Embrace the Chaos

2012-01-12T18:52:00.000-08:00

Scott's baby brother lives in Alaska and for Christmas he and his wife sent us this amazing "Alaskan" basket of goodies that included animal cookie cutters, Alaskan blueberry syrup, salmon, salmon jerkey (which I did NOT taste) Alaskan socks, and three Alaskan chocolate bars. Then one of the bars went missing.............

BUSTED

Aaaaaaaaaaand now it's bathtime!

We are not morning people

2012-01-11T16:26:00.000-08:00

One of the benefits of homeschooling is that you can start when you want to so we don't have to wake up at the break of way to early. This also means you don't have to get to bed at a certain time and a later bedtime means more time spent with daddy. Scott's work has been very stressful for the past year and he is working much longer hours and getting home way later than I would like. Getting home at seven or eight in the evening is not abnormal but my kids still get to spend a few hours with him since bedtime isn't till around ten thirty. Speaking of bedtime, Corwin and Faith do not like to sleep alone and we have offered to get them a bigger bed but they prefer to share a twin. This just does not look comfortable...........

My budding fashionista

2012-01-09T16:00:00.000-08:00

Sure weetums, you look perfect!

Walk like an Egyptian

2011-09-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

In Apologia Anatomy we started by studying the history of the study of anatomy. That makes sense right? Well what study of the history of the study of human anatomy would be complete without mummifying something?!?!

We peeled two apples and set one aside for a control (cause we are good little scientists) and the other was covered in baking soda and salt for a week.

Corwin was not interested in touching, squeezing, smelling or doing anything else to apples that looked funky. Instead he concentrated on his 80's Bangles dance moves.

Faith is always ready for gross.

Just for the sake of passing on the know, the apple on the right is the mummified apple. The sodium bicarbonate and salt sucked out all the juice preventing bacterial growth (or something like that)

"They do the sand dance, don'cha know?"

Bend it like Faithie

2011-09-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

So Faith had her first soccer game on Saturday. I always thought she would be my hardcore competitive child. The linebacker princess is what we called her. Well she may be more princess than linebacker but I think she rocks it fierce!

Ok in the interest of full disclosure this was taken during warm up before they made her take her earrings out and she got all bitter ;p

This was way more running than my cheerleader was used too.

But she loves the outfit and that is really what counts (there are hearts for the I dots mommy!!!)

Daddy, a daughter's first love

2011-09-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

quick,,,,,,get outside before the sun starts again!!!

2011-09-05T14:50:00.000-07:00

After a long hot summer we have finally had a break in the heat so I woke up this morning, opened all the windows and kicked the kids outside. Two thumbs up for enjoying fresh air!!!

Cubby cuteness

2011-05-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

So last weekend was the crazy weekend to end all weekends and my sweet little cubscout had his crossover ceremony and is now a bear! I am blinded by his awesomeness.

There were raingutter regata races

Chillin with old friends

bugs of course

Tara found a shoe buddy

gotta have tug o war

cuteness

Our annual snow day!

2011-01-13T18:25:00.000-08:00

So here in the Northern of Dallas we are really lucky if it snows once a year. And since we are not one of those insane skiing, sledding, ice fishing, cold loving families, we don't really have a large selection of waterproof cold keeping out gear but I did want the kids to be able to play in the snow without ghetto gloves ghetto gloves btw are ziplock baggies tied around your wrist with a ponytail holder. necessity is the mother of invention ;p So they all had waterproof gloves and an assortment of hats and scarves (which they didn't wear). Next year I need to remember some sort of waterproof footwear as the youngest almost lost a couple of toes to frostbite.

Of course you have to try to make a snowman, even if it is 1/2 snow and 1/2 grass with a bit of wood for stability

Corwin got over the cold pretty quickly. He is a summer kid like his mamma!

Singapore?

2011-01-12T16:33:00.000-08:00

Random post about homeschooling. If you do not homeschool or don't care what curriculum we are using or don't want to see pictures of Corwin, then why are you reading my blog?

Anywho I am a bit torn on the subject of math. I think the truth is that there are several amazing programs out there and the important thing is to find one that works for you and stick to it. We are using Singapore math because I like the word problems and he likes to activities. We used Horizon last year which uses a spiral approach but was essentially a worksheet with a bunch of math problems on it. Singapore incorporates math crosswords, codes and other fun games. See I suppose now that I got that out on paper.....err interpaper? I realize that this one is a keeper. I do still supplement with math games and sometimes we start with flash cards or timed math facts worksheets just to drill facts but all in all this is working for us.

Now one of the initial reasons I decided to homeschool originally was because when I observed Corwin in a classroom setting (he went to kindergarten for one semester) I noticed he had the attention span of a hummingbird on crack. He takes after his daddy :) Seriously all the kids would be doing some worksheet while he zoned out and then when it was time to move on the teacher would quickly tell him the answer so he could fill in the blank. I was less than impressed. So anywho, we don't do a lot of sitting at the kitchen table school. Actually I have found that Corwin works best on individual assignments like math in the trampoline. Makes perfect sense to me. So math usually starts with some hands on learning with manipulatives or games and then we go through the textbook lesson together (which I didn't get a picture of cause I was busy teaching it) and then he hangs out in the trampoline to do his workbook work.

"CORWIN, FOCUS!!"

" I'm working on it! Can I gotothebathroomgetadrinkofwatertakeabreak?"

Gracious I love these kids

2010-12-01T20:12:00.000-08:00

All About Spelling

2010-11-29T18:59:00.000-08:00

So I want to do a blog series on the curriculum we use for homeschooling so I can look back when it is time to buy for next year and know what I want to continue and what I want to change.

My absolute favorite curriculum we use is All About Spelling. It is a very methodical system that uses tiles and cards to teach the spelling rules.

As you can see, it is a very hands on curriculum which is a big two thumbs up for my lack of focus son. I started this year with level one even though it is super easy for Corwin but I wanted to make sure he had a solid foundation and we covered all the rules. He is moving through it pretty quickly though which has actually been good for his confidence. He will start level two in January. Faith is doing the same work at a slower pace. I really have to remember to slow down with her and do a lot more extra work and review. She naturally tries to read whole word instead of phonetically and is prone to guess instead of sounding out the word so this program has been amazing for her as well. I love how the program starts with teaching all the sounds to all the letters up front. There is a .cd-rom the kids (or parents) can use to make sure they are saying all the sounds correctly.

Along with the tiles for the dry erase board, the curriculum comes with flash cards with phonograms, key words, sounds and spelling words. I bought two sets which has been helpful in keeping up with which child needs to review what and what chapter they are on. A more organized mother would probably only need one set ;p Oh and I have read that in higher levels, there is a jail for words that don't follow the rules.

I like to work on spelling one on one so the other child usually works on Explode the Code during spelling time or does click n kids online. Please pardon her crazy hair in the picture. I try to only brush it on days we go to church. It's the little things that help keep me sane ;p

First day of school outfit

2010-08-16T09:11:00.000-07:00

Everyone wants to look their best on the first day of a new school year. First impressions are vitally important plus there are back to school photos to consider

Thank goodness we homeschool!!!

My Desk Right This Very Moment!

2010-08-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

I started working on my Greek study at 11am. By 9pm my brain turned to mush...... here is where I have been allllllllll day :)

#1 My laptop playing Bill Mounce lectures all day every day. It never ends........

#2 Binder full of Children's Ministry TTD and Faith's Cheer motions which I also have to review as I am coaching her squad this fall

#3 giant clothespin that holds mega-prayer requests

#4 The tooth Corwin just ripped out of his mouth (gotta remember to play tooth fairy tonight) and shopping list for Sunday night snacks for church

#5 A&M giant cup of water. unfortunately you really can't see the detail of greatness etched on this glass in this photo

#6 headphones because my poor family really doesn't want to listen to these lectures either

#7 My Greek textbook, notes, workbook etc.....

#8 at the top of the bookcase, Mary Joseph and poor baby Jesus. Tara lost his manger :(

#9 hand prints of my babies - Thank you VBS :)

#10 the pad to our freestanding heavybag that I have to hide from the children when not in use

#11 Our engagement picture (still in the cheesy frame I picked out when we first got engaged. I was only like 21 at the time) and a frame and picture Faith made me in Sunday School like forever ago.

#12 Alice (of course) my letter informing me that I was on the spring presidents list at school and various Greek cds and dvds and my Greek Bible

#13 Greek flash cards and a handout for Faith's first workshop as a Daisy (yes I am her troop leader)

#14 heart check - are you spending quiet time with God etc...

#15 stack of note-cards and a Joss Stone CD (both vitally important)

#16 My loose leaf study Bible that I love (think mega-margins and I can remove and work on individual books of the Bible) and my volunteer vs. called by God checklist

#17 Cub Scout patches that I need to sew on and Sheldon, my ninja flash-drive and pretty gifts from my mil who loves me

#18 Various things my children have made and wont let me throw away and a dreamcatcher my bubba brought back from Colorado

#19 shelf of doom (random Bibles, printer paper, software Cd's, notebooks etc..)

#20 Greek prepositions

I'm plantin a kitty garden

2010-04-08T21:54:00.000-07:00

Ok I have to admit I have been seriously slackin in the garden department. I started out strong. Had my compost pile full of dirt (and potato plants) and my seeds were all sprouting beautifully and then one morning I woke up and my little baby plants were dead. All of them.....over night......

I am so annoyed

Muffin Tin Madness

2010-04-02T06:45:00.000-07:00

We had an Easter playdate yesterday and for lunch I made massive muffin tin meals. My kids love these because they can graze. Actually I make something similar to this for Scott sometimes but on a much larger scale (and in fancier dishes ;p ) I actually use these to stress the importance of a well balanced meal. They have to have protein, carbs, veggies, and fruit. Somehow a surprisingly small number of veggies made it into this muffin tin. I bought more veggies but o well.

protein = turkey ham and turkey pepperoni

carb= chedder bunnies (not something they get often. They were pretty excited)

veggie=carrots :( I'm a slacker

fruit= pinnapple watermelon grapes blueberries

dairy= twisty cheese

other stuff= raisins (which my kids don't eat but I thought I would try) black olives

Potatocompost

2010-03-31T13:29:00.000-07:00

So last year I started a compost pile and after four months it was all completly turned to dirt, beautiful black dirt. Then my husband, thinking he was helping, threw some old potatos in my pile of beautiful dirt.

PEACE LOVE AND TATERS

2010 homeschooling curriculum

2010-03-18T19:05:00.000-07:00

It is time to start nailing down curriculum for the 2010 school year so I can start looking for the best deals. I love the search but I hate second guessing. We will continue with The Well Trained Mind which is a Classical Christian Education model. I don't remember how I came upon this book but it works for us and we love it.

For Handwriting we will stick with A reason for handwriting because I love that it is scripture based.

We will also be using Writing with Ease for dictation and copywork

In grammer we will continue with First Language Lessons . I love that it is scripted and promotes copywork, narration, dictation, picture study and memorization skills

And Spelling will be All about Spelling . I like that this program teaches rules and doesn't just give weekly lists to memorize and regurgitate

Next up is math. We are actually probably going to purchase several programs as I can't really decide. I love the spiral approach of Horizons math and that is what we used this year so Corwin and Faith are used to it and like it but I think Singapore's Primary Math is a more rigorous program. We will also supplement with games and flash cards of course. Surprisingly Corwin enjoys flash cards. That must come from Scott's genes.

Science will be Apologia's Exploring Creation with Astronomy but we will start it in May to prepare for a trip to the McDonald Observatory at the end of June so I am not sure what we will study when it is over. Did I mention we school year round. I figure if those kids don't study for three months then we will spend the first semester reviewing the last semester. Anywho, isn't this book pretty..........

Next up is Latin. Now I know some of you may be asking why I am teaching my kids Latin when I have been bustin my seater to learn Greek. Well My husband took Latin and has decided I should teach them Latin first and my own traitorous Greek professor agrees with him! Ah well, 2nd grade will be a fun intro with Song School Latin and the mascot is a monkey. You can not go wrong when monkeys are teaching your kids.

History will be our all time fave, The Story of the World Volume 2 The middle ages. This is really one of Corwins favorite subjects and our read alouds usually correlate with the time period we are studying. Like right now we are in Volume 1 Ancients studying Greece and our read aloud is The Iliad retold by Nick McCarty. Corwin likes to act out the battle scenes with blocks. It is hilarious.

And we will be doing A Childs Geography

Art will probably be Meet the Masters

Wanna see the video?

I actually do not have a Bible curriculum picked out yet. I don't like the one we are currently using and I haven't decided what I want to cover yet. This year has been a broad overview of the whole Bible and we are using Route 56. I will probably go with a boxed curriculum for this like Abeka or BJU.

Anywho that is what I have so far :)

2010-03-07T21:47:00.000-08:00

Tara the Terror

She is crazy, fearless and wild

She climbs on counters and leaps across furniture

She has one volume.............loud

My baby is growing up

Brand loyalty or "Before you accuse, criticize, and abuse- walk a mile in my shoes".

2010-02-26T18:29:00.001-08:00

Brand loyalty or "Before you accuse, criticize, and abuse- walk a mile in my shoes".

I have been going to church since I was a little girl. I went by myself and I remember I used to walk at least a mile on Sunday Mornings to go to the First Baptist Church of Santa Fe. I had to have been nine or ten when I started, perhaps younger, and I clearly remember little white patent leather shoes and a navy sailor dress. I was an angel in the Christmas pageant and attended Awana on Wednesday nights. I also had terrible bangs. When I was about twelve, I was invited to Santa Fe Christian Church which had recently split from another church and was meeting in yet another church’s building. I was there when they finished their new place of worship and it was there I was baptized and where I made many friends who I am still in contact with today. In the middle of my junior year in high school, we moved to La Marque where I attended Mainland Church of Christ. There I really did some deep Bible study and started to understand the small and sometimes large differences between denominations. When I graduated high school, I headed to Dallas to attend Dallas Christian college (where I still attend today) and visited many area churches. There was Valley View Christian, Farmers Branch Church of Christ, Park Cities Baptist, Preston Crest Church of Christ and many others. I somehow never really found a church home during those years but I got married, had a baby and moved to Wylie. Our first Sunday in Wylie, nearly seven years ago, we attended the First Baptist Church and I knew when we pulled into the parking lot that we had found an honest to goodness Church home. We were met in the lobby by a deacon and he helped us get Corwin settled in the Church nursery. I had never left Corwin with anyone before. Then he gave us the grand tour. He took us back to the choir room, up to the Baptistery and into the video sound room place (still don’t know what they call that room). We saw the track, the gym, where the youth met, the adult Sunday School rooms and every nook and cranny in between. I felt at home, I was home.

Now seven years later I have seen some pastors come, go and move around. Families have joined and families have moved on. There have been changes in services and structures. Many new things have been tried and some have been wildly successful while others have been dismal failures. I love this church. I am invested in this church. I love the opportunities that I have had to volunteer there and the amazing people that I am privileged to work with each week. They are my family. We have rejoiced together, grieved together and fought on the front lines of spiritual warfare together. Now when I use the word family, I mean it in the same way I would if I were to talk about my dad or my husband or my son. They are family, even if they move away, even if they make a mistake, even if we have a disagreement. And it pains me when my family hurts and when you have a large church you have the potential for a large amount of hurt but what hurts me the most and really gets my guard up is when people talk bad about my pastors. And I use the word my because these are men (and woman) who I support and pray for. I pray for their families and their health and the decisions that they make in their ministries so I can’t help but feel invested in their lives and in their happiness (even if they don’t know it). I feel they deserve my loyalty and trust but they also deserve the right to be free of any expectations of perfection. Until the good Lord comes down from heaven and proclaims one of them divine, I will not be surprised if one of them makes a mistake. I also know that when faced with a difficult decision, none of them are sitting around tossing coins to see what they should say or do. Each one of them takes their responsibilities as shepherds of God’s children seriously. They face nerve wracking, stressful, and heartbreaking situations in the profession they were chosen for and I really believe that what they say and do is bathed in prayer and study. God has handpicked them for leadership in my church and they will one day stand before God and be held accountable for the things that they say and do but none of us should ever attempt to step into that seat of judgment because that place is reserved for only one man. So unless you are willing to take one of their places and shoulder the immense responsibilities placed on them day after day ,(and good luck getting a real day off) then watch your tongue when you decide you are unhappy with how something is handled please I beg you. It hurts me when people talk bad about my church or my pastors. I hate to hear people talk bad about ANY church. I just don’t think it is necessary or constructive in any way. If you are unhappy with someone then yes you should feel you can go to them and voice your concerns but we should never resort to gossip and I know how hard that can be sometimes. The Bible tells us that “the tongue is a restless evil, full of deadly poison (Jms 3:8).” We must all pray for the Holy Sprits help in this because I don’t know if we can do it on our own. Please pray every day for God’s help in guarding both your thoughts and your tongue. I guarantee that God will be faithful and you will hear the Holy Spirit guiding you when you open your mouth and start to say things you shouldn’t but you must ask Him for the help and pray for it daily. It seems so simple but the Bible warns us over and over again about the power and pain our words can yield. And please don’t talk bad about my family in front of me or you will hear some powerful and painful words I promise you.

Phew I have been needin to get that off my chest for YEARS…….

letting go

2009-12-23T17:18:00.000-08:00

My boys

Corwin turned 7 years old December 10th of this year but I started really letting go months ago. I think it began when he started cub scouts. Everyone we knew told us that it was the moms who ran cub scouts and the dads joined when they graduated to boy scouts (just in time to grab the glory I might add). I had been in contact with the pack leader and she knew that if I was going to do this, I wanted to lead (an unfortunate habit that I will kick in 2010). So I showed up to the first big meeting where we all separate into groups and some of us wanted to be in a homeschooling group, the obvious benefit would be that we could meet during the day. Turns out, the group apparently already had a leader but he was running late and everyone looked so confused so I of course took over (but that too will end in 2010 by golly). There were three families at that early meeting, me and two families from WPA ( a local university model school that I hope and pray I will be able to send my kids to one day). I began to talk about forms that needed to be filled out and how things were basically run because of course I had already hit the boy scout store and bought every manual available and was loaded down with all this valuable knowledge that I couldn't wait to share (2010). I would like to point out that the other family's had the dads along and when we started talking about meeting times one of the dads told me that if he were going to meet during the day then he was going to find another group because he was going to be involved and the other dad quickly chimed in that he very much wanted to be involved as well. I was kinda scared for like one second and then told him that no he should stay and if the rest of these homeschoolers (who still hadn't shown up) wanted to meet during the day then we would form our own den with just our three families and that is what ended up happening. I told the men that I was perfectly content to fill out forms and keep track of the administrative side of things but I would prefer that the men taught and led the boys. That made sense to me and was what I had originally envisioned before everyone else rained on my parade. So I got home and told Scott what had transpired and that he was now a den leader. After he hyperventilated he was really excited. I mean he didn't say so but secretly I know he was glad I volunteered him for all this work (won't be the last time, he is also pack treasurer ;p ). It has taken us a while to train the pack leaders to look to Scott to be our den leader and I have been slowly bowing out. We could both co-lead. I have paid my dues and have my patches but I really think that it is the husband's job to teach a boy to be a man and that is part of what Cub Scouts is about.

Sometimes it is hard letting go though. Even if it is only a little.

But that's ok because next year Faith will be in Kindergarden and you know what that means......

DAISYS!!!!!!

I can't wait to be troop leader ;p

2009-12-13T16:10:00.000-08:00

Today was pajama day for the preschoolers at church. They got to bounce on beds (bounce houses) and have cookies and milk. My wittle monkey was a-dorable

Tara had so much fun

It was also the last day I got to see our men in the Ten Hut set since I will be missing church next week.

I will certainly miss seeing Scott in these pants....sigh

2009-12-12T19:23:00.000-08:00

Last night we worked Breakfast in Bethlaham at our church, FBC Wylie, and this morning, for the first time ever, we both took our kids through. Usually we are working and Grandparents or friends take them through for us so this was fun!!

It is kind of like Christmasey trick or treating actually

oooooohhhhhhhhhhhh shiney!!

no words can describe

2009-12-11T09:09:00.001-08:00

Tara the Terror strikes again!!!

" What chocolate? I don't know what you are talking about. I didn't see any chocolate."

" You can't be mad at this face right?!?"

" baf baf peeez (bath)"

Sparky

2009-07-27T13:11:00.000-07:00

I was born in Galveston and spent many of my childhood days playing at the beach. We would bake in the extreme humidity while building sandcastles with moats and cool off in the jelly fish infested polluted brown waters of the island. We jumped through the waves and climbed over the rocks while dodging seaweed and seagull poop. It wasn't Hawaii but it was home. Shortly after I married Scott I was ~~dragged~~ driven to Clearlake Iowa and spent a week out on the lake. My new father in law even let me drive the boat. It was beautiful, but it wasn't a beach. Lakes just don't compare. Cats and dogs are like lakes and beaches. Cats are alright. They can be cute and all but I am not a cat person. Cats run and hide while dogs guard you and warn you when people (or other animals or a stray leaf etc) come near your house. Dogs are far more affectionate than cats. You can take a dog for a walk, cats are to busy sleeping to go anywhere. Dogs are far more intelligent than cats. Ever heard of a seeing eye cat? Do police have a cat unit?

Unfortunately I have three cats. Shrek who is roughly the size of a house, fred, who is afraid of his own shadow and Severus, who....ok severus is alright. But he isn't a dog. My dad has a dog. He has a great dog. A great dog who had puppies...

The one standing up is Sparky. Naturally he, being the largest puppy, is the leader of the pack.

Tara fell in love at first sight (she wasn't the only one)

We She begged daddy for a new puppy

How could you say no to this face

Now Faith has been begging for a chihuahua forever and I was pretty darn close to getting her one. Scott would do anything to keep from having such a tiny girly dog and Sparky is definitely a manly dog let me tell you. He is a purebred mutt. He wont be able to stand up next to a great dane but I bet he will try. He is no ankle biter let me tell you.

Tara and I were going to do whatever it took to get this puppy. Tara grabbed the handcuffs while I issued chihuahua threats.

and sure enough, he gave in. I HAVE A PUPPY!!! I am so stinkin excited. We picked Sparky up Saturday night and I held him in my lap as we drove home and told him with a voice full of love and affection that he was the beach. Scott pointed out that he was Galveston beach. Yes, he is Galveston beach but I love him and he is mine.

He fits in perfectly

Not me Monday

2009-06-01T14:09:00.001-07:00

I love reading every ones Not Me Monday entries so I thought I would do one.

Visit the original here

Last night while I laid out on my lawn reading Jane Eyre while my kids rode their bikes, the pot of chicken stock on my stove did not boil over and burn for goodness knows how long. I did not vaguely hear all six of the fire alarms in my house going off and wonder what kind of bird or insect made that noise. I did not finally decide to go back inside, open my garage door, see smoke billow out and throw my kids in the front yard and go investigate. I totally called the fire department first like a good girl. I did not pour an entire very very large box of baking soda on my stove. It is not still there. I did not rip all six alarms off the ceiling. They are not still laying on the floor where they fell last night. I was not the least bit completely freaked out.

I have not waited till the last minute to get my daughters ballet costume altered. My bff is not coming over one day before the recital (which is this Saturday) to fix it for me. It currently does not completely show my daughters che che's when she moves the least little bit.

I did not bribe my daughter with chocolate chips muffins if she did her reading homework all by herself today. I also did not hide grated carrots and zucchini in said muffins and tell my kids it was just orange sprinkles. Not me! Lying is a sin you know ;p

I did not spend all day Saturday looking for cute boots for my daughter, fail to find any and then buy myself these

The out-of-towners

2009-05-27T20:15:00.000-07:00

This week is turning into the out of town visitors week. Tonight we had dinner with my Father in law Grandpa Mac and Grandma Molly. We met at Benihana's in Dallas for hibachi and sushi. Now last Sunday evening we went to Tokyo One with Uncle Keldy and his girlfriend and the weekend before that we went to a hibachi place in Southlake with my mother in law and uncle keldy. It is a good thing my kids like hibachi and sushi. Corwin has consumed 4 tons of California rolls in the past week and a half. Anywho tomorrow we are headed down to Grapevine with the in laws and we are hoping sometime this weekend to see Scott's little brother Patrick and his wife Michelle and then Sunday night we will see my Aunt Beth and Uncle Kenneth and various cousins that accompany them. Now you know what the best thing about out of town guests is? I will tell you. It inspires me to clean areas that aren't even normally seen and with fun objects. Today I cleaned my laundry room, sink and refrigerator using a toothbrush, a toothpick and a butter knife. I love cleaning with a toothbrush. Something about it gives me warm feelings in my tummy. Is that weird?

Here we (they) are at Benihana's. It is getting really hard to drum up enthusiasm for the same old hibachi tricks but he was really good and we had a fantastic evening.

fresh air

2009-05-26T19:43:00.000-07:00

I love being outside. I love reading outside or eating outside or sleeping outside and now that the weather is all like nice and stuff our evenings are pretty much spent in the backyard. Tara is absolutely loving it.

observe.........

Wait this isn't Tara! This is a wild monkey that wandered into our backyard.

Thank goodness monkeys like chicken and rice

Crazy monkey

Sorry. He was raised by wolves

She however, is all mine.

That's right honey. Just sit back and enjoy the chaos.

Middle Child Syndrome at it's finest

2009-05-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

My husband and I are both stereotypical first borns. We are natural leaders with a need to control a situation. We like to be the center of attention and are both very competitive. And we are also very very used to getting our own way. Being us is good. I like it.

Now my dear sweet Faitharie is a middle child all the way. She is on constant attention deprived overdrive. From the moment she wakes up until the time I finally convince her to freakin go to bed already, she is seeking affirmation that I love her and like her and want to be with her. And I can't really blame her. Corwin has been a bit needy this year with his behavioral issues and dietary changes and the whole Kindergarten thing and of course Tara the terror is the spoiled rotten baby of the family. Buuuuuuuuut sometimes I want to shoot myself just for the hospital vacation opportunity it would bring. I do love her though. She is my mini me. She reminds me so much of my mother and I raise her like I think my mother would want me to. I think about cutting her hair and I know my mother would like it longer so it stays. When she crawls into my lap while I am working on something I stop and hold her for as long as it takes and wish my mother was held more as a child. I let her play with all her gobs of fake glittery makeup (thanks inlaws) and know that my mom would have loved to indulge her in beauty salon afternoons. And when I see her smile I know that my mother is with me and I will see her again. Is that weird?

Here she is getting ready for her first no siblings invited birthday party.

Silly Ballerina

Sunday School

Man I love that girl

Cuter than socks on a rooster

2009-05-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

I never buy the kids toys unless there is a birthday or holiday of some kind but I couldn't pass this up this Rose Petal Cottage. I got it used and it came with the sink, washing machine and stove. It is perfect for Tara.

She is so stinkin cute! But she seriously has no volume control. There is off and loud.

Please pardon her extreme yes I was breastfed baby belly.

Good night!

conversation and test

2009-03-31T07:16:00.000-07:00

So I sent my dear sweet hubby to the grocery store last night because *gasp* we were out of coffee. Now this is a rare occurrence because a) I try never to run out of coffee and b) grocery store time is mommy time- no kids allowd so Scott rarely goes to the grocery store thereby limiting his opportunities to surprise me with pressies and flowers.

So he returns home and I am in the office working on my final.

me: Did you get me a present?
Scott: coffee?
me: no
Scott: Ramen?
me: no
Scott: hot dogs?
me: no
Scott: then no I didn't get you a present. Was I supposed to?
me: yes- you are ALWAYS supposed to get me a present
Scott: I didn't get that memo
me: right. we have only been married seven years
Scott: at least I am consistant (insert big cheesy grin here)

this is a test. this is a test of the facebook importing system. this is only a test Lets see if this is going to go to facebook. I hope not.

Stellan

2009-03-25T05:19:00.001-07:00

I promise a new blog soon but this little boy has been consuming my thoughts the last couple of days. It is time to storm the gates of Heaven people!

organic Mei Tai giveaway!!!

2009-03-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

I have seriously been drooling over mei tais lately and I really really want one but can't really justify the cost but crunchy bunch is giving one away!!!! Visit their blog and sign up.

Fun with Judy

2009-03-09T17:14:00.000-07:00

Judy is my new baby. She is amazing, I love her. Meet Judy......

I don't have a good editing software yet but I have taken like 400 pictures in the last three days. Wanna see some............

Ever wonder what Scott and I do at church. Well let me tell you ;p We work in the Childrens Ministry, specifically in Childrens worship. We use a curriculum put out by Fellowship Church in Grapevine called Elevate and we love it!!! We completly change themes and sets every two months which really keeps it fun and exciting. This past weekend we started Kingdom Tales which is medieval and I have to say it has been my favorite so far. We have also done To The Depths, Spy Chase, and Super Sports Spectacular. I can't tell you how much we love working in the Childrens Ministry. Our kids arn't even in that age group yet but we have lots of fun and we work with the most amazing group of people. Each one of them is such a huge blessing and I love them so much. Anywho here is a pic of Scott yesterday in his family kilt. He was so excited to bring his claymore to church and the boys were really excited to see it! I need to post more pics of the set later. It is beyond awsome. Unfortunatly I couldn't dress up because none of my costumes would be appropriate to jump up and down or bend over in. Plus they are more renaissance and less medieval.

So on Saturday we decided to get new fishies and I have always wanted some of those little neon tetras. We got eight of them and Corwin and I decided that since we couldn't tell them apart we would just give them all the same name. We call them George. So we left the store with George George George George George George and George and thankfully before we left the parking lot we realised we were one George short. So I ran back in and flagged down the pimple faced teenager to scoop me out another fish (no I don't want to pick it out, they all look exactly alike) while I listened to him drone on and on about all the dead things by the sink and why was there so much blood on the sink. None of their fish bleed <-- his words. One more fishey and a squirt of destresser later and I am back in the van where Scott procedes to tell me that no way can we name all the fish George. He took it upon himself to name the eighth fish bob. Fine whatever Let's just get my new fishes home before they all die please thanks. Well once they all are introduced to the tank and check out their surroundings I notice that poor bob is swimming all by his lonesome down at the bottom of the tank. George George George George George George and George were not letting bob play in any neon tetra games. I blamed Scott. One renaming ceremony later and he was allowed to go to school. Arn't they cute.........

So I have been homeschooling Corwin this semester and I absolutly love it. I love when he understands something new or is so proud of himself for doing everything by himself. Of course I can't work with Corwin and have nothing for Faith so she does her worksheets and activities every day too. This is Corwin and Faith enjoying a snack break during school.

Sunday evening Scott took Corwin for a guys Sushi night with Uncle Kelly so while Tara took a nap Faith and I played with bubbles. Her hair gets so wild sometimes. Scott and I joke that she is our cavegirl.

I have been really upset lately about this whole Tara getting bigger thing. She is my last baby and now she is a toddler. I want another baby. Seriously with kids this cute who wouldn't want a dozen (way to color coordinate with the tinkerbell tea cafe Tara!)

My sweet boy Corwin is doing so great. He is adjusting to his gluten/cassin/artifical dye and flavor/low glucose diet and I am actually having fun discovering new recipies and buying organic foods. Man once you start reading labels and discovering the scary things that go into foods and what they can do to your body it is easy to eat healthy. It does become less easy to eat frugal. Tonight I made veggie muffins with gluten free cake mix, gluten free chocolate chips, carrots and zuccinni. The kids loved them. I think I had four (they were little ish) They were really really good. I should have taken a picture but I didn't so here is a random picture of my sweet boy on the church playground. He took time out of his busy playdate with his girlfriend Emily to pose for a picture. Scott is so funny. Everytime Corwin refers to his girlfriend Scott goes, you mean a girl that is your friend, like brenna and Savannah? He is not very happy about this whole girlfriend business. They were in preschool together last year and this year they are in Sunday School together.

First Grocery trip of the year

2009-01-02T19:44:00.000-08:00

So I just got back from my first grocery trip of the frugal year and I did pretty good I think. Now thankfully I already had some groceries including meat and fruit so I was very lucky there. I have an allowance of 250 dollars for two weeks and that includes groceries, gas, and curriculum for Corwin that I am going to buy tomorrow cause Mardel is having a teacher sale. I spent 20 bucks to fill up my tank and 65 dollars in groceries but Wal-Mart did not have formula or Franks hot sauce which I will buy tomorrow and that will bump my total up to a hundred. I am going to try and spend as little as possible at Mardel and save the rest for emergencies. I already know I am going to run out of diapers but is all I can think of. Here are my (super cheap) meals for the week
Sat-pork chops
Sun-hamburgers
Mon- potato soup
Tues-eggs
wed-red beans and rice
Thur-chicken stir fry
Fri-pork chops
sat-fried rice
sun- tortilla soup
Mon-eggs
Tues-general Tso's Chicken
wed hamburgers

Now I can't see us eating this cheaply for the whole year but I am trying to get a small savings going for emergencies. Normally my budget for all the things that I buy will be $600 a month. Luckily my hubby is king of cheap dinners from his college days. I think my big problems are not buying crafty things like scrap booking supplies or yarn and avoiding half price books. Ack I can't believe I just wrote that I am going to avoid half price books. its only a year its only a year its only a year.

The year without

2008-12-22T09:49:00.000-08:00

So for 2009 I am officially committing to The Year Without along with some fellow DAM moms. My husband and I have been going over goals and rules this morning and here is what I have so far.

GOALS
1. Pay off student loans and hospital bills
2. Be able to send Corwin to Wylie Preparatory Academy
3. Have a smaller negative impact on our planet

RULES
1. Commit to spending only $600 a month on groceries
2. No buying any clothes for retail. Consignment shops only
3. Nothing new for the house including bookshelves, trees and plants for the yard and any decorations or kitchenware
4. Vacation = camping and any equipment we need we borrow.
5. Eating out = only on Sunday afternoons

I am also committing to a healthier diet for my family. This includes........

1. Make things from scratch including bread, sauces, tortillas and anything else I can learn to make
2. No sugar, less gluten and casein
3. No artifical flavors or dyes
4.. cut out chemicals by making own laundry soap, toothpaste and household cleaners.

Now this is just a preliminary list so more may be added as I find new ways to be healthier, more environmentally friendly and a better steward of God's blessings.

longest blog ever

2008-11-21T12:57:00.000-08:00

Ok so last weekend was the best weekend ever if you take out my 104 temperature, my strep throat and the flu. Friday morning Faith and I decided to go to the Dallas Farmers market after taking Corwin to school (daddy was home from work so we were babyless yea!).

First we had to gather up mommies reusable grocery bags. I have an embarrassingly mismatched collection going from various grocery stores but matching bags are so on my Christmas list. The problem is that I already have a billion bags so it is not very frugal to ask for more :(

So once I finally made it to the market (I always turn towards fair park. It is not towards fair park. ) Faith and I did some serious shopping. This was pretty easy since we were the only ones there. Evidently the DFM is not really hoppin on Friday mornings in November. Faith had a blast picking things out and trying lots of samples. She even got to pull the wagon. Isn't she cute?

While we shopped we talked all about why it is better to buy from the farmers than at a grocery store. She was very interested in the farmers. We talked about how our food comes from God and we should pray for the farmers and how easy it is for us to fill a wagon full of fresh food and most people on earth do not have enough to eat.

Her reward for being so well behaved at the market was a trip to Stan the Aggie's flower shop. If you are ever at the market you have to visit Stan!! I love buying flowers at the market. We really need to buy some trees but we keep killing ours. We have had at least four in the front yard and they are all dead :(

this is what Faith picked out. I have no idea what it is.

Let me see if I can remember everything we got. Faith picked brown eggs, roma tomatos, cilantro, bell peppers, lettuce, green beans, broccoli, celery, onions, zuchinni, grapes, carrots, mushrooms, apples, watermellon and bananas. Plus the plant of course.

So shopping was done and we raced home because mommy was super tired. It was now like 10am but daddy was off work so I was hopeing to get a nap. Mike, Scotts dad, had shown up while we were gone and brought pressies!!! I had just been telling Scott that I want to start a collection of napkins so we arn't using paper towels every night at dinner and I came home to this.........

Two thumbs up for lots of napkins and material for towels and the old place mats I plan to cut up for dish rags so we can stop spending money on those chemical filled bacteria breeding yellow and green scrub thingies. Mike had no idea how excited I was that he brought this stuff down!!! He did look at me funny when I took a picture of it though haha.

He also brought me his and molly's first dish set they got when they got married. It is a little country for my kitchen but it is free and there are tons and tons of serving dishes and bowls and a matching teapot. I have never had just a normal teapot. All of mine are collectors items. I was pretty excited but starting to get feverish at this point so thankfully I did get a nap.

This isn't the best picture but I just couldn't believe how many pieces there were in this set!

After my nap we went and picked Corwin up from school and headed to West End with my father in law and his friend for dinner. West End is so sad to me without the mall. I used to live there (well and deep ellum sshh) when I was in college. We ate dinner at Spaghetti warehouse were I started getting a lovely headache and case of shakes and pretty much had two bites of my chicken parmigiana. Mike bought our dinner because he is so wonderful and then took us all to the King Tut exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art!!!!!!! It was amazing. Ok at this point I was really starting to get dizzy but Corwin was so enthralled. He patiently looked at each piece and listened to Scott talk about them and even asked questions. It was the coolest thing ever. I was so impressed. Faith and Tara of course were bored out of their minds so I just took them through to the end where Tara could walk around and Faith could hang out since I new I was going to have to make a return trip without kids or flu. I was barely standing at this point and as soon as I saw Scott again I got the keys and ran out to the car to collapse. If it wern't for me being so sick, it would have been the best day ever.

THE END

Being frugal hurts

2008-11-12T20:28:00.000-08:00

So my carpets have been needing some attention for a while now and Scott and I have been trying to decide whether to a) have them cleaned b) buy new carpet or c) replace the carpet with hard wood floors. Well all of the options cost money and I am now super saver mom so I decided to clean them myself. This would have been much easier if my little green cleaning machine thingy hadn't stopped working. Do you know which muscles are used most when you are on your hands and knees scrubbing with a brush and a bucket of water for two hours? Well my arms are fine but randomly my rear is killing me. It was way worse than any buns of steal workout (and yes I did do those in college). But my carpets are beautiful and I spent no money because I already happened to have carpet soap stuff and I worked off all the calories that I have consumed for the past week. Ok maybe not but it was definitely a workout.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

2008-11-10T14:16:00.000-08:00

So I am learning to live more frugally (is that a word?) Today for my sweat baby boys lunch I made him his very first bento box. This is great because I was able to use a hodgepodge of things I have in my incredibly empty kitchen. I wish I would have taken a pic because it rocked. He had a faux sushi sandwich with turkey and cheese, a few green olives, two carrot sticks and two slices of cucumber and like ten mini pringles. He ate every last bit!!! Next week after I hit the Dallas farmers market his bentos will have fruit too. Everything I know about bentos I learned here http://bentolunch.blogspot.com/

I don't have a picture of his first bento ever but here is his Kindergarten pic. He is unfortunately sporting mommies first ever attempt at giving him a haircut. Who knew there were settings on daddy's razor thingy???

Faith and I have had a fun day in the kitchen. We had ramen noodles for breakfast (the meal of choice for my girls) and for lunch I made two cups of rice and topped it with diced tomatoes, some random canned chicken that was hiding in my pantry from goodness knows when and smoked mesquite seasoning. Normally I make this with real chicken, bell peppers and onions but this worked. Scott probably wouldn't eat it. He fears meat that comes in cans. It wasn't much to look at but it will feed me all week.

And besides I have a fantastic pork loin marinaded in a garlic herb and wine sauce with new potatoes carrots and onion that my four year old Faitharie has cooking in the crock pot :) I wish I had taken pictures of her making it with me. She is at the super helper stage and I am taking full advantage.