today I decided to do some really crazy things. 1) We brought Rylee, her water toy, and her 20 foot lead. 2) We parked at the local coffee shop, bought me a coffee, and walked to DQ to get the children some ice cream cones, because I'm nice like that. Well, it was an extremely slow walk, because I forgot the stroller! I was walking Rylee with one hand (and training her to walk very nicely without pulling), diaper bag on my shoulder, and either holding Maria's hand or having Aaron hold her hand. Traffic was very busy, and as I was walking along, I'm wondering why in the world did I decide to do this?!

Well, after a slow walk back with ice cream cones in hand (and boy, did Maria make a mess!), we played at the park for awhile. You'd think Aaron wasn't around because he's absent from the pictures, but it's just that every picture of him is blurry ... he was on the go! He made a friend there and they played like old best friends.

Serena and Maria just about to go down the slide.

Alayna on the swing.

Serena by the bars.

Alayna showing Serena how she goes down the pole.

Alayna hanging onto the bars, up pretty high.

I had fun taking pictures and watching the children play and have fun. And then ... we took Rylee to the water. Stay tuned for that post!

Maria and Rylee at the park!

2009-09-17T22:33:00.003-05:00

Rylee, our new dog!

2009-09-05T11:08:00.000-05:00

I had been wanting to get a dog for a little while now. We've had dogs in the past, but for various reasons, things didn't work out, unfortuately. Now I felt like we were in a better situation to have a dog, even though we have more children now, the oldest 2 are big enough to help and really enjoy a dog. That and Maria just loves dogs (and animals in general), more so than my other children did. She gets so excited and starts panting like a dog, it's adorable! So ...

On our recent trip to Wisconsin Dells, we stayed with my husband's brother and his wife, and they have a wonderful Golden Retriever named Shayla. Maria was in doggy-heaven for the entire time, and the other children had fun with her too. I really started thinking about a dog after that visit! So when we returned home, I searched a few different places, looking for a Lab. My husband said that was the type of dog he wanted, so I figured I'd better find a good Lab so he couldn't turn it down!

I ended up searching the Marketplace on Facebook, because I'll admit, I'm on there a lot. ;-) I found a listing for an AKC Black Lab in the cities, about 1-1/2-hours away from us. The Lab's price wasn't bad at all, she was 1-year-old, housetrained, had basic obedience, etc. I showed my husband before we went to bed that night, and he didn't seem to be as excited or hopeful as I was!

Long story short, through a series of conversations with her owner, we (hubby and I) decided to get her, and they decided to drive her to us, to include her toys/food/leashes/collars, etc, AND to give her to us, with the promise that we'd give her a good home. What a blessing! And every day I am more thankful, because she is amazing! She is so good with the children, letting Maria hold onto her tail and they walk around the house, or by giving them friendly licks throughout the day. She's a big puppy still, but she is surprisingly calm for her age and breed! She does well with the children's friends, and she does well with little ones who want to crawl all over her and "ride" her as she is resting, as you can see! Here is Maria, contemplating whether or not to sit on the new doggy (we'd had her for less than 24 hours at the time I took this picture):

Yeah, she did it! This was Maria's first time sitting on her, but it sure hasn't been the last. Maria loves to sit on her all of the time, so much so that I take her off now because I feel like it must be annoying to Rylee! Of course, Rylee just lays there ... maybe it's not so bad. I have forbidden the older children from doing it, LOL!

The older children do like to play with Rylee's toys, though ...

So now it's been 4 full days with Rylee here, and she fits in so well, almost like she's been here forever. She has the sweetest personality, and she's always around to keep me company after the children go to bed. I spend my evenings studying my medical transcription course, and she sleeps by my chair, but always gets up to follow me if I go downstairs for a snack. It's obvious that she likes to be with people, which is great because there are a lot of people in this house!

Here is Rylee, enjoying a new beef bone from a local shop. Yum!

What's next for Rylee? We plan on continuing with her obedience training, working to polish up her manner a bit (even though she is so well-behaved for her age and breed, I think!). My husband wants to train her for hunting, and I would like to certify her for therapy someday, so that the children and I could go into nursing homes and hospitals when they are all a bit older. Oh, I didn't mention that her birthday is also my husband's birthday, LOL! She's a wonderful addition to our family, that's for sure ... I'm thankful that God led me to find her, even though I'm sure finding a dog on Facebook is a bit unconventional!

You'll be seeing more pics of Rylee, for sure! Today we're headed to the park and lake, so we'll see how Rylee enjoys the boat!

Introducing ...

2009-09-01T13:16:00.000-05:00

Introducing Rylee! Longer, more detailed, post when I have a few extra moments! :-)