Time flies...........

To finish that phrase, When you're having fun!!! The last two weeks have been rahther crazy!! Not that I am complaining because we have had a great deal of fun. I thank the Lord that I have a schedule now. I feel more like myself than I ever have since school ended last spring!! The children had a great summer and with homeschooling, summer continues all year really. We started school last week and while the children have been more resistant to their schedule, they have worked very hard on their schoolwork and their chores. We have also incorporated music lessons this year!! WHAT!! A music teacher teaching their OWN children music???? That's insane, you're probably thinking!! Well, maybe but I have really prayed about this and I know it would be easier for me to pay someone to teach them but, quite frankly, I do not know a better music teacher than myself! So there! I said it: I can teach my children better than someone else who charges $25.00 a HALF hour and in some cases doesn't even have a music degree!!!!! And so after much prayer and deliberation over how to accomplish this feat without losing my mind, Maddie, Robert, and Lindsay have all chosen instruments. Maddie chose the trumpet (oh joy!), Robert chose the recorder, and Lindsay chose the piano. They practice their music right after breakfast. And so far, God has really blessed us even though it's only been two weeks. I wake the gang up at 6:30 and they do their Bible video. Then we eat breakfast, music lessons, AWANA (when it starts), chores, then a few lessons in school. Break til 2:00pm, and school gets finished. Back to music: The little girls and I practice singing. I know that's scary for me since I am such a wonderfully trained singer!! Just kidding - I can not sing my way out of a paper bag; and just recently discovered that our Maddie, who has the voice of an opera singer (not kidding here) has been singing "like" me because she thinks that's how she's "supposed" to sing because it's all she's heard all her life. So we had a little chat and she is back to her crystal clear beautiful singing. Anyway, Beaker, Beatrice, and I sing Bible songs. This is their all time favorite that I finally got the words from a friend:

The devil is a sly old fox,

If I could catch him I'd throw him in a box,

Put him in a box and throw away the key,

So he won't play his tricks on me!

Anyway, I know: More pictures and less chatting. I can't really remember much about last week as it was a lot of school. Robert and Mr. Handsome went camping on Friday through Saturday. They had fun and Robert won a prize for catching the largest fish of the day: a 12 inch bass. He told everyone it was four feet wide!

Here is Lindsay with TWO missing teeth now. I pulled the other one out somewhere last week. It was in our bathroom. She is being silly! Surprise!!

Here she is with said tooth!!

I can't post enough pictures of Little A. He is almost as cute as our children!! :) WE all love him. He never cries for us in the nursery (That's because he loves Mr. Handsome - well, who doesn't??)

 These cupcakes were made for one of Beakers' little friends' birthday parties. It was at the railroad museum. His aunts made them. I think they are waaaaaay better than anything you could actually buy!!! The ladies at our church are so talented. I thank the Lord for them! :)

 In these photos you will see Beatrice trying to be Mommy two brothers from our church. They are so cute and they really do like Bea. She is just a bit smothery!!!! 

 The little fella on the right is one of Beaker's nursery buddies.

 Here's the smothery part!! ha ha ha ha haaa..... Aren't they cute?????  Get me away from this crazy insane kindergartener who's trying to be my Mommy!!!! Well, maybe they're not actually thinking THAT but it appears that way!! 

 What is a birthday party without Little A? Doesn't he look cute with his birthday hat?

 Here is one of my curtains. I think I am going to have to shorten it. I have one panel made for the bay windows. Three more to go. 

 This is what happens when I ask one of my dear friends for bows. She makes them and gave me a bag full!!! Needless to say, Beatrice and Beaker have no self restraint. Bea even wanted them on the back of her head.

 Beaker didn't want her picture taken at all!! She is pushing me away!

 Our only two photos from Jungle Rapids! 

What would life be like without a pez dachsund? 

And just in case you ever wondered what happens when three of your children jump on you in your favorite, beat up, recliner? YES!! It tips over!! Mr. Handsome showing his smooth operatorness!! :)

Some other things we did last week were attend a 50th anniversary party for a couple from our church. They are such a terrific testimony!!! We had a speaker who came to speak on the inerrancy, infallibility, and inspiration of the Bible, specifically the King James Bible. He was great. He went through a history of the Bible, too. He is also the son-in-law of my favorite author on the subject, G.A. Riplinger. http://www.avpublications.com/ is her website. She has done exhaustive research on the matter and makes it evident in just a cursory reading of her material that the new "versions" are not accurate and deliberately change what God has said with the intent to deceive. But don't take my word, or Mrs. Riplinger's word: Check for yourself!!! That's how I found out. If I didn't have people in my life who handed me a Bible and said, "You can understand this with the help of the Holy Spirit in your life", I never would have known I don't need Greek and Hebrew or a Ph.D. in Divinity!! If God made salvation accessible to EVERYONE, wouldn't He also make His Word accessible to EVERYONE too? Sure He did!!! :)

I feel like my one of my children has left the nest

I am going to start with today and work backwards because it was such a bittersweet day. It was sad because we said goodbye in high style to one of our serviceman who is heading out to Afghanistan. He will be there a year I think. We are going to pray for him everyday and hope that God uses him while he's over there. The bittersweet day was saying goodbye to one of my friends' daughters who I have known since she was younger than our Maddie. I was her flute teacher for a number of years and she is probably one of the most talented and intelligent kids I have ever met. She is heading to North Carolina School of Math and Science in Durham. It is only a two hour drive but it feels like it's going to be worlds away. She has been such a blessing to our family. She and her family arrived at  our church I think seven years ago with our newly formed Korean ministry. They are one of the original families and she grew up in our church. I couldn't even play my saxophone during the offering because it was right before it that it hit me that I would not be seeing her every service!! I felt like I was letting one of my children go!! Ha! And her mom is so dear to me. I know she will miss her. But, without further ado, here we are trying to be happy!

Here she is with her Mom!! :)

Here we are acting happy!!

Not sure what Beaker was thinking here but she thought she knew how to use chopsticks!!! Well, she was eating some Korean noodles. I guess that makes sense. 

Yesterday was quite a busy day. We had a birthday party for a dear friend's husband who turned 80!! They are a terrific couple and we think so much of them. In fact, Beatrice thought so much of them, she spent all day finding just the right outfit. With a little help from me, we settled on one that matched her shoes. I know, what was I thinking? MY shoes didn't even match MY outfit today!

Beaker and Beatrice helping open presents!!

Here we are listening to the singing bear. He was very cute!!

Here is our friend opening the presents from the children. Notice the Dollar Tree flip flops under his arm!! And the eraser, which was from me, says "for REALLY BIG mistakes!" ha ha ha ha....

You can just make out Beaker under the blue package. She is shoving the present at our friend. He must be moving too slow for her!!

I love this photo of Beatrice and Beaker helping out. Our friend received a priceless gift; Navy pins from the 1700s given by a friend of his. They were pretty amazing. He was in the Navy many moons ago.

 This is a very important photo! Lindsay made me PULL her tooth out AT the party. Our friends got such a kick out of it, they brought her $.50 this morning at church! My children think that since the mom on "Table for Twelve" pulls her childrens' teeth out, I ought to do it to. I am getting used to it. Thankfully, I have a lot of teeth to pull and the queasiness is going away.

Kristine and Robert relaxing.

The above two photos are Beaker's attempt at abstract art I guess. She used her allowance money to buy playdoh. 

We spent our day Friday shopping for school supplies. We start tomorrow. It was a fun day. It started at 8:30 and we arrived back home at 1:45. Our stops included, but not necessarily in the proper order: Walmart, Kohl's, Used Bookstore, Belk, Staples, Le Target,  Chick-fil-a with our friends, Dollar Tree, and probably a couple others but I can't remember. God blessed us because I was able to get all the children shoes for $53.95 at Kohl's and earn a $10.00 Kohl's bucks giftcard. I was very excited because I don't use their credit card and I got it without using the credit card. We saved $116.00! The rest of the week was spent recovering from minor surgery. I definitely don't like anesthesia. On a good note, I found out after I got home that the Great Oz has  problems with anesthesia so I felt a bit consoled knowing that I inherited it honest. Nothing serious but not very comfortable.

Looking forward to a great week starting school!! The children are very excited to start. I am excited to see how God blesses them this year. We thank the Lord we can homeschool our children. It is a real blessing. I better get my phone ready for first day of school photos.

What a day!

I just wanted to show off our chore card organizer I made today. We are starting school Monday and I desperately needed to figure out a way to store our chore cards without them being scattered all over the house. So here it is:

This is two fat quarters and three 4" strips of green fabric. The green fabric was my Grandma Jones' fabric so I am excited to use it on this. One fat quarter is the background - I had to add the strips because we have five children. If you have four or less you only need the fat quarter. The second fat quarter was used for the pockets. I accidentally chose stripes but they worked to my advantage for measuring purposes. The only time I needed a ruler was dividing the large pocket into three small pockets. After I made it, I realized I didn't monogram each row - but they each have different color cards. If you are interested in the chore pack system, go to:

http://titus2.com/  Putting webpages in my blog are new to me so I don't think this looks right. But this is a great system and easy to use. It takes a little time the first time you do it but it's well worth the effort.

I realized that I did not have any EXTRA pockets!!! So I sewed a secret pocket on the back to keep extra cards in. And hopefully keep Beaker out of them!!

Here is one of the pouches I made to keep the cards in while the children do their chores. We have tried various methods to no avail. They all failed - miserably. The biggest problem was that they would take them off pretty easily without thinking and then forget about them. This is wrapped around their shoulder and waist. 

My brainstorm arrived at a time where I realized I was running out to the store to buy something for every little thing I needed to get done. I was being manipulated by marketing!!! So, after pondering my other options - wood (for which I would have to buy hooks, nails, screw, sandpaper, paint, etc. to make and decorate. Plus, I would have to use electronic power equipment, which I am not sure would be considered safe in my hands), paper (would tear too easily and get trashed rather quickly by exuberant children) and plastic (PLASTIC???? WHAT?? How in the world would THAT work?). So then I remembered that I had lots of fabric, it's sturdy, it's difficult to tear up, it will last and I thought I could do it without buying a thing. AND I did!!! 

This is the way it should be!

Well, my family is back together. This is the way it should be. The Gang (our dear children) had a great week at Camp Grandma/Grandpa. And Mr. Handsome said Grandma and Grandpa were pretty tired but had a great time. My week was a whirlwind of activity, which you will actually see in some photos. And Taylor even sent some photos of the children, too!! My week began, of course on Sunday in church!!

On Monday, the children were beside themselves with excitement. We did get to eat lunch at IHOP with Dorothy and the cousins and Aunt Erin which was fun. I finally had their funnel cake which was eh! I thought it would be better but it was OK. Should have gone with crepes. They tasted like they were microwaved. Then we went home and finished packing. Mr. Handsomes' parents arrived and it was bedlam!!! They were back on the road within forty minutes and my house was quiet. At this juncture, one would think that it would be wise to take a nap. Not ME!! I began feverishly cleaning Beatrice and Lindsay's room. It took me 1.5 hours!! Can you believe it? If I did that while the Gang was home, it would take me three weeks!!! I found lots of "lost" stuff that belonged to Maddie, Robert, and Beaker! Their room looks great now. And I think it's set up so it will be a lot easier to keep neat.

Next was Maddie's room. She did all the difficult stuff. So her room took about 2 hours, I guess. I remember when we first realized she was a hoarder. It was so difficult for me to even imagine a child, A CHILD, hoarder!! Taylor sat her down and talked with her and explained to her that we don't save candy wrappers, empty tissue boxes, pencil erasers that have been chewed off, oh add any imaginable thing that is trash here and she probably had it. She was just devastated and begged and pleaded for us to keep her "stuff". Well, Mr. Handsome prayed with her and we asked the Lord to help her overcome this stumbling block. And He blessed her!!! She was very distressed when we cleaned her room after the Talk but we have really tried to give her the leeway to decide what is trash and she has come downstairs when she does a deep cleaning carrying about 2-3 trash bags sometimes!!! This time I had three but I found drawers filled with stuff she just didn't feel like throwing out. And she loves her room now. She gets this penchant honest - from me. But by the grace of God, I have gotten soooooo much better!!! And as a homeschooler, I can tell you, it's really hard not to save EVERY little scrap of something!!

Mr. Handsome and I went to Andy's for dinner. Tuesday was a fun day, too. VERY busy!! I got to go to my favorite fabric store, Mill Outlet Village, and walk around by myself!! I even bought some fabric because I could. We ate at home Tuesday night then I got to go out on visitation with Mr. Handsome and what a blessing that was!!!

Wednesday was the BIIIIIIGGGGGG day!! Yup, BIG, I mean really BIG. We started painting my friends' daughter's room. Her room is the same color as my kitchen!! I painted for about an hour or so, then headed to the nursing home. My friends' husband left us oil based paint = HUGE fumes!!! And we didn't know so we kept the door and window shut while we painted. Needless to say, we were feeling fine for a couple of hours. When we realized what happened, we immediately opened the windows!! And my southern accent was better than a Southerner!! Ha ha ha ha ha!!! :) Anyway, I had a great time at the nursing home but the residents really missed the Gang. After that I went back to said friend's house and we put the green paint on the walls. I then skittered out to another friend who had a catherization in the morning and brought her and her husband some dinner. They are such a sweet couple. I have known her for about 14 years. We had a great talk about the Bible and the Lord gave me the opportunity to talk with her husband about Scriptural inerrancy. What a blessing that was!!! I love to talk about my Bible. Anyway, after church, Mr. Handsome took me to Oreti Cicchetti - say that five times fast!! It was fabuloso!! I had, for an appetizer, sheep's milk cheese with apricot preserves and for dinner I had butternut squash ravioli with sage and browned butter. Yummo, as Rachel Ray would say!!

On Thursday morning we finished the second coat of green paint, all of us went home, got washed up, ate lunch, and then we headed out to visit a dear friend bringing a basket-o-goodies!! It was a great time of visiting. After that I headed home and started putting the binding on Beatrice's quilt. I did not know what I was doing so the first side is wingy. Mr. Handsome came home and we went to Indochine. It was good but not as good as Bento Box. I had a vegetarian dish with crunchy noodles. Too much sauce on it really.

Friday was my shopping day. I didn't get any extraneous stuff!!! Wee heeee.... AND my last full "free" day. Mr. Handsome set out to get the Gang. They arrived home happily and safely Saturday evening. Here are the photos, in no particular order because I was too lazy to put them in order!!

Here is Taylor's cousin (Holding dog), his Mom behind his left shoulder, our niece, to his left, and Mr. Handsome's mom, in black tank top.

Here they are again sans mother-in-law!

Here is the Gang at Taylors' aunt's ice cream stand an produce stand. Homemade ice cream, anyone?

Some people forget that they are not big Norges!!! We worked very hard on my friend's daughter's room.

Here is our friend's cat, being naughty. He was showing us his trapeze skills!! His name is Paul Anka. Not kidding. I would have at least named him Glenn Miller or Tommy Dorsey or something!!! He is a very cute cat though. And very friendly. He even obeys!!

Mr. Handsome at Indochine

Me, in one of my Sunday afternoon skirts - wich you can't see because the table is in the way.

A little bib-ito I made. They were fun so i went on a rampage and made six for some of the babies I know!!! They are going to be stylin'!!! :)

My Sunday afternoon skirt Number 3. I whip it up in an afternoon!!!! I know ou want one.

Skirt number two. I gave skirt Numer one away because it was too big.

A little bib-ito for one of the baby girls in our life!

Thsi is my grumpy old man bib but I gave it to the baby girl. It just didn't look boyish enough.

Flames and planes for one of the boys.

Pinwheel flames and planes.

Beaker trying out for Toddlers and Tiaras - NOT!!!

Skirt number four. This is my favorite but my most frustrating. Ruffles were supposed to be the trim but it did not work out that way. I picked a fabric that had texture, so the trim is just plain. I'm just as glad  - could you see me in ruffles? Seriously. Think about that for a minute before you laugh out loud!!!

No time for crafting today!

The Gang left happily and quickly today for Camp Grandma/Grandpa. I didn't let any grass grow under my feet either. I cleaned out Beatrice and Lindsay's room, top to bottom!! It doesn't even look the same. You can actually see their beds! Our children love blankets but I put most of them in the closet since it's been a bit warm lately. After their room, I headed upstairs to clean Maddie's. Hers was not too bad. She did most of the difficult work, but I did empty out her craft cabinet. YIKES!! So that's where she's been putting her stuff she doesn't feel like sorting through. It is nearly empty now. Tomorrow I am going to be emptying out a bookshelf and Mr. Handsome will move it upstairs for me so I can load it with Maddie's books. She loves books. Really loves them. Like Beaker likes Mankie and Pat Pat, and Beatrice loves Coiner. Maddie walked out of the house straight to Grandma's van with an armload of books because I think she was really going to miss them. Keep in mind, she also has a nook, thanks to Dorothy and the Great Oz, which has about twenty books on it! I miss my children but I am thrilled they are going to have fun. They will also get to see their cousins, whom they adore!! Beaker talks about Awya  (Sawyer) all the time!!

Camp Grandma/Grandpa 2011

Last week was a great week, as usual!! Maddie, Robert, and Lindsay went to day camp. Lindsay and Robert enjoyed it but Maddie wasn't too thrilled with it. She liked the crafts but they played tennis, golf, and swam. Maddie decided right away that tennis and golf were not for her! I heartily agree, although I can handle a round of golf every now and then. I'm not very good but it's pretty fun to knock a little ball all over the place. While they were in camp, some friends came over and helped me paint our kitchen. It took us a day and a half. I went to the nursing home myself and brought my saxophone. While everyone liked my saxophone playing, they were rather disappointed the children were not with me. But I did get to talk to some of the people without having little kids jumping all over me. Thursday was knitting and crocheting. And Friday we went swimming and took a special trip to Sweet and Sassy!!! Yup, a two year old and a five year old getting a mini-mani. My sister-in-law came along and brought her daughter, who is two as well. The girls had a great time. 

My niece!

I told her to say CHEESE!!! Ha ha ha ha ha!!

Beaker getting her nails done.

See how pretty she looks!!!

Beatrice's turn! I think she's a bit tired - I caught her in the middle of a yawn.

The attendant (or whatever they're called) added hearts and stars to their cheeks.

A bit out of order here - Bea getting the finishing touches done!

Beaker was very proud of her star and heart!

My week ended with canning. A friend came over and we canned about 50-60 pints of tomatoes. It was great fun and she was a great worker, too!! No pictures. My camera (not my phone) is broken. I think it will still take photos but not sure.

This week is VERY exciting and I probably won't have much to write next week. For the first time in, well, since I've had Madeline, I am going to be home at my house by myself with no children for a WHOLE week!! From Monday afternoon until Saturday sometime!!! Mr. Handsome's parents are coming tomorrow to get the Gang and bring them to Eagle Springs!! Don't worry - no bonbons and soap operas for me!! It's all work work work!! Cleaning toys, sorting clothes, straightening rooms!! Yay!! AND helping a friend paint! And visiting a couple people I don't get to see with the children. Doing something totally exciting with Mr. Handsome: I am going on visitation!!! I am sooooooo excited about that!! We get to go TOGETHER!! It has been quite some time since we have been able to go on visitation together. Probably 4-5 years, I guess!! I have already started praying that God would go before us and plan our visits. Wednesday is nursing home day. And painting. Thursday is egg pickup, painting, and knitting and crocheting. One of my friends and her family is going to Busch Gardens this week, so we won't see them until Sunday. Friday I am going to lunch at IHOP with a friend. I already know what I"m getting - funnel cakes!!!

Here is one of the shirts my brother made for the Gang's trip to Grandma and Grandpa's. Robert's is red shirt with black lettering. 

 I have said how talented our Maddie is in the past (her sisters and brother follow in her footsteps!) and here is a cute example. Dorothy gave her a dessert decorating book and she made an edible chicken from candy clay. It was so cute!! Notice I used the past tense because we gobbled those chickies up in no time flat!! Way better than peeps. She even dyed coconut to make little nests for them. She also made chocolate peanut butter bars and lemon squares this week. I need to teach her how to make bread, I believe!!

Until we meet again, don't know where, dont' know when........... :)

Some things can't be left undone

I usually post once a week but could not pass up the opportunity to show off our painting skills!! God really blessed us. I could not have accomplished it without their help and exhortation! The color is wonderful and it just happens to match closely with my friends' husband's shirt:

 Here is one of the walls with the main fabric for the curtains. I have not settled on a complimentary pattern yet. The jury's still out. We (my friends and I - Mr. Handsome is not very interested although he loves the kitchen - he's so sweet!!) will have to hash it out next week I guess.

When the children clean the kitchen they are also responsible for putting away leftovers. I have dubbed this "Carrothenge"!!!! :)