1st Birthday of the Year award goes to.......

Nathanael!  Otherwise known as Nate the Great.  Nate, my 3rd son, and fourth child,  

was my first homebirth.....6 years ago. 

Really?  It's not fair that time goes so fast.  

Wasn't this just yesterday?  

Well, I can't escape reality.  He's six years old, and loves cowboy boots so much that I'm not sure what we'll do this summer when it's time to wear shorts.  Can you get away with wearing cowboy boots with shorts when you are six?  Since his old pair were quite worn out, we thought that a new pair would be just the thing to get him for his birthday.  Rob left work for a bit to meet me at 

West of Ole England to help him pick out a new pair.  A quick, but fun excursion.  

As per Nate's request, his birthday dinner menu looked like this:  

hot dogs

hamburgers

chips

cake

icecream

Dr. Pepper

Mommy added:  baked beans

baked potato salad

Healthy, huh?  Nate also ordered a lemon flavored cake with white icing, monster trucks and cars.  Thank goodness for Google!  I got some ideas in no time as to how to put that cake all together.  

And thus begins the birthday season!  Next up?  Me!  :-)  I used to be first.....

Crafty Classroom Giveaway!

The Crafty Classroom has a wonderful giveaway this week!  While you are visiting her blog, be sure to check out all her fun ideas and homeschooling hints.  This site has a wealth of information and it'll quickly be one of your favorites! 

Here's what she is giving away:

A program for 2-3 year olds. It uses colorful books, songs, games and activities about animals to introduce the alphabet, numbers, shapes & colors. This program is designed to excite your child about school. Each day has different ideas to keep your child busy as well as the flexibility to work at your own pace. Bible time will introduce creation and other Bible stories that will give a Biblical foundation. You will also learn some Biblical characteristics by looking at animals

Secondly,

A homeschool program targeting students in K3-K5. The programs Biblical focus is on the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians. The student will learn Bible verses and stories that teach different “fruit” and character qualities. In this program the student will master letter sounds using a vertical phonics approach. Math concepts cover counting, number recognition, colors and shapes, measurement, ordering, and more.
They will explore the body, nutrition and healthy habits for science. Each lesson tries to target different learning styles. There is a variety of different worksheets and activities to keep learning fun and engaging. There are “Bigger Step” options for those students who are ready to do some book work and are ready to read.

Lastly,

A program developed when a homeschool mom couldn’t find a cursive program that she was 100% satisfied with. As a result, The Joy of Handwriting was born. She took the best methods and ideas that she thought would work best and developed a program that is high quality and easy to use with kindergarteners as well as older elementary students. After having such good success with her own kindergarten student she wanted to make it available for others to try. The program was originally developed for cursive handwriting, but updated with a manuscript version

Good luck!

Why Bother?

I have hesitated to blog lately for many reasons.  The first reason being:  there are tons of blogs on the net to fit all kinds of personalities.  The blogs I love to click through happen to be along the lines of

inspirational like this one,

crafty blogs like this one,

or food blogs,  like this, for example.  

While I love reading blogs, and I do like to blog, I still hesitate.  Why?  The question for me, is 'Why Bother'?  With so many top notch blogs out there, who needs mine?  Another reason I hesitate (and it's a big one for me) is I don't want anyone reading this to think I'm bragging about where I have been with my kids, what I made for dinner or what crafty thingy I have made lately.  Truth is, I'm NOT crafty!  I just happen to love copying OTHER people's craftiness!    I love finding new ideas for cooking.  And I love passing it all on because, let's face it....worn out moms like me need all the inspiration we can find!  So, I may not have beautiful words of wisdom, or an original thought in my head, but what I do glean, I pass on to you.  It's not about me.  Please believe me!  I guess my blog is sort of like my journal.  I find great ideas for life and I need to remember them and pass them on.  

OK.  I DO have ONE GOOD reason for blogging.  My Mother!  She loves to keep updated on her grand kids, and this is a great way to do that for her.  So, for that reason alone, I'll keep at this.  :-)  And hope and pray that nobody takes this blog as my "bragging page".  'Cause it certainly isn't meant to be that.  :-)  :-)  OK?  :-)

Whew!  Guess what?  My sister and her 5 beautiful children are coming for a visit very soon!  I'm beside myself with excitement!  I can't wait to hug her neck and all the nephews and nieces, too, of course!  We have plans.  Yup!  One of those is to get all 10 of our children together for a NICE cousin photo.  (Nice meaning no dirty fingers or faces, combed hair and .....matching outfits.  

Well, ok, matching shirts, anyway.  I lucked out at Old Navy with cheap polo's and free shipping.  Since I typically buy new polo's for my boys for Easter, I figured the shirts can do double duty.  Cousin photo AND Easter.  'Cause they were so cheap, I outfitted my nephews with some snazzy matching polo's as well.  Still have to figure out what the 3 girls will wear.  

 Photo location: thinking of the possibilities.  Here are a few choices for a green location.  

Which location is your favorite? 

Happy Monday!

I ended up having today off work and I thoroughly enjoyed it!  I usually work from 2pm-11pm on Mondays, and it always feels like a bad way to start the week of homeschooling.  Not today!  Today was relaxing and fun!  And I have a photo to prove it! 

Happy President's Day!

Meet....

...Gary!  (What ELSE do you name a snail, but Gary?)

Doesn't God make the perfect things to occupy little boy's time?

....snips and snails and puppy dogs tails....