Making Fun

I'm a little envious.
O.K....I'm a lot envious.

I'm envious of how my little boys can make fun out of a couple of props and a little imagination.

Two blankets and they become burritos...











"Hey, Mom!  Matthew has a jet pack!"





The possibilities are endless.

Enjoying simple fun,

Trying New Things

Several months ago, I found something that was an answer to some very desperate prayers of mine.  I was listening to Dave Ramsey on the radio and heard him endorse E-mealz, which is an online menu planning program.  You go to their website, pay $15 for three months (that's only $1.25 a week!), and you get not only dinner menus for the week...but you also get the grocery list for the dinner menus!

The main benefit is supposed to be that the meals are now budgeted--which saves money on grocery trips. But even bigger for me is the fact that I have ideas for dinner!  More than just 5 rotating meals with no vegetable side dishes!

Trying new recipes has been pretty fun...for most of us.  Joshua really hasn't been very thrilled with many of the meals, but he knows that he has to at least try everything on his plate.  He doesn't always do it with a smile.  And he doesn't always do it quickly.  In fact, he often takes his own sweet time--most likely in the hopes that we will lose track of what he has tried and what he hasn't.

Here is one of those beautiful side dishes that was so much fun to make but didn't go over very well.

Spinach with Orange Zest

Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a large saucepan; add one teaspoon orange zest.

Add one bag of spinach to pan in small batches until the spinach is slightly wilted.

Remove from heat; add three tablespoons orange juice and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Toss gently.

Carrie was my kitchen helper last week, so she helped me out with zesting and juicing the oranges.  I've never, ever zested an orange.  Carrie saw it done on some cooking show, so she is the one who always volunteers to do it. 

I say "always" like I zest oranges frequently.

I don't.

But when the recipe calls for orange zest, then she's my girl.

See her zesty thing to the right of the glass juice bowl?

It's really just a grater.

Matthew is my self-proclaimed kitchen helper.
I was the first to proclaim him my kitchen helper, but since that very first time, he proclaims it loud and clear.
He likes to be a helper.
When he wants to be.

I don't quite remember why his dinner preparation attire is lacking on this particular afternoon.
Most likely an after-nap kind of accident.
Not sure.
Not unusual.

Mmmmm...
A sip of juice from a real live orange and not a box with a straw!
Mmmmm...

Hey!  There's something that boxes of Juicy Juice don't do!  That orange is talking to me!

And here is the finished product.

It really was just beautiful...and I thought that the flavor was pretty good...especially the orange juice!  But you know how spinach is.  

It's flavor is a little loud and green.  

We will still have spaghetti, tacos, hamburgers, chili, and meatloaf.

Just not every week.

In that order.

Enjoying the green things,

Movie Magic

William has been learning some 

new things on the computer this week.

After supper last night, he was anxious to show me 

what he can do with my videos.

This is what he showed me....

This makes me laugh!

Thank you, Sweet William!

Enjoying laughter,

At Peace

Have you ever had a time when everything seems to be swirling around you, but you feel totally at peace?  

With the beginning of a new school year smack-dab upon me, it seems like the details of life are endless...all of the things that need to be done are lining themselves up--seemingly on their own--on my to-do list.

You know what I mean.  

I'm sure you've been there yourself.

You may even be asking, "Been there?!  I'm always there!"

Carrie and I attended the Women of Faith convention a couple of weekends ago.  There we enjoyed Sheila Walsh with her beautiful Scottish accent.  She was so easy to listen to...not only because of her accent but because of the Word she proclaimed.

One thing she said really stuck with me.

It went something like this...

The burdens in my life...the weight of my life...had become so heavy that I cried out to Jesus and said, 

"I am going to take You up on Your offer.  

I need to take You up on Your offer!

I want to exchange my burdens for your peace!"

Matthew 11:28-30

 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

I am determined this school year to cry out to Jesus daily and "take Him up on His offer."

I am determined to meet with Him each morning so that I can collect my daily manna and use only that which is for this day!  To see that His mercies are new every morning and that He gives me His strength for this day.

Psalm 143:8

Let the morning bring me word 

of your unfailing love,
   for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
   for to you I entrust my life. 

That, I know, is one of the reasons that I felt so peaceful yesterday.

Another reason is that I am sure that our homeschool group leaders are praying daily for this group and the families involved.  The presence of God was something very powerful yesterday as the children met as a group yesterday afternoon.

It began with a picnic outside of our new host church.

Peacefulness seen in the warm sunshine filtering through the shade of a big old tree...

Peacefulness in a little boy's voice expressing thanks, "Thank you for bringing me here, Mommy.  Thank you for my crunchy strawberry sandwich (he is a strawberry jelly on crunchy peanut butter sort of guy)."

Peacefulness in that smile...

and that one...

and that one...

 Peacefulness in watching your kids mingle with other kids who love and accept them.

After lunch we went inside to enjoy
the Utopia Wildlife program.

Utopia Wildlife rehabilitates wildlife and educates the public about wild animals.

My pictures are not the best...I couldn't figure out how to get a good one.

No flash=blurry.

Flash=too dark.

Here is a Screech Owl.

Did you know that they don't really screech?

This was William's favorite (along with the opossum).  He loved its great big eyes.

Here's the Barn Owl.  

Did you know that he can hear a mouse's heartbeat 

under a foot of snow?!

Amazing.

And the Red-Tailed Hawk.

Did you know that most of the time he stays in one location to hunt for food?

He can see movement as small as a child's eyebrows moving way across the room from him.

Ah...the Peregrine Falcon.

Did you know that they enjoy eating smaller birds?

Like pigeons?

Sometimes they attack the pigeon with such force that they knock their heads off.

So...if you ever see a pigeon's head just lying on the sidewalk, 

that would be the work of the Peregrine Falcon.

This particular falcon has killed two of its mates.

It no longer shares its cage.
Life lesson, I think.

Josh moved to the front row so that he could see the animals up close.

Matthew wasn't interested in getting closer.  He tried it, but he soon came back and sat on my lap.

It might have had something to do with the talk of head-snapping.

Funny thing.

When this animal came out of its crate, I said, "Oh!  I don't like 'possums!" 

When I see them at the side of the road...or in the middle of the road, my toes draw in--they actually curl up.

It just happens.

They are so creepy!

But this one?

I actually thought it was kind of cute.

So did the kids.  The 'possum won "favorite animal of the afternoon."

Did you know that 'possums don't play dead on purpose?

They actually faint "dead away" from fear.

They can be out for up to four hours!

Don't hurry too quickly to make 'Possum Stew from that road kill you found this afternoon.

Another life lesson.

Enough with the 'possum.

"Teach me to snap, Mom."

We now have a snapper in the family.

Practice makes perfect. 

Enjoying peace...and life lessons...and snapping 3-year old fingers,

Papa Bear

The threats began years ago.

I believe they began the moment I asked Paul, "Well?!  Is it a boy or a girl?!"

He jumped and asked, "What is it?!"

The doctor said, "It's a little girl."

That did it.

The wheels in this Daddy's head started turning.

There would come a day when his Baby Girl would be old enough to turn the heads of...BOYS!

The threats I'm talking about?

"We'll see how far a boy gets when he has to walk past me cleanin' my gun on the front porch.  

Yeah.  We'll see."

Just recently, Paul has taken up an interest in his guns.

Call me crazy, but I think that it might have something to do with said 15 1/2 year old Baby Girl.

This is how I found him one day this summer...

Is it a coincidence that his interest in guns kindles up again at the moment that his daughter is only 180 days away from her Sixteenth Birthday?

On the front porch?

I think not...

What have I to say about this new obsession?

I say, "Don't mess with Papa Bear."

Enjoying her man,

Here. We. Go.

My annual last day of August chant has begun...

"Where did the summer go?! Where did the summer go?! Where did the summer go?!"

Monday evening was our homeschool group's mandatory meeting...the real kick-off to our school year.
(deep breath)
Praise team for Carrie and William has moved back to its school year schedule of Tuesday evening practice.
(deep breath)
Our homeschool group begins meeting this Thursday.
(deep breath)
William's robotics team had its first meeting yesterday afternoon.
(deep breath)
Carrie will begin basketball in just two weeks.
(deep breath)
All curriculum has been ordered and delivered.
(brown paper bag...hyperventilating!)

Our official first day of school is Monday. We'll celebrate the beginning of our new school year with our annual "First Day of School Tea Party." Can I still call it annual if we missed last year's party? It was the first year since we started homeschooling that we didn't have a tea party. Carrie and William went to the Grand Canyon with Grandma and Grandpa, and, although I intended on having it later in the school year, it never happened.

So we are pushing the reset button this year! It will be our tenth tea party as we begin our eleventh year of homeschooling.
It's very important that we celebrate big this year since Joshua is beginning kindergarten!

KINDERGARTEN?!
And did I mention that Carrie is a sophomore and William is an 8th grader?!

Where has the time gone?! Where has the time gone?! Where has the time gone?!
(Where did I set that brown paper bag?!)

Can I show this to you while I'm thinking about it...and while I'm teary-eyed anyway?



Seriously?
That was ten years ago at our very first tea party!
TEN!
Carrie was a kindergartener and William was Matthew's age...3!

Time really does fly by.
It's a thought that I linger over far too often, I'm sure.

So...

Goodbye lazy days of summer.

Goodbye unscheduled days.

Goodbye staying up until 10:00 (that really is late for me).

Goodbye staying in my jammies until 4:00 before Paul walks in the door, and I run to the closet in search of my clothes so that it looks like I didn't spend the entire day in my jammies (O.K., so maybe I'm not really saying goodbye to that...).

And...

Hello to regular activities.

Hello to scheduled days (I thrive when my days are scheduled).

Hello to early bedtime (I won't say what time, because you will laugh).

Hello to telling everyone that I actually get dressed every single morning before school because, after all, I am the school teacher and need to set a good example of readiness...and then finding myself having to repent because of the lie I told.

May the 2011-2012 school year begin!

Enjoying the last of summer,

Sleepy Boy

Every afternoon around 1:00, Matthew comes to me and asks for a nice book and his bed.

I love that boy...he speaks my language.

After reading the nice book of his choice, he rolls over and this is the view I see every afternoon around 1:15.



On this particular afternoon, as I was drifting off to sleep next to Matthew, I just knew that I needed a picture of the back of his head. All too soon, he will be too busy and too big to take an afternoon nap with his momma.

When I woke up from my nap, I snuck out of bed and went for my camera.
After a couple of snaps, Matthew started to wake up.



Look how drowsy he looks...



I just love that sleepy, contented smile...a smile framed by lunch crumbs.



As he rolled over onto his back, he seemed to be a little confused.



Who are you?



And what are you doing?



Oh! It's you, Mommy!



I see you behind that camera!







Where's my happy bird?



Before nap time that day, something had made Matthew cry.
I can't remember what it was, but I do remember that I gave him my Bluebird of Happiness that I got from Judy many years ago.
He took it to bed with him.

Oh! There it is!



So happy and cozy.



I took this picture for me.
And for the boys.
To remind us that a clean bedroom really can be a reality.
And to remind them of how much they enjoy a clean bedroom.
This cleaning project was the "dump everything out of your room except the furniture and anything that is plugged in and start over" kind of project.
It took us almost one week to complete.



You really don't care if your room is messy or clean, do you?
I love you, Sleepy Boy.



Enjoying clean rooms and sleepy smiles,