In the Beginning:
It took much concentration....
There was teamwork involved....
And great effort for some. Look at that tongue action!
But in the end, it was all worth the effort. Here is the finished product.
Tia Let, this ones for you! LOL
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Gingerbread House 2007
Today was a slow, quiet day. We took the morning slow and easy. We played card games with the kids, went shopping for Christmas Dinner and then made our annual Gingerbread House. Now understand, I am not known for my kitchen skill and so here we go......
In the Beginning:
It took much concentration....
There was teamwork involved....
And great effort for some. Look at that tongue action!
But in the end, it was all worth the effort. Here is the finished product.
Tia Let, this ones for you! LOL
In the Beginning:
It took much concentration....
There was teamwork involved....
And great effort for some. Look at that tongue action!
But in the end, it was all worth the effort. Here is the finished product.
Tia Let, this ones for you! LOL
Friday, December 21, 2007
Christmas Piano Recital
All four of my children play piano and this year was the first year they had a Christmas recital. R played "Deck the Halls". He had forgotten his music and so had to play it from memory. He did a really good job!
A played "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear". Unfortunately she missed a note at the very beginning of the song. This rattled her a bit but she did fabulous from that point on. She was soooo nervous.
She also played "The Christmas Song". After her first piece she walked up to the piano looking a little worried. But, you can see here that she had nothing to worry about!
C did a really good job with "Angels We Have Heard On High".
R played a duet of "Good King Wenceslas" with his piano instructor, Miss Carol.
J did a stunning job with "O Holy Night". She is really becoming quite the pianist.
It has been so wonderful to have the kids playing Christmas Carols all month long. I love the piano and to hear them playing all this time has filled our house with a wonderful Christmas spirit.
A played "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear". Unfortunately she missed a note at the very beginning of the song. This rattled her a bit but she did fabulous from that point on. She was soooo nervous.
She also played "The Christmas Song". After her first piece she walked up to the piano looking a little worried. But, you can see here that she had nothing to worry about!
C did a really good job with "Angels We Have Heard On High".
R played a duet of "Good King Wenceslas" with his piano instructor, Miss Carol.
J did a stunning job with "O Holy Night". She is really becoming quite the pianist.
It has been so wonderful to have the kids playing Christmas Carols all month long. I love the piano and to hear them playing all this time has filled our house with a wonderful Christmas spirit.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Progressive Dinner
With 2 teens in our home we have entered the realm of youth group activities. Last Saturday we hosted a progressive dinner for our teens. We had the main dish. The came in in groups so at first it didn't seem like much. But, they kept coming and soon our house was full! We had teens everywhere.
J provided some entertainment for the evening and drew quite a crowd.
It was really a great evening. The kids were fabulous. We hosted about 40 teens in our home for about 45 min. As quickly as they entered they left for another home for dessert. Our teens are amazing. We had so little to clean up when they were done. You would hardly have known that our house had just been full, except of course that it went from very loud to very, very quiet! LOL
J provided some entertainment for the evening and drew quite a crowd.
It was really a great evening. The kids were fabulous. We hosted about 40 teens in our home for about 45 min. As quickly as they entered they left for another home for dessert. Our teens are amazing. We had so little to clean up when they were done. You would hardly have known that our house had just been full, except of course that it went from very loud to very, very quiet! LOL
The Wreath Solution
Well, we did it. We finally figured out a solution to our hole in the wall. What do you think?
If you look closely you can tell it is a doggy door turned sideways with a plaque hung over it.
We decided to move the tree and rearrange the furniture and here is our finished project.
We really should take our Christmas picture here next year. What do you think?
If you look closely you can tell it is a doggy door turned sideways with a plaque hung over it.
We decided to move the tree and rearrange the furniture and here is our finished project.
We really should take our Christmas picture here next year. What do you think?
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Living Nativity
Last night we attended a "Living Nativity". We were invited by one of the moms in our home school co-op. It was fabulous and sooooo well done. You could definitely tell that a lot of time and effort was put into planning this. We started out in a looonnnngggg line but it went very quickly and the kids were able to pet some goats while we waited.
We started out by being given coins to pay the Tax Collector. You can see in R's face what he thought of this. LOL!
Next we had to sign the Census.
We then walked through the Bethlehem Marketplace where we were able to experience many different shops. Each shopkeeper gave us information of what it was like during that time but presented it in real time stories.
The Wheat Grinder
The Spice Maker (this was our friend who invited us to the Nativity)
The Perfumer
Here is A smelling frankenscence. They also had myrrh. Very strong smelling perfumes.
The next part of the journey was outside where we went through 6 different scenes of the Christmas Story. Here are a few.
Gabriel visiting Joseph. I love the way they did this.
The 3 Wise Men.
Servants tending the Wise Men's flocks.
I loved the camels. They had many live animals including sheep, donkeys, goats, cows and camels. The camels were rather entertaining. In the second picture below you can see one camel trying to eat his keepers clothes!
The last pictures are of Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus in the Manger and
the baby Jesus eating her (Oops! HIS toes! LOL).
They ended the story by shining a light on 3 crosses in the distance. Unfortunately these pictures did not come out but I thought is was fabulous how they shadowed the manger scene with the cross. If you can find Living Nativity in your city I would highly recommend you going. We really had a great time.
We started out by being given coins to pay the Tax Collector. You can see in R's face what he thought of this. LOL!
Next we had to sign the Census.
We then walked through the Bethlehem Marketplace where we were able to experience many different shops. Each shopkeeper gave us information of what it was like during that time but presented it in real time stories.
The Wheat Grinder
The Spice Maker (this was our friend who invited us to the Nativity)
The Perfumer
Here is A smelling frankenscence. They also had myrrh. Very strong smelling perfumes.
The next part of the journey was outside where we went through 6 different scenes of the Christmas Story. Here are a few.
Gabriel visiting Joseph. I love the way they did this.
The 3 Wise Men.
Servants tending the Wise Men's flocks.
I loved the camels. They had many live animals including sheep, donkeys, goats, cows and camels. The camels were rather entertaining. In the second picture below you can see one camel trying to eat his keepers clothes!
The last pictures are of Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus in the Manger and
the baby Jesus eating her (Oops! HIS toes! LOL).
They ended the story by shining a light on 3 crosses in the distance. Unfortunately these pictures did not come out but I thought is was fabulous how they shadowed the manger scene with the cross. If you can find Living Nativity in your city I would highly recommend you going. We really had a great time.
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Homeschool Co-op Christmas Play
Three of my children were in our Homeschool Co-op's production of "Humbug High". It is the Scrooge story in a modern day highschool. J, played the narrator and the ghost of Christmas present.
A, played Grace, the dd of a poor family who never complained and was very caring and good natured.
She also played Bonnie, a high school student at Humbug High who was trying to get the school decorated behind Eddie Scrooge's back.
C, played the part of Jonathan, one of the highschool kids
and the part of a pawn broker in the Christmas future scenes.
It came off very well for only 6 weeks of practice.
J really showed off her acting abilities when one of the other characters forgot to come on stage. She simply began to improvise and the Eddie Scrooge character jumped right in with her.
It was fabulous and they made it so comical. It was so much fun to watch and those who did not know the play assumed it was all part of it. It was a great evening and I was so proud of all of them.
A, played Grace, the dd of a poor family who never complained and was very caring and good natured.
She also played Bonnie, a high school student at Humbug High who was trying to get the school decorated behind Eddie Scrooge's back.
C, played the part of Jonathan, one of the highschool kids
and the part of a pawn broker in the Christmas future scenes.
It came off very well for only 6 weeks of practice.
J really showed off her acting abilities when one of the other characters forgot to come on stage. She simply began to improvise and the Eddie Scrooge character jumped right in with her.
It was fabulous and they made it so comical. It was so much fun to watch and those who did not know the play assumed it was all part of it. It was a great evening and I was so proud of all of them.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Christmas Wreath-What would you do???
Okay, I need you creative guru's. While decorating our home for Christmas we ran into a unique problem. We usually have a beautiful picture hanging above our fireplace in the family room. It is of a lovely outdoor tea party with the saying,
"May God bless our lives with a fragrant measure of His love and our home with the treasure of His peace" and the scripture " In the presence of the Lord there is fullness of joy. Ps 16:11
It is really a very relaxing site to gaze upon. During the Christmas season we have a huge wreath that hangs above the mantle. It is really very pretty. However, when we remove the picture and hang up the wreath we get this:
The picture usually hides the projector my dh has put in the wall. However, the wreath does not. Any suggestions on what I can do to "dress-up" this problem?
Does anyone else have such a tech-savvy dh and all the blessings that come with that? *smile*
"May God bless our lives with a fragrant measure of His love and our home with the treasure of His peace" and the scripture " In the presence of the Lord there is fullness of joy. Ps 16:11
It is really a very relaxing site to gaze upon. During the Christmas season we have a huge wreath that hangs above the mantle. It is really very pretty. However, when we remove the picture and hang up the wreath we get this:
The picture usually hides the projector my dh has put in the wall. However, the wreath does not. Any suggestions on what I can do to "dress-up" this problem?
Does anyone else have such a tech-savvy dh and all the blessings that come with that? *smile*
Monday, November 26, 2007
Christmas Decorating
Well, we got our Christmas Tree up!
The house is decorated and we enjoyed Christmas Music, dancing around, putting up ornaments, hot chocolate, eggnog and s'mores.
The fire was blazing and keeping the house nice and toasty warm.
(Well, it was blazing and toasty the other night! LOL)
It was a wonderful evening. Unfortunately, I was still a little under the weather so I did not get the camera out. I will try to take pictures of the tree later and upload them. But for now, we are enjoying the twinkling lights, more Christmas music and a game of Nertz!
The house is decorated and we enjoyed Christmas Music, dancing around, putting up ornaments, hot chocolate, eggnog and s'mores.
The fire was blazing and keeping the house nice and toasty warm.
(Well, it was blazing and toasty the other night! LOL)
It was a wonderful evening. Unfortunately, I was still a little under the weather so I did not get the camera out. I will try to take pictures of the tree later and upload them. But for now, we are enjoying the twinkling lights, more Christmas music and a game of Nertz!
Cold Weather Brings Hot Soups
As the cold weather comes in I like to cook nice hot soups, chili's etc. I have the standard chili, chicken and dumplings etc. but I was really wanting to try something new. Thanks to my friend DeEtta I have a new soup to add to my recipes: Minestrone!
It was really good and my whole family gave it a thumbs up. I am looking for more soups and stews so if you have any favorites I would love to try them! Thanks DeEtta!
It was really good and my whole family gave it a thumbs up. I am looking for more soups and stews so if you have any favorites I would love to try them! Thanks DeEtta!
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving
I know it has been a long time since I last posted. I am hoping to remedy that situation as I am getting more and more organized and trying to eliminate things from my schedule. I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I am not with my side of the family this year but I do get to share this thanksgiving with my husband's family. We are sure to be stuffed with wonderful foods and great deserts. We will most certainly play charades and be entertained by a wonderful skit put on by the kids. It is always something new and creative. Can't wait to see what they come up with this year.
As I woke up this morning the house was cold with a new cold front that blew in yesterday. We went from 80 degree weather to the 40's. I was so thankful for this wonderful fall weather. We put up a thankful tree on Monday (this was supposed to happen on Nov. 1 but illness kept us from getting it up). By Tues. morning it was full and continues to fill up. The children add to it daily. We are truly blessed. I did want to put a thankful list up today and I hope to think of one everyday. So, what are you thankful for. Here is my list of 10 things...
1)Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made that I may be reconciled with God in Heaven.
2)My husband. God knew exactly what I would need and blessed me with all of that and more in
Phillip
3)My four wonderful children. The Lord allows me to see His diversity in their unique personalites and brings me joy daily through them.
4)The church body at NEC. The impact they have on my walk with Christ brings glory to God daily.
5)My husband's job and the provision God gives us though it.
6)A huge home with rooms to fill with whoever needs them.
7)That my house if full right now with the added blessings of 2 of my neices (1 biological, 1 adopted)
8)My homeschool loopies buddies. These woman have walked with my for many years now and have prayed for me, blessed me, made me laugh and taught me more than a few things.
9)My dearest friends here who keep me accountable, love me, are patient with me and keep me focused on the Lord
10)My extended family, Mom, Dad, Grandmommy, Pawpaw and all the children they raised that now are my family in-love and in-law.
God is Good. All the Time!
Monday, July 02, 2007
What a weekend!
My dh and I left last Thurs. for Marriage Seminar Training. It was 3 day seminar that included reading a book and doing homework every night and once during lunch. It was a full 8 week seminar in 3 days along with training for how to facilitate the seminar. It was fabulous. Dh and I will start our first class on Aug. 5. I look forward to doing this with dh. We have recently been appointed as Marriage Ministers at our church and this will be our first marriage class we will lead.
It is from the Family Dynamics Institute http://www.familydynamics.net/
I really think we will be able to help a lot of struggling marriages with this class. To let you know how much I really love this material you must understand my weekend. Along with the intense training, I survived a kidney stone all day Sat. and Sun morning and a stomach bug Sat. night and Sunday morning to go along with it. After I passed the stone the sinus headache I had made itself noticed and today, I went to the doctor and am on antibiotics for a sinus infection and bronchitis. However, even with all of that going on I did not miss any of the training. It was so good and I wanted to understand every aspect of it so I persevered!
I missed my kiddos but they had a good time with Grandmommy at her church's VBS. The girls assisted the craft staff and the boys got to enjoy VBS.
I know I need to update my blog and I will soon. I have camp pictures, post camp pictures and just some general catching up to do. I will get to it soon.
I have to catch up on responding to comments and I will .....soon. Maybe tomorrow. For now, I am really tired.
It is from the Family Dynamics Institute http://www.familydynamics.net/
I really think we will be able to help a lot of struggling marriages with this class. To let you know how much I really love this material you must understand my weekend. Along with the intense training, I survived a kidney stone all day Sat. and Sun morning and a stomach bug Sat. night and Sunday morning to go along with it. After I passed the stone the sinus headache I had made itself noticed and today, I went to the doctor and am on antibiotics for a sinus infection and bronchitis. However, even with all of that going on I did not miss any of the training. It was so good and I wanted to understand every aspect of it so I persevered!
I missed my kiddos but they had a good time with Grandmommy at her church's VBS. The girls assisted the craft staff and the boys got to enjoy VBS.
I know I need to update my blog and I will soon. I have camp pictures, post camp pictures and just some general catching up to do. I will get to it soon.
I have to catch up on responding to comments and I will .....soon. Maybe tomorrow. For now, I am really tired.
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