Mother's Day Blessings

Let me just say...it was a beautiful Mother's Day. Everything from the weather without rain...to my thoughtful gifts...to sweet pictures of my girls and I.

After some discussion with Chuck of what we should do, I requested breakfast at home with a treat of a Starbucks coffee and some kind of special pastry. We enjoyed our goodies at the breakfast nook while the kids and Daddy shared with me special things they love about me. Their words of encouragement meant so much and were so thoughtful.

We headed home after trying a new church (still checking things out on that front) and had a nice lunch with my parents. We had yummy salads and we enjoyed grilled chicken out on the back deck. Then the girls brought out the gifts. Sweet little hand painted frames and crafts. Such thoughtful little girls.

Then, to my surprise, the girls and Chuck gave me such a THOUGHTFUL gift...an award. In recognition of the effort I give to our family, they wanted to recognize the work I do to make our family what it is. This shocked me and took me by such a wonderful surprise. The moment I knew what it was, the ugly cry started to creep in and took over. And if you know me, it takes a LOT to get me to cry.

I felt such a sense of appreciation and admiration by the people that matter most to me. To know how much they notice and appreciate all I do as the Mom was so wonderful. I truly felt recognized and acknowledged. A feeling every Mom should feel.

I have shared before that motherhood is such a privilege, an honor that God chose me to invest and serve this beautiful family. I am blessed more than words can explain. Thankful to be a mommy. Grateful to partner with my husband. Honored to influence my children.

I hope all you Mothers out there in blogville had a FANTASTIC Mother's Day and felt special and appreciated and honored by your families. My world is better for having know such inspirational Moms.

Once a child leaves childhood,
they can never return.








So, why do we push our kids to grow up so fast?

owl pellets

I think most educators find themselves involved in this activity at least once in the schooling career. Dissecting owl pellets. Owl pellets, you say??? You know, that stuff that owls puke out after they eat another animal and then someone goes and gathers and then sells online to science freaks like me. Yep. Owl pellets.

It goes with our bird study (HERE) and it actually was really interesting. I found a good source online for extra large owl pellets. HERE. They contain a lot of little bones and skulls and fur. The girls started off with their gloves on but pretty soon ditched them and got serious with finding things. (Don't worry, the pellets are sanitized).
We had our science lab in our basement (great place for icky things...much better than the dining room table). Some new friends came over who were up for digging through owl puke. It really was a fun time.
And the kids were able to identify the different bones and group them together. Tristen hit the jackpot - I think she found 6 or 7 skulls.

Now if I could just figure out how to store their treasures. =)

lacing cards

Here is a quick and easy craft to make with your kids (or to make FOR your kids). Find cardboard boxes with cute bright pictures on them (save them from cereal boxes, toy packaging, snack boxes, juice pouch boxes). Cut out fun shapes or objects on the box and punch holes on the sides. Tie some yarn to each lacing card.
This post was for my friend Lea who is looking for creative ideas for her toddler and preschooler. I used to teach preschool and loved it, and still have lots of ideas for little ones. I am a fan of rotating out toys each day. When I was teaching preschool each day the kids came in to the room I had something different on the table. Play dough, puzzles, counting bears, lacing cards...and I changed it every day. It encouraged them to play with something that they wouldn't choose off the toy shelf themselves.

More ideas to come.

longing for the country

There is something inside of me that longs for the country. I do believe I have created this image in my head that living in the country is peaceful and beautiful and simple living. I think I might forget about the hard work and the sore muscles and fighting the weather and elements. But alas...I still long for the country.

Since I can't have that kind of country life right now, I found a way to live it out through someone else. I found a farm share produce co-op where along with your financial investment, we will also go and work on the farm to keep the costs down. We will go and work as a family to pack the produce and also take our turn in handing it out when others come to pick it up at our designated location.

Just a few weekends ago, we were invited to come to the crop share open house and meet the family that owns the farm, see where our food will be grown and enjoy some good old fashion fellowship.

I often find myself taking a chance on these kinds of situations, not going on someones known suggestions, just hoping for the best. We drove about 45 min. away and finally found this quaint family farm and were greeted by such tender people. These are amazing people and the farm is only the beginning of all that they do. They also host a tutorial style school on Wednesdays in an out building where the kids get to explore the world of hands on learning that focuses on art and writing and nature. They also host some summer camps where young ladies and men can learn life skills of homemaking and carpentry. Not to mention the Pioneer and Harvest Days that take place in the fall.

I am trying to find money in our budget to take advantage of much of their opportunities. I was incredible impressed with this sweet christian family and look forward to getting to know them better and living our country dream through them for now.

blessings after discouragement

We have gotten 4 estimates on the fallen tree and after some sticker shock of what it will cost to cut up and haul away just the stuff on the ground, we decided to do as much of it ourselves as we could.

We got out there yesterday after throwing a party for 9 little girls in the morning and worked in the rain. Needless to say, we are TIRED. But we are also blessed. My parents came to help. Our next door neighbors came out to help and so did the neighbor behind the tree.
We used up one chain saw yesterday until it locked up and now needs some repair. And this morning a neighbor went and rented another one so we could work some more. We worked again for hours this morning and afternoon. Kids, grandparents, moms and dads all working together. It felt a little like an old fashion barn raising. Neighbor helping neighbor. What a beautiful and unexpected blessing after a tragic tree day.


The news so far is to try and save the rest of the tree. It will cost quite a bit to thin it out and lessen the weight of the top of the tree. Again, not money we were looking forward to spending, but it is all God's money and we are following where He leads us.After the kids were done working, they played in the creek. With all this rain, we have quite a little creek forming at the back of the yard. We were all drenched after working so hard and it was good to go in and get some homemade potato soup. Recipe HERE.
I did manage to come in this afternoon and sleep for about 4 hours on the couch. I guess I was pretty tired. Yep...tired and sore...but grateful and blessed.

May Day

We were able to celebrate May Day with our normal tradition (last years post HERE). We make little baskets and leave them for friends and neighbors. Of course we leave them anonymously and ring the door bell and run away. This year we made cone baskets and hung them on the doorknobs. Just a little some thing that brightens someones day.

A Big Bad Day For a Tree Hugger

We are bummed. Big time bummed. A combo of too much rain and wind today + the tree trimming didn't get done yet + already heavy on the right side of the tree = A big bad day for a tree hugger. Oddly enough, the tree service people were coming to our place this afternoon.

Yes, there were tears (by not just me). We will now figure out if the rest can be saved and how much this whole thing will cost us. This was a tree drama day for sure.

We did have a good talk with the girls and were able to seek the good in all situations. Only the neighbors fence was damaged. No one was hurt. We hadn't put the playset under the tree. It didn't fall on a house. God is still faithful and still good and still in control.

I kind of wonder what I would do with my day if I didn't homeschool my kids

I think I might go out for coffee or tea with friends.

I would get a pedicure more than once a year.

I know I would work out at a gym and be really fit.

It would be fun to stroll through antique stores.

Or maybe join a Bible Study.

I would even consider going back to school.

It would be neat to volunteer somewhere.

I am sure I would have a fantastic garden.

My house would be cleaner.

I can even imagine working for a paycheck. =)







But...I know I would be thinking about all that I would be missing out on if I didn't homeschool.

Sneak peak at sewing

This is what our Mondays have been full of. Lots of sewing. The girls are taking a sewing class that my friend is teaching. They are each making a small (crib size) quilt. Here is Tally with her first block. I am so proud of these girls. They have each worked so hard and learned a lot. I will have to post pictures when they are done with their projects.

There is much more to post, but for now...we have had our ups and downs. Tally is borrowing this beautiful old machine and she loves using it. Tissy is also borrowing a machine that has speed control that works well for her. Hopefully we will be back at it next week and get even more accomplished. It is really neat to see the girls gain confidence at this skill.

Bird Banding Day

We visited a local nature center today for a wonderful up close opportunity to observe bird banding. I saw a note in a parenting magazine that mentioned that today was bird banding day. Since we are studying birds for school, I thought I would take a chance and take the kids to this nature center and investigate bird banding. You never know when you chase this kind of activity down...not sure if it is worth the drive and the sacrifice of your "typical" school day. Well...this day was well worth the drive. It was one of our best school days ever. A day that the kids will not forget for a long time.

When we first got to the nature center we found a carolina wren nest with 3 baby birds in it. We also found a snake that was interested in these birds as a meal. No worries...the snaked moved on and let them be.

When we got to the park, we first learned about how the naturalists catch the birds in different traps. Today they were using the mist net trap.This park has a great bird viewing area with different feeders that attract different kinds of birds. We saw american goldfinches, wood peckers and even chipmunks at the feeders.
The park was full of school groups and we were able to listen in on what they were learning at the banding table. The naturalists let us follow them to the traps and look for birds. Here they are getting a bird out of the net.

After taking the bird back to the table they first weigh the bird and start to record their findings. The bird is in a mesh bag while they weigh it.

The next step is to look to see if the bird has been banded before. They are hoping to find birds that have bands. It helps with the research to find banded birds again. Different size birds use different bands. Here they are measuring the birds wing. This helps determine the age of the bird and the sex of the bird.


This is also when they are recording the specific coloring. Here is a female cardinal. The top picture is a white throated sparrow. While we were there they trapped 7 of these.Notice all the different bans on the table (they look like necklaces). This day they banded about 10-15 different kinds of birds, plus trapped many more birds that already had bands.
After all their info is gathered they let the bird go. Tristen was able release a red eyed vireo bird.We finally started nature journals and brought them and recorded some great info. We listed all the birds they banded that day along with lots of different things the girls learned. This was a great nature center (different post...different time). I am so glad we took the chance to check it out.

Organizing the Basement

When we moved in we just piled our extra stuff in the basement with the intent to get to it when time allowed. Well, we were sitting down there when storms were going through our area the other week and it was a good motivation to get that place tidy.

I find the best way to organize is to group like things together. Christmas, memories, china, old taxes, craft items...what ever categories work for you. Here we have some before shots.
After we group it, we decided to assemble some sturdy shelves (look for these at yard sales or make your own). Shelves in storage areas is worth the investment.

I am using these inexpensive book cases to store craft items. Our basement is a great space for projects and such. We even are keeping some old tables out for crafting and projects. The tables were pretty shabby looking so I recovered them with my contact paper (that post will come later).

Here are our utilitarian looking shelves. I label the shelves with a little map so everyone can find what we are looking for. Then I post the "map" on each shelf. You can tell that these things wouldn't be as accessible without the shelves. Boxes stacked too high just aren't user friendly.This is all "deep storage" kind of stuff. Once a year kind of stuff. And believe me, I am wondering why I still have most of it. I am getting to that tossing and sorting one box at a time.

Happy organizing.

somewhere...someone...

... is celebrating a birthday.
... is losing their job.
... is going to Disney for the first time.
... is moving across the country.
... is having a baby.
... is hearing terrible news from their doctor.
... is reuniting with a loved one.
... is getting a contract on a house.
... is catching a flight.
... is getting their referral.
... is being denied.
... is beginning homeschooling.
... is registering their child for kindergarten.
... is spending their last few dollars on groceries.
... is getting a new job.
... is finishing a book.
... is beginning a new life in Christ.
... is learning to read.
... is closing on a house.
... is getting a new car.
... is getting married today.
... is bringing home a new pet.
... is getting deployed today.
... is coming home.
... is preparing to graduate.
... is losing a loved one.
... is getting in a car accident.

When you think about it. Somewhere...a life is being changed...either good or bad. When you think about it, we have no idea what that person next to us in line at the grocery store is going through. It is good reminder to give grace to others. We don't always know what the day will hold for us. Some things that we plan and prepare for...and other things that we don't. Around our home these were the early morning conversations. Somewhere...someone...is...

Our Bird Study

I have been gathering info for this post so it has taken me a little longer to get to it. I mentioned awhile back on a friends blog about a bird coloring book that I printed (a freebie from online) that spurred us on into a whole bird study. My friend Ginny asked for me to post about that bird coloring book (sorry it took so long). It is interesting how homeschooling works sometimes, one thing leads to another and all of the sudden, you find yourself knee deep into a unit study. That is how it turned out for us in our bird study.

During our transition into our new home here, a lot of our school books were packed up and unreachable so we had to improvise on our curriculum. I found a free bird coloring book online (HERE) and thought I would print it and use it for science. I took my printed copy to the print store to make another copy and had it spiral bound for safe keeping.

Each day the girls look up the bird online (HERE) and learn about that particular bird. We look at different pictures, listen to the call/song, notice it's field markings, that kind of stuff. At first, we were doing 2 birds a day, but we weren't retaining much info on each bird. We also save an image of the bird as our desktop background to help reinforce identifying it. This is teaching the girls how to do their own research, how to use google (don't worry, I am right there), and other computer skills.

We have a great yard for bird watching. A few large trees and our home backs up to a big wooded area. It seems to be a wonderful habitat for lots of birds. We wanted to make sure we were well prepared for bird watching right here at home. We always have a our new "kid friendly" field guide, binoculars and log sitting on the window sill waiting to be used.
We are keeping a log of the different birds that we are able to identify in our own yard. Just this morning we saw a tufted titmouse on the deck (HERE). If we hadn't been learning about birds, we would not have been able to identify it so quickly and accurately.

We have also gone on bird watching hikes in the yard and surrounding woods. That was a great outing (just out the back door). The girls loved gathering their supplies for the hike and we spent a beautiful spring afternoon soaking up God's creation.

We work as a team to identify a bird while we are watching. One is observing and describing and the other one is looking it up in the field guide.I love this kind of hands on learning. It is amazing how much info that the kids can learn when we aren't busy doing workbooks for school. Soon I will post all about our owl pellet dissection.

I am so very grateful for God's protection

Just a quick praise to our amazing heavenly Father for His protection on my family today. We were busy working out in the front yard planting trees on this fantastic spring day and a freak odd almost accident happened. We heard a bump and a scrape and a car jumped the curb and was headed right toward Tally, who was sitting on the grass reading a book. This driver drove right through our yard with no awareness of what was going on, not realizing that she was just a few feet from running over our child. Now mind you, our neighborhood's speed limit is 20 miles an hour, so it is a quiet area, but slow speed limit or not, it doesn't take much for accidents to happen.

After chasing down the driver, we discovered that she fell asleep at the wheel and was totally unaware of what was happening. Thankfully everyone was safe and no harm was done. I have been thanking God all afternoon for His protection. We pray every day that God would keep our children safe and today, I was able to see His power in action.

What are your 5 things?

I love to ask questions to learn more about you. So, I had come up with a good question to ask and then forgot it before I could blog it. As I was trying to remember it, I came up with this question.

What are 5 things that you almost always have with you when you leave the house?

After some thought, I came up with these.

1. cell phone
2. Tristen's special gator-ade drink and medicine
3. my list (of errands that we are running or things to get at the store)
4. camera (you never know when you need to snap a shot for blogging)
   
5. my planner (calendar)

Since my car is a bit of a rolling pharmacy and snack stand (I am the overly prepared mother) those 5 things are about all we need when we are out. What are your 5 things that you almost always have with you when you leave the house?

Starting a new Precepts study

For anyone interested, I am starting a new Precepts study. It just started this week and it doesn't look like it will be longer than a month. The study is called "Count it All Joy", a study in Philippians. If you want to join me, find me over at my other blog. HERE

Another new favorite - contact paper

On my quest to get organized and my desire to use what I have (you know the old reduce, reuse, recycle - green way of life), I have renewed my love of contact paper. That wonderful sticky paper that covers a multitude of "stuff". Rather than buying a bunch of plastic containers, I am trying to use the ones lying around the house. I got a large roll of contact paper for less than $6 (you can hardly buy 2 storage bins for that). I have been using contact paper to make cute containers. I found some sweet printed contact paper at Target the other day and have had fun making some containers.
Turning this veggie can into this cute pencil can (or May Day basket, or pony tail holder, or catch all on your desk).Turning this laundry soap box into a use-able container for holding cereal boxes that are broken down and ready for the recycling bin (or a magazine holder, or book box, or to hold the mail on your counter, or to catch miss matched socks in the laundry room...let your imagination run wild).

Here are my finished projects. The box on the left we use to hold our recycling boxes (cereal or granola bar style). The can is being used to hold pencils in the school room. The box on the right is being used to store misc. papers in the school room to keep it tidy.