Daniel Turns 8

We celebrated 8 years of Daniel-goodness last week! Family Birthday 4 of 5 over a 20 day span (including the dog and Jesus).

He's had a great couple of weeks enjoying new toys and playing with cousins!

He's kind of gotten a drawn out celebration which included presents at the grandparent's on the 24th & 27th and will end with a party with some friends on Jan. 7th. He really knows how to stretch an event out, doesn't he?

He requested grill cheese for every meal, but we talked him into only one. He really wanted his special Daniel birthday lunch made especially by Gracie just for him.

Okay, I was attempting to make 2 Lego bricks for his cake. It was a genius idea. Each cake had 8 little chocolate mini-muffins for the top. It was going to be cute. But guess what? SOMEBODY ate 10 of the muffins before I could put them on. :( It turned out kind of a flop, but nobody cared. Daniel'd rather have chocolate ice cream anyway.

Happy Happy Birthday to a boy who is growing WAY too fast!

Some Fun Things We're Giving -

Merry Christmas! I am pre-writing this post because I am at this moment enjoying a fun (probably very early starting) Christmas Day with my family. I always want to show some of our cool homemade Christmas projects before Christmas as we are working on them- but I can't give away the surprise! So here's a quick peek at just a couple of the fun things we've wrapped up this year!

This is my husband's family tree. It says "May the light of God surround us, the love of God enfold us. May the power of God protect us, and the presence of God hold us." I guess it's a backwards family tree, starting with my husband's grandparents and branching out to the younger generations. I had fun making it anyway, except for that one uncle with the 8 kids (I didn't think I'd squeeze all them in).

This was a fun little bird feeder for my parents. They LOVE feeding the birds at their house. Hopefully this won't scare them all away. My genius husband whipped this up one afternoon out of a sheet of plywood.

For my brother and sister in law; a box of fun mixes and goodies with lots of wooden labels and signs.

The kids really made a lot of fun gifts this year. Ally painted this racoon for my mom & dad - it is pretty big, near life size and weighs alot too. She painted some smaller animals too. I'll have to post on some of her other projects when I have a chance.

Christmas Morning comes early

You have plenty of time for blogging, and pretty much anything else on Christmas when you start your day at 4:19am. WOW! Someday our kids will sleep later maybe. But THIS Christmas will require a nap to make it to evening.Daniel and Byron got each other Nerf guns.

I got an awesome new camera!

Ally got a new softball glove and some great art supplies too.

Gracie got a new bike with gears! She was very excited!

Daniel got a Tony Hawk wii game and a remote control helicopter. It's gonna be a fun day, but its gonna be a mighty long day.

I hope your Christmas is blessed and fun! May your family savor the true meaning of Christmas and draw closer to God through the holiday!

Happy Birthday, Abby

Abby is our now 2 year old yellow lab. Yes, even the dog has a birthday around Christmas. She struggles with weight issues brought on by extreme laziness, and she has issues with compulsive nosiness. We noticed recently she is limping, sitting funny, and really favoring one side. We think she might be developing some hip issues which are common in labs. I guess their joints rub, I'm not sure. So, the vet suggested weight loss and more exercise.

She's a pain being an inside dog - which pretty much means where-ever we go, she goes. Her hair gets everywhere and she has an EXTREMELY sensitive stomach (which means she barfs alot). But, I struggle to admit it - we love her.

Christmas Around the World

We attempted to continue our tradition of learning about Christmas Around the World, but we certainly didn't get far around the world - with just a few stops this year. Our month has just been so crazy, we didn't have a lot of time for extra fun activities.
We did spend a day learning about Japan. We ate some green-colored seaweed noodles with chopsticks just for fun.
There are so many great Christmas Around the World links around the web. I found their fun passports somewhere and a lot of other fun resources.

When Mama's Sick

Southwestern Corn soup $2.50. I don't know why - it just helps.
Battery operated Vick's Sav blowing thing - $7 -
an added bonus it makes this soothing battery operated blower noise = wonderful.

Eggo Waffles $1.50 - A breakfast my kids can make and clean up themselves.

'Course it takes 2 boxes for one morning's breakfast, but so worth it.

Having Kids old enough to fix their own breakfast, function without mom, carry on with housework, and let you sleep 'till 9:30 when you are sick

= ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS.

After a Saturday spent almost totally in bed, I am ALMOST totally recovered from what might have been the worst cold EVER. Maybe I was hit by a ton of bricks or something, I'm not sure. But I am moving toward being back on track! And not a moment too soon - still so much to do!

Where the Jewels Are -Review

Where the Jewels Are is a sweet little book by Diana Symons. It is the first in her new series, Tales from the Throne. My girls are just almost to the point that I think they might be outgrowing most of the princess stories; such a sad thought. I liked this sweet, little book. It would make a great early reader for a 2nd grade-ish girl, or even a good family read aloud to enjoy and discuss with a larger age range of children. The book has a good moral about true friendship, and contains a great example of putting others first in friendships; such an important (and too often neglected) lesson for little girls. The spiritual content is excellent. The book contains strong hints of a Christian allegory, and a Thinking About the Story section at the end that explains about Jesus.

The book has 45 pages, and would be most appropriate for girls ages 5-9. My girls at almost 10 and 13 wanted more details and adventures; they liked the book, but kept wanting the story expanded with more. I had to remind them that it is a fairytale for younger girls.

You can find a neat book trailer video on Diana's website. You can buy the book for only $5.99 HERE. Where the Jewels Are would make a great stocking stuffer or Christmas gift.

Be sure to Add Diana Symons as a Friend on Facebook and follow @kingdompen on Twitter.
(Disclosure: I received this book, free of charge, from Diana Symons, for the purposes of this review.)

Happy 13th Birthday Ally!

Ally turns 13 today! These pictures were taken at my parent's house at an early family party. Today, we are at Great Wolf Lodge celebrating with waterslides and fun! :)
A lot of people dread the teenage years, but we have been looking forward to it for a long time! We love teenagers, especially this one! She is such a fun kid - and she's pretty much the right size to share some of my shoes and clothes! She is such a smart kid and she really has a good view of the world. Most importantly, she has a GREAT walk with the Lord, tremendous faith, and a passion for Jesus. Great inner beauty - and we won't even discuss her outer beauty! That part makes Daddy pretty nervous.
I hope all of her teenage years aren't quite as busy as this season is. She was in Anne of Green Gables last week and did a great job. She played a couple of minor characters, I wish I had a better picture of her in her full costume. She has a tough academic schedule, basketball, youth group, and of course we never take a break from softball. This is the season for learning the vital skills of time management and scheduling.

thirteen cake

Ally loved her Birthday cake! Inspired by Martha Stewart Living magazine. It was super easy too, the M&M cake would be a great solution to a messed up frosting job.

There were a couple of downsides - it didn't really make much cake, and that was ALOT of M&M's on a cake - it was a bit crunchy for my taste. We had to slice diagonal along the M&M rows. The kids loved it and that's what's important.

Family Portrait

Starry Night

My Art Classes painted these great Starry Night paintings! Didn't they do a great job? We used large size Wilton Cakeboards to hold up to the extra thick paint. I also mixed in some puffy t-shirt paint to make the paint thick like Van Gogh's.

Let It Go, Let It Go, Let It Go

Isn't that a beautiful wreath? I still have jalepeno peppers growing in my garden in December. Tons. And this time of year they aren't just green, but REALLY pretty red. They are just beautiful and I have a HUGE pile of them; perfect, colorful- most of the varieties from this picture! Isn't it pretty? Okay, that's not my picture - I pulled it off the web - you can order it for like $50 on Etsy.

So that's my plan - to make them into these really cool Christmasy wreaths - you actually make them and hang them, and then you can use them in recipes as needed directly from the wreath. What a neat Christmas gift, huh?

Okay, I don't really cook with peppers much. I really don't know what to do with the 3 gallons of frozen peppers still in my freezer. The pile of peppers has been sitting on my counter - staring at me -stressing me - making me feel overwhelmed - and scared (after all, did you catch my blog post about the last time I undertook a major pepper project? Ouch!) .

Then I heard God speaking to me from KLOVE. Somebody said when you hear the song "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow" think to yourself - "Let It Go, Let It Go, Let It Go." That's such a great idea! We probably all have things we need to Let Go of this Christmas. What a great idea? I thought, wow, I hope to share that with somebody else when they are stressed!

So, 2 -3 days later I was in the kitchen stressing because I haven't made an actual meal in over a week, thinking through all the projects and events we have going on - when the song came on. Conviction hit me. I smiled and swept the entire pile of peppers into the trash. Ahh. Relief. I can let it go! Peace will reign this Christmas!

Sorry, dears, no super cool pepper wreaths from me this year, but if your interested, I have some frozen ones I can give you.

The Original Christmas Shoes

A few years ago Byron and I went backpacking just before Thanksgiving. We wanted to make a little more than 12 miles a day for 2 days. We were in Arkansas. The terrain was very rocky, but we weren't worried, we have some really great gear. We have ultralight sleeping bags with a 0 degree rating, ultralight everything, gps, ultralight meals sealed in space age packages, water purifier, ultralight campstove, and most importantly really fancy scientifically advanced hiking boots.

After 8 miles up and down over the rocks I was dying. This was WAY different than my treadmill! I didn't tell Byron though; if he can do it, I can do it! Finally he suggested we stop and I agreed, gratefully! We made our camp in the least-rocky spot we could find and crashed. The next morning we HURT everywhere - we had blisters from our fancy boots! Mercy that next day was TOUGH!

It made me think of Mary and Joseph. Now probably they were in better shape than we are! But I can't get over their shoes!
No fancy rubber insole here, no GoreTex, no special $15 moisture absorbing scientific hiking socks, no ankle protection, and no Dr. Scholl's gel insert. These puppies were probably leather possibly with a thin strip of wood on the bottom. Talk about arch support!

The entire journey would've been 93 miles! They probably did 17 to 20 miles a day for 5 days! The last leg of their journey they would've been going along a very rocky path from Jericho to Jerusalem to Bethlehem. Jericho is actually the lowest city on the globe. Jerusalem and Bethlehem are both in the top of the hills - a 3,500 feet climb. Byron and I would take our fancy shoes off for river crossings and put on thin flip-flops and just to walk around on the rocks with them - it is just incredible to think about! Can you imagine 93 miles in sandals? .... And I'd never walk around a donkey in sandals! Do you suppose the donkey ever stepped on his foot?

The movie The Nativity Story really brings this image home with the great scene were they show Joseph's bloody feet. Here is about a 10 minute clip of this section of the movie HERE - the last two minutes of this clip really show the hardships of the trip in what has to be such a realistic picture.

Add to that the concept of doing it all pregnant and it really gives you a new perspective. I'll never forget the feeling I had being pregnant and riding in a rough truck down a bumpy road. My sweet husband was driving about 10mph and I was so miserable! I can not imagine being on a donkey in that condition!

Wouldn't it be a neat Christmas tradition to walk 93 miles every December before Christmas!

Great Christmas Gifts

Other than the normal great gift ideas and neat finds I am always seeing great ideas and a light goes off - there's a tickle in the back of my creative right brain and I know this could be adapted and made into something great. Here's a list of a couple - remind me to revisit this list in June next year.

a scratch off world map -Genius! You scratch off all the places you've been! $14.99. I saw a neat tutorial HERE on the web about how to make your own scratch off stickers with some silver paint. I even bought all the supplies for the project, this would be a great concept to make for a gift. You can make a once a month scratch off present, a Where in the World is Our Family and chart travels for family members, once a month scratch off date surprises, so many possibilities!

The Shalie - neat dress up concept. You probably could make something similar much cheaper, but I love the idea. There is a basic dress and you stick on the dress up parts with velcro to make a "customized look." If I had a little girl on my Christmas list young enough to be into this kind of thing I think I would attempt to create on of these.

NORMAL GIFT IDEAS I love this year - to be purchased, not made:

• The Action Bible see the video HERE - I LOVE this Bible - especially for boys.

• Great Christmas Card HERE from Hallmark - Year in Review - I love it.

• I love to give something that will bless, enrich spiritually. THIS is a great devotional book for a teenager on your list. $9.99 from CBD. It is called Burn This Book and you are literally supposed to burn it when you are done with it. It really calls you out to purify yourself from junk that is not glorifying God - write it in the book, then burn it to signify giving up those things. It addresses everything well, nothing graphic (Ally's doing it now). But it really goes deep to encourage you to be on fire for God and have an obedient heart.

• Mandie books and MOVIES - Great movies, but make them read the books first!
• Animal playsets from Tractor supply. My kids have always liked little people or figures you can move around and play with. Tractor supply has all kinds of these sets, farm, animals, and they are pretty reasonable too.

Review: Learning Workroom

I had the opportunity to review a new CD Software program by http://www.learningworkroom.com/
this week. This company has many different types of these learning CDs available including:

3/4 grade Mathematics
5/6 grade Mathematics
Language Arts & Science

The CD is not an interactive game, but a slide show that explains various learning concepts. It was neat to try and a fun way to mix things up and learn a little differently. This is a really unique CD to have just for enrichment, to go over a difficult concept a different way, or to reinforce a complicated skill. I have one of my students who for math needs to hear a new concept, see a new concept, and have it explained several different times and ways before it really becomes clear.

It is rather hard to isolate one learning concept on the CD for teaching, and since it doesn't follow the curriculum I use, I found it not as easy to use as I had hoped. It is thorough and contains a good table of contents to find the skill you are looking for, it is done as a Power Point show and you can navigate around from page to page by typing the page number +enter.
Here are some sample pages to show you what the CD looks like. The colors are bright and the graphics are pretty good to hold a kid's attention.

Here are lots of ways you can find out more about Learning Workroom -
Purchase a CD-ROM from Learning Workroom HERE: (they sell for $34.95 each)

Sign up for FREE worksheets from Learning Workroom HERE: These are really great.

Follow Learning Workroom’s Blog: http://learningideasgradesk-8.blogspot.com/

Disclosure: I received a Mathmemathics CD from Learning Workroom and MamaBuzz for the purposes of this review.

3 Cute Kids