American Girl Christmas... Dec 2012

A few months ago Emily earned $40.00 dollars to spend at the American Girl Store... we just got around to going a few days ago.  Yes, I understand the wonderful stupid choice of not only waiting so long putting it off and then choosing agonizingly making the choice to go at the height otherwise known as Hades to some people of Christmas shopping!  No, really it was not that bad.  I valet parked for $5.00, which was well worth it! And we really only went to one other store that I needed to go to anyway!  So truly not a bad visit... there were a lot of "temporarily sold out sorry for the inconvience" signs all over the store though!

Dickinson Festival of Lights 2012

We joined a few of the Bay Shore Christian Home Schoolers young adults on a trip to the Dickinson Festival of Lights.  We had a hard time getting there, but once there we had a great time!  The kids got to eat snacks, decorate cookies, cut up, pose for tons of pictures, see about a billions twinkling lights and of course visit Santa!

 

 

and my lovely kids in the tunnel of lights....

Christmas on the prairie...

Emily is reading Little House on the Prairie (((sigh)))

I could not be happier!  I love this series and I love the TV show and I think I could

have been happy living in that time period-- minus wars and adding Sonics!

 

 

The girls started off making a hanker chief doll.

 

You take a piece of material ( a hanker chief if you want!) and fold it in half, stuff about 5-6 cotton balls in the very center (making the head) and tie with string. Next, you tie a section on each side of the head making the arms.  Finally, you add an apron if wanted. 

We actually used the hanker chief part for the apron.

 

Next, we strung popcorn and cranberries on a garland... the girls really seemed to enjoy this. 

I think if I had put on a movie and let them watch while they strung, they would have kept doing it. 

But they were anxious to move onto the next activity.

 

 

We enjoyed a spice cake for a snack and each girl got to take home a spice cake too.

 

and last we used Sharpies ( I KNOW they did not have Sharpies!)

to draw and decorate on porcelain ornaments.  

 

 

 

Yes, those are a few of my Sharpies.  I am a little obsessed.

 

 

 

 

My mom also took Kate and Emily to see A Little House Christmas at Mainstreet Theater

 

Background, L-R: Peter (Chioke Coreathers) and Nick (Curtis
Barber); middle, seated L-R: Ma (Amy Garner Buchanan), Nellie (Claire
Anderson), and Mrs. Oleson (Zona Jane Meyer); front, seated on floor, L-R: Mary
(Lauren Dolk) and Laura (Natalie Pawalek) in A Little House Christmas (2012)
Photo credit: Kaitlyn Walker ( got this photo off the Mainstreet Theater Page.. I have no other link to Kaitlyn Walker)

 

the girls got their picture taken with the cast but I cannot get to those pics right now!  ARRGGG.  :0)

 

I am excited to see Miss Nelson is Missing, in a few weeks... (one of my ALL TIME favorite books as a child)



It's the END of the World as We Know It... NOT.

Hey, guess what the Earth is still spinning.

         

      Heaven and earth shall pass away,

but my words shall not pass away.

But of that day and hour knoweth no man,

no, not the angels of heaven,

but my Father only.

 

Matthew 24:35-36

Wreaths Across America 2012

We went to participate in Wreaths Across America last Saturday.

 This is one of my favorite service projects.  Every grave at the Houston National Cemetery gets a wreath laid on it for Christmas.. such an amazing, reverent sight.  My dad's mother and father are buried there... I never met his dad, as he passed away a few months before I was born.  My Grandmother on the other hand was my favorite person in the world....I loved her so much and still miss her to this day.  I know she would have loved seeing us grow and up and would have adored my kiddoes. 

Okay enough about that!  We were very blessed to get over to their grave site in order to be the ones who laid a wreath on their headstone...

This is a wonderful thing.  So many people come out to participate...there are veterans, boy scouts, ROTC, family members... patriots.  This is something we try to do every year!

How to Make a Cross without Cutting...Demo

MF taught Emily how to make these crosses without cutting.. you fold and tear a section and there is a cross shape!  Emily is AMAZED and has literally I think made about a hundred of them so far!  I convinced the girls that they should make a HOW TO video.. but they could not be convinced so we did a HOW TO picture show instead and they wrote the directions out.

#creativewritingIthinkso,yes!

So they were, BTW, trying to be very serious in the shots-- which turn out looking very unhappy, but I assure you they were having fun.  I tried to tell them to smile, but they said they were giving instructions.. KIND OF made me feel like maybe I need to work on my face while giving instructions!

Step: 1-Get some paper-- thinner works better

Step: 2- Fold the paper diagonally till the top point meets the edge.

Step: 3- make sure the side and point are lined up evenly

Step: 4- make a house shape by folding it diagonally the other way

Step: 5- make sure the points line up again

Step: 6- fold the house in half (with folds towards the inside)

Step: 7- make sure the points line up

Step: 8-turn the "half house" shape upside down

Step: 9- tear the shortest side from top to angle

Step: 10- turn back upside down so the angle is facing up again

Step: 11-once you have it facing up open first fold

Step: 12- open second fold and there is a CROSS!

 

DONE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Menu Monday: 12/17- 12/23

 

 

Monday: chili

 

 

Tuesday: eat out

 

 

Wednesdy: beef tips and rice

 

 

Thursday: enchilada casserole

 

 

Friday: pot stickers and Pad Thai noodles

 

 

Saturday: eat out

 

 

Sunday: eat at moms

 



Tin Can Alley....

Dave took Kate and Matt to the shooting range the other day.. they had a GREAT time in

 

Tin Can Alley.... where you get to shoot things up. 

Yes. They spent over an hour and a half JUST shooting cans and bottles... 

Keepers of the Faith Meeting 6 and 7

Last meeting the girls finished up their quilts.  Yea!

 

 

PLAYED with this Ragamuffin!  

Playing with her sweet homemade rattle (love it... such sweet sisters!)

 

 

They made cards for the nursing home residents. THEY really were into crafting these cards!

 

 

 

And we joined our sweet friends the American Heritage Girls at the nursing home to

carol and pass out our Christmas cards....

 

 

 

 

We had the blessing of seeing a married couple who were in a joint room at the nursing home.. they sat next to each other in matching rocking chairs... IT was such a sweet, sweet picture of what Til' Death Do Us Part means and what an incredible blessing marriage can be between two people.

We kept going past the room to catch another glimpse... simply because it was so meaningful

and sweet.  WE need to see people stay together in this day and age!

The Taste of Texas 2012

 

 

Our pretty, pretty picture...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our psycho, weirdo, strangest kids in the world picture...

 

The Nutcracker...performance and lapbook

We had the pleasure of going to the University of Houston @ Clear Lake to see

a performance of The Nutcracker.

 

 

Before we went the girls, who had never gone, did a lapbook to learn a little

about the storyline and characters.

 

 



Kaitlin's Winter Choir Concert 2012

Here are the girls at their choir Ministry Day...

they sang carols and handed out cards at two separate nursing homes...

 

 Kirsten in JUNIOR CHOIR! So big!

 

Jr. Choir.. they sounded so beautiful!



Kaitlin signing We Wish You a Merry Christmas...

I am so proud of her!

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the girls at their actual choir concert....they did amazing!

 



Zoo Lights 2012

Every year my mom takes us on a Christmas outing.. this year it was Zoo Lights.  We had a great time!  We decided to go early and NOT on a weekend!  It was a great decision... there were not that many people there... we just ambled through the zoo at our own pace.  There were a lot of lights... it was not the same as the light show at Moody Gardens... but was a really good outing. There really weren't any animals out.. for one they had sections of the zoo blocked off and for two it was COLD!  Yes, we picked THE COLDEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR to go on our little outing!

 

 

However I LOVE pictures with everyone bundled all up!

 

 

 

 

Kirsten's Gingerbread was fun.. you got to pick 4 different candies and then decorate it.. there was also funnel cake, candied nuts, beignets, popcorn, hot chocolate, cinnamon rolls... YUM. 

 

 

 

 

 

Love my brother and Matt being gorillas!~  It suits them don't you think?

Emily rode on the back of Kirsten's wheelchair almost the whole time---

 I just like it because I know where she is! 

 

 

 

 

The peacock was my FAVORITE!  It actually lit up one sections of tail feather at a time... so pretty!

 

and the lion drinking fountain ... I do not KNOW how many pictures we have of this as kids! 

 

 

 

The Giraffes were all snug in their home.. but they were one of the only animals you could see.          I didn't mind the giraffes are one of my FAVORITE!

 

 

 

 

and this is one of my favorite pics of the night!  :0)

 

I apparerntly have lots of FAVORITES! 

(that word I don't think it means what she thinks it means)

Play by Play....

Following Brenda's example-- I love to do this every once in a while to also remind myself how things were working at different stages of the kids life!

6:45- wake up.. don't know why but I think Riley was whining (recall what a stupid decision to get a dog was  #iwillneversleepagain

7:00 Dave's alarm goes off and I read email, Face book etc

7:15 Daves alarm goes off again.

7:30 I remind Dave his alarm went off.  Riley fusses again.

7:45 start a load of clothes

7:50 More UN Calls and email replies

8:00 Riley AND three kids are suddenly on my bed... Pandemonium ensues

8:13 remind David that he does actually need to go to work today.

8:30 Dave leaves for work (taking with him a chandelier we are giving away-- YEAH FOR GETTING STUFF OUT OF MY HOUSE!

8:35 I start breakfast (some good ole' Aunt Jemima pancake/ griddle/sausage/egg/cheese/ THINGS)

8:40 remind the kids to start chores

       kids sitting down for breakfast. Matt informs me he likes McDonald's better.. I assure you I     do too but this is a third of the cost.  He makes grimace of understanding.

       also read Brenda's blog post
      
        started working on cleaning up my room which looks like a tornado hit it
       
        continue handing out chores to kids


9:00 start blog post and recapped what all happened SO far this morning!

9:10 Riley goes out again-- eats late breakfast

        I break to eat my breakfast and check facebook/ email again.

       restart dryer!

9:15  cleaning off my table.. FOUND thank you cards that were meant to be mailed in JULY for those who helped during my surgeries! Yes, I did.

9:25 spoiled milk discovered as culprit of smell in Emily's room (I love my children, repeat often)

9:35 read my Bible (trust me it was needed at this point.  :0)

9:45 got invited out for dinner for the second night in a row!  SCORE! 

        kids started school

        returned phone calls

        found Netflix movies to return (those suckers always like to try to make a home here.. I gotta kick them out!)


10:00 Kate and Matt reading, Emily upstairs working on math, Riley sleeping.. the house is perfectly calm and quiet!

10:15 and Riley is up again.  :0)

         coffee time!

          starting to check the backlog of Bible I have for the kids that needs checking!  I sometimes wish I had a teachers helper!

           checked Emily's math-- by George I think she's got it!!!

10:30  spent more time on UN CPRD--- fighting the good fight!

10:45 begin fielding questions from the kids about lunch-- the grocery store is on my lists of HAVE TO DO today!

11:00 okay left for the grocery store!  Kids all working on school work. Emily finishing spelling then working on her room--- spoilt milk and ALL!!

12:20 got home from store, UN Failed TO PASS CONVENTION!  WHOOP WHOOP

         tortinos pizza rolls caught on fire in the oven ( I am not joking)

          had to get Dave the address to take the chandelier

          yes, that was all in five minutes!

12:40 LUNCH break and MR. Poppers Penguins on the big screen 

1:20 Riley came in and her head was bleeding so off the the vet we went

2:15 bought dog food, crickets, dog bones, bird treat and left Petsmart sans a dog (she needed to be worked in for another appointment and we have to pick her up later)

2:25 SONIC TIME BABY

2:40 HOME at last.. brought in all the stuff, and drinks...
 
        Kids had been working on school

         "Lucy the Valiant is dead".. name that partial quote

2:45 I seriously need another Sonic drink

        start new load of laundry and commence working in my room (DAVE can deal with the dead bird when he gets home!)

3:00 started Emily on a bird presentation (reminds her of dead bird and crying ensues....

        she is typing it out on the computer (her new love)

        worked on cleaning out my room

         quizzed the kids on Latin (funny moment Emily asked how to spell second and Kaitlin spelled it out to her in Latin-- not helpful!)

          set up a field trip

          restarted STUPID dryer!

          looked up something on Pinterest and had to STOP myself! 

3:45  researched and then ran the dishwasher with a full box of baking soda and 3 cups of vinegar to attempt to get rid of the mildew yucky smell from when it was broken!!!  Hope the whole chemical reaction thing doesn't come back to bite me!

4:00  still waiting on dishwasher there hasn't been any explosions or stuff flying out!

         started Emily on English-- adjectives! 

4:10  commenced cleaning in my room--- YES it was that messy!

4:30 stopped school and got ready to go pick up Riley ($80.00 cha ching)

4:50 picked up Riley

5:35 Riley is back in our possession and head to moms for dinner (ham, yum)

6:12 get to moms

6:40 start to eat, put Riley in kennel out in garage

         Riley poops and pees in kennel (manages to SOMEHOW not step in the poop, thank you Jesus)

         clean up Riley, sit in floor of garage to calm her down

7:10 eat my now cold ham

7:20 visit with mom and dad-- Riley slightly calmer now until she gets into moms already wrapped presents (thankfully the only thing ruined was a bag with tissue)

8:35 leave moms

9:00 get home. bring in everything. take Riley out. 

        check on dishwasher that smells a lot better than before ... think progress

        restart laundry (this IS a second load because I had Kate change it over at some point today!

AND with that folks I am signing off but....

Riley is still not asleep

I have one kid doing a load of dishes

the other is still up doing something

Emily is getting ready for bed

Dave is NOT home from work yet

my room is still not clean

I need to print stuff for school tomorrow but my ink is ALMOST out

the blinds in our bathroom (the only thing blocking people from NOT seeing us pee) is all the way up because Emily raised it today and I CANNOT get it down!!!!  So I guess we need to replace them and I am fixing to hang up a sheet!


THAT WAS REALLY, and TRULY my day people.

His mercies are new every morning!  I would have added a bunch of cute photos but really I think the day in itself is enough...

       











       

Mystery of History- Vol 1...Week 5

We took our PRE-TEST.

We reviewed MEMORY CARDS and PRE-TEST notebook cards.

Lesson 13- ABRAHAM

we did our MOH color sheet.

We watched JOSEPH. 

We also watched Abraham and Isaac from NEST video's

LESSON- 14- Jacob and Esau

We made a family tree of Abrahams members.

 

We made lentil casserole but Emily is NOT a fan.  :0)

Lesson 15- Joseph

We made our MEMORY CARDS.

The girls made a coat of many colors!

 

We mapped in our geography folder.

WE did our week 5 Excercise-- chronicalogical events

 

Menu Monday

 

 

This week..

Monday-

B-already over!~

L-drive thru Wendy's!

D- roasted chicken/ saffron rice/ peas

Tuesday-

B-@ home sausage biscuits

L-turkey sandwiches/ chips/ grapes

D-beef tips w/ rice

Wednesday-

B-cereal

L-chicken and dumplings with leftover roasted chicken

D-enchilada casserole

Thursday-

B-eggs or cereal

L-sausage and cornbread pancakes

D-out for choir

Friday-

B-cereal

L- taco ring

D- out for choir

Saturday-

B- donuts

L- hot dogs with chips

D- spaghetti bake

Sunday-

B- cinnamon pancakes

L- sandwiches (light lunch because we are doing an early dinner)

D-Taste of Texas

Sunday Sum Up: Week 11 2012-2013

{day 79-83}

We had a pretty productive school week!

 

Lots of english-- doing adjectives which are fun!
 MF said for the first time that

diagramming is fun!

 

Working on holly decorations for our Nutcracker Lapbook

 

I was the recipient of a sweet teachers gift!!!

 

The girls giving a demonstration on how to make a cross without cutting

 

 

 

Our Joseph for Bible and his coat of many colors

 

Still working on birds in science.. the girls loved all the talk about poop!

 

an owl craft!

The girls also are moving ahead in math.. Emily got to actually multiplying in Math U SEE and I told her "ignore Mr. Demi" do it my way and she had a fit.  But once I showed her she just moved right on.... whooosh!  a few more weeks of MUS and on to something else!


Mf finished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Emily finished Little House in the Big Woods and started Little House on the Prairie...

Kate and Matt are plugging along.. we are having to tweak a few things but I hope to get it worked out in the next few weeks and have an even better 2nd semester!  They are doing well though. 

I did a reading assesment on all the kids.... Emily tested out at mid 6th to early 7th grade.  Kate and Matt both tested at mid 10- 11th.  I will say that I was surprised at Emily's and the larger than I imagined jump has made me change some of my reading selections for the next few months.. and Kate and Matt's made me rethink their level on wordly wise.. so I asked them and after discussing it we are moving them up to the next book-- maybe even skipping a book.  If you are only finding a word you don't know OR maybe a secondary meaning for a word you Do know.. a few times in a whole workbook it is TOO easy!