The king didn't get any sleep last night, due to being on call for his job. Therefore, we started our morning off at the Sands Art Festival. I talked with two of the ladies about how we, as a family, could join their organization, and not only did they invite us to the next meeting, but took us around and introduced us to some of the members. I can't wait for our first meeting with those wonderful ladies. The best part of the show is that I ran into my very own Kindergarten teacher from the town where we lived until about two years ago. She was selling some gorgeous jewelry that made. Princess Abbey got a very pretty necklace/earring set, and gave the earrings to Princess Melody. I also bought a book called Coyote Tales from illustrator, Jackie Gulledge Zweiger, and she autographed it for us.
After the show, we went to McDonalds for lunch, and let Princess Tarja play in the play place for quite a long time so that the king could have an undisturbed nap. After we made our way home and deposited Princess Melody and Princess Tarja, Princess Abbey accompanied me to the library's Fall book sale, where they were selling lots of books for only 10 cents each. We found a few good looking reads, then went home and looked up how to make God's eyes online. Abbey made a really large one with wire cut from a coat hanger, I made two out of twigs from outside, and helped Tarja make one out of two very small twigs. They are now hanging on my living room wall.
While we made the God's eyes, Princess Melody literally painted a painting right onto a denim skirt. It is truly amazing, and I wish that I was thin enough to wear it. Oh well!
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
The Fourth Princess
Yesterday, as a family, we finally agreed upon the name of the fourth princess. Princess Ivana, whose name means, "God is gracious" is due January 30th. If history repeats itself, then I will have labor induced in about 10 more weeks. If not, then we will patiently wait for her arrival.
A cold front is blowing into West Texas. Keep in mind that anything that happens in our area, travels via high, dry, winds. I have been diligently crocheting my new sweater, and only lack one more sleeve before I get to put it together and add the trim. I would normally want a black or gray sweater so that it can go with anything, but this year, I am being adventurous with a blue striped pattern. If I make myself another one, it will be black so that I can wear some bright red, Christmasy stuff with it. Of course, the real object of the game is t sure to make sure that it will cover my big mama tummy right now, but still fit decently after Princess Ivana's arrival. If not, then I guess one of my friends will be blessed with an almost new sweater.
Princess Tarja started acting devilish today, so I determined that maybe she would behave a lot better if she were kept busy. I decided that a simple craft project was in order. We got out some pink and white yarn, and proceeded to make pom poms to tie around her ponytails. This went very well. She wrapped the yarn around and around a book, and after she had wrapped enough, I did the cutting and the tying. Well....our fun ended when she got her quick little finger in the way of my scissors and I nicked her fingertip to both of our surprise. I called the king, who decreed that I should not wait for him to come and give his opinion, but to go ahead and run her to the clinic. Keep in mind that she was bleeding profusely, and I couldn't tell if I had cut off the end of her finger or what. Thankfully, by the time we got to see the doctor, the bleeding had stopped and he could tell that it was just a tiny nick that only needed a Snoopy band aid and a kiss. She seems to have forgiven me. Children are good like that.
A cold front is blowing into West Texas. Keep in mind that anything that happens in our area, travels via high, dry, winds. I have been diligently crocheting my new sweater, and only lack one more sleeve before I get to put it together and add the trim. I would normally want a black or gray sweater so that it can go with anything, but this year, I am being adventurous with a blue striped pattern. If I make myself another one, it will be black so that I can wear some bright red, Christmasy stuff with it. Of course, the real object of the game is t sure to make sure that it will cover my big mama tummy right now, but still fit decently after Princess Ivana's arrival. If not, then I guess one of my friends will be blessed with an almost new sweater.
Princess Tarja started acting devilish today, so I determined that maybe she would behave a lot better if she were kept busy. I decided that a simple craft project was in order. We got out some pink and white yarn, and proceeded to make pom poms to tie around her ponytails. This went very well. She wrapped the yarn around and around a book, and after she had wrapped enough, I did the cutting and the tying. Well....our fun ended when she got her quick little finger in the way of my scissors and I nicked her fingertip to both of our surprise. I called the king, who decreed that I should not wait for him to come and give his opinion, but to go ahead and run her to the clinic. Keep in mind that she was bleeding profusely, and I couldn't tell if I had cut off the end of her finger or what. Thankfully, by the time we got to see the doctor, the bleeding had stopped and he could tell that it was just a tiny nick that only needed a Snoopy band aid and a kiss. She seems to have forgiven me. Children are good like that.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Pssst......Heads up!
I have been a member of Pssst..., which is a pretty neat way to get to preview some General Mills products. For our homeschooling, couponing, breakfasting pleasure, they are going to start having comic books in specially marked packages of cereal. I'm sure that this will be loved around my house.
The new princesses is 27 weeks along as of today.
A dear friend and fellow homeschooler recently blessed us with a large container of colloidal silver that she made herself. WOW! It is currently clearing up a bad case of acne, and my hair looks like it has been colored, because there are fewer and fewer grays, and the condition of it is unbelievable. Princess Abbey had a bad cough a few days ago, and because she has asthma, her coughs normally last all Fall and Winter. After a couple of doses of colloidal silver, she is no longer coughing. Princess Melody will get to have some when she gets back from the orthodontist today. All of these benefits have been enjoyed in less than a week.
On the homeschooling front, we have been using Grandma Moses for our artist study for this term, and Beethoveen for our composer study. Grandma Moses is kind of refreshing after all of the heavy duty stuff that we have explored during the first term of this year. We also read a biography of Galileo, part of Tales from Shakespeare (which we will continue, but the library would only recheck it to us so many times), and are now exploring Archimedes. Princess Melody is in the middle of her first college English course, and our parent taught driver's education course at the same time. I don't know about her, but I definitely feel challenged.
Since my last post, I have added crochet ruffles to baby and toddler socks, and have made sweaters for Princess Melody and the baby. I am currently working on a sweater for myself, and have been clipping coupons like a crazy woman. Friends have been giving me lots of coupons for diapers and other goodies. I even found a couple of coupons for drop ins liners, which are one of my favorite must have baby items.
The new princesses is 27 weeks along as of today.
A dear friend and fellow homeschooler recently blessed us with a large container of colloidal silver that she made herself. WOW! It is currently clearing up a bad case of acne, and my hair looks like it has been colored, because there are fewer and fewer grays, and the condition of it is unbelievable. Princess Abbey had a bad cough a few days ago, and because she has asthma, her coughs normally last all Fall and Winter. After a couple of doses of colloidal silver, she is no longer coughing. Princess Melody will get to have some when she gets back from the orthodontist today. All of these benefits have been enjoyed in less than a week.
On the homeschooling front, we have been using Grandma Moses for our artist study for this term, and Beethoveen for our composer study. Grandma Moses is kind of refreshing after all of the heavy duty stuff that we have explored during the first term of this year. We also read a biography of Galileo, part of Tales from Shakespeare (which we will continue, but the library would only recheck it to us so many times), and are now exploring Archimedes. Princess Melody is in the middle of her first college English course, and our parent taught driver's education course at the same time. I don't know about her, but I definitely feel challenged.
Since my last post, I have added crochet ruffles to baby and toddler socks, and have made sweaters for Princess Melody and the baby. I am currently working on a sweater for myself, and have been clipping coupons like a crazy woman. Friends have been giving me lots of coupons for diapers and other goodies. I even found a couple of coupons for drop ins liners, which are one of my favorite must have baby items.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Our fourth princess is coming along nicely. We haven't agreed on her name just yet, but she is growing well and is about 25 weeks along at the time of this writing.
Princess Tarja had a nasty bout of croup during the past two weeks. Last night was the first night that we felt confident enough to let her have her evening park time again. She was ecstatic.
I have been crocheting up a storm, thanks to a friend who blessed me with lots and lots.........I mean LOTTTTSSSS of yarn. A lot of the yarn is baby yarn, and crochet thread, which will enable me to make a lot of nice goodies So far, I have made a little pink sweater for the newbie, a green striped sweater for Princess Melody a pair of very frilly socks for the newbie, and am almost finished with an equally frilly pair for Princess Tarja. Princess Abbey has not been forgotten, she just hasn't put in a request yet for what she would like, but I'm sure that there is a sweater in her future.
Along those lines, I have a few things posted on Etsy. The pictures are on the right hand side of this page. There are more items coming very soon.
Princess Tarja had a nasty bout of croup during the past two weeks. Last night was the first night that we felt confident enough to let her have her evening park time again. She was ecstatic.
I have been crocheting up a storm, thanks to a friend who blessed me with lots and lots.........I mean LOTTTTSSSS of yarn. A lot of the yarn is baby yarn, and crochet thread, which will enable me to make a lot of nice goodies So far, I have made a little pink sweater for the newbie, a green striped sweater for Princess Melody a pair of very frilly socks for the newbie, and am almost finished with an equally frilly pair for Princess Tarja. Princess Abbey has not been forgotten, she just hasn't put in a request yet for what she would like, but I'm sure that there is a sweater in her future.
Along those lines, I have a few things posted on Etsy. The pictures are on the right hand side of this page. There are more items coming very soon.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Dave Ramsey
My 16 year old Business Administration major was thoroughly impressed by Dave Ramsey when we took Financial Peace University last year. Today was her day. She got her Total Money Makeover Workbook autographed by Mr. Dave Ramsey on her way back home from the orthodontist, thanks to our good friends that didn't mind taking a detour to let her do this. I've been saying all day long that I am jealous. I told her that maybe when she gets to be a big shot business owner, she will bring him here to her own store so that the rest of us can meet him. Whoo hoo!
We had a very brief little rain tonight after supper. I insisted on taking Tarja outside to see the rain and hear the thunder, because it might be a long while before she sees it again. You think that I'm joking, but we are in one of the worst droughts in our history, and it has been predicted to last until 2020. That's a long time.
I've decided that instead of an actual nature notebook, I'm going to have Abbey blog about her nature findings. This should begin very soon, so stay tuned. Her love is dogs, and she researches different dogs all the time, so prepare to read a LOT of our dog Molly, and possibly the neighborhood dogs. Her dream is to have a doggy day spa.
We had a very brief little rain tonight after supper. I insisted on taking Tarja outside to see the rain and hear the thunder, because it might be a long while before she sees it again. You think that I'm joking, but we are in one of the worst droughts in our history, and it has been predicted to last until 2020. That's a long time.
I've decided that instead of an actual nature notebook, I'm going to have Abbey blog about her nature findings. This should begin very soon, so stay tuned. Her love is dogs, and she researches different dogs all the time, so prepare to read a LOT of our dog Molly, and possibly the neighborhood dogs. Her dream is to have a doggy day spa.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Living Books: Galileo
My friends probably get bored when I start going on and on about the benefits of teaching by way of the living books approach. The biography that we are currently reading about Galileo is a perfect example of why I love this method so much.
Yesterday, we found a biography about Galileo at the library. Finding it at the library means that we get to read for free, which helps to stimulate our household economy. When we got home with the book, we set it aside, because it is time to read our literature lesson from Tales From Shakespeare. Wouldn't you know that the our Shakespeare tale is set in Italy? Afterwards, we begin reading the first two chapters from Galileo, and take note that he is an Italian scientist. This is a coincidence, but a fun one.
Today, as we delve farther into the life of Galileo, we get into a discussion about the influence of the Catholic church on science and teaching during his time. We talk about such things as the Reformation, Inquisition, and the meaning of "Protestant". A few tidbits of geography and a great deal of history also shine through, because they are important to the story of his life as a scientist at a time when anything other than theories accepted by the church were considered heresy. At the point that Galileo discovers a supernova, Princess Abbey asks for more details. We pause our reading to look up a video on youtube that can explain the concept of a supernova, and find a great one that is from the History channel, thereby adding an even greater dose of meaning to the science lesson.
Therefore, because our science lesson comes from the biography of a scientist rather than a more traditional science textbook, we have broadened our horizons with some extras that don't normally accompany a science lesson. This makes my job of teaching easy, and her job of learning easy, so it's a win-win situation.
Yesterday, we found a biography about Galileo at the library. Finding it at the library means that we get to read for free, which helps to stimulate our household economy. When we got home with the book, we set it aside, because it is time to read our literature lesson from Tales From Shakespeare. Wouldn't you know that the our Shakespeare tale is set in Italy? Afterwards, we begin reading the first two chapters from Galileo, and take note that he is an Italian scientist. This is a coincidence, but a fun one.
Today, as we delve farther into the life of Galileo, we get into a discussion about the influence of the Catholic church on science and teaching during his time. We talk about such things as the Reformation, Inquisition, and the meaning of "Protestant". A few tidbits of geography and a great deal of history also shine through, because they are important to the story of his life as a scientist at a time when anything other than theories accepted by the church were considered heresy. At the point that Galileo discovers a supernova, Princess Abbey asks for more details. We pause our reading to look up a video on youtube that can explain the concept of a supernova, and find a great one that is from the History channel, thereby adding an even greater dose of meaning to the science lesson.
Therefore, because our science lesson comes from the biography of a scientist rather than a more traditional science textbook, we have broadened our horizons with some extras that don't normally accompany a science lesson. This makes my job of teaching easy, and her job of learning easy, so it's a win-win situation.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Worldwide Day of Play
The Worldwide Day of Play is a pretty good idea.....maybe. I admire Mrs. Obama for her efforts in trying to conquer childhood obesity, but I have a little wish list of things that I hope will someday be conquered.
There are too many things going into the foods that we buy, that should not be. For instance, why does mayonnaise, of all things, have corn syrup in it? Other ingredients are added to give it the tangy taste, so why did they have to sweeten it in the first place? I have to ask the same about some meats, cheeses, plain yogurt, and a whole host of other foods that aren't meant to be sweet, so why the corn syrup or sugar?
Since childhood obesity is a big issue, why are fruit juices made with anything less than 100% juice? Why, then, is it called "juice" if it's not really juice?
"No sugar added" products often contain many grams of sugar. If there was no sugar added to the product, then how did it get there?
Why do granola, cereal bars, and other bar type snacks that are marketed as "healthy" have as much, if not more sugar and calories than a candy bar? Seriously, there are times that I have wondered if we would do better with a chocolate bar or bag of potato chips.
As for fast food restaurants that are marketing healthier options for kids, why are apples dipped in caramel healthy? I see that option all over the place. I'm sure that they do have less fat in them than French fries, but why are we replacing a side dish with a dessert?
There is a lot more to conquering obesity than a worldwide day of play.
There are too many things going into the foods that we buy, that should not be. For instance, why does mayonnaise, of all things, have corn syrup in it? Other ingredients are added to give it the tangy taste, so why did they have to sweeten it in the first place? I have to ask the same about some meats, cheeses, plain yogurt, and a whole host of other foods that aren't meant to be sweet, so why the corn syrup or sugar?
Since childhood obesity is a big issue, why are fruit juices made with anything less than 100% juice? Why, then, is it called "juice" if it's not really juice?
"No sugar added" products often contain many grams of sugar. If there was no sugar added to the product, then how did it get there?
Why do granola, cereal bars, and other bar type snacks that are marketed as "healthy" have as much, if not more sugar and calories than a candy bar? Seriously, there are times that I have wondered if we would do better with a chocolate bar or bag of potato chips.
As for fast food restaurants that are marketing healthier options for kids, why are apples dipped in caramel healthy? I see that option all over the place. I'm sure that they do have less fat in them than French fries, but why are we replacing a side dish with a dessert?
There is a lot more to conquering obesity than a worldwide day of play.
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