Thankful Thursday "A"

Thankful Thursday this week is the letter "A" America- That I am blessed to have been born and raised in the wonderful country. No matter what our nation goes through we always have the assurance that we are free! Amazing Grace- The song because it is one of my favorites. And when I told the kids that I wanted this song and another played out at my funeral Joshua broke into a dance of "Another One Bites The Dust". It makes me laugh every time I think of this song now. I also choke up at it too. That I have been amazingly given this thing called "grace" every day. Anchovies- Not really, but I was having a hard time with this last last one and thought that there probably aren't very many people that are thankful for anchovies. I tried, really I did, but anchovies kept popping in my head. I have never even tasted an anchovie but I figure someone has to be thankful for them. Okay, now I got one while I was typing the last part of the anchovies sentence. Alpha Omega Academy- My kids have had great times there and have been blessed with some wonderful teachers. Jeremy loves his job there. And, as many times as I have tried to talk about one or both of us doing something different he is sure that that is where he is supposed to be. So, I am thankful that we have such a great atmosphere for him to be able to work in and a place for our children to go when it is time for me to give them up.

Rainy Day Fun

This summer it didn't rain at all and we were in the heat of a draught. This last week it has rained every day. Not hard thunderstorms, but slow rain on and off each day. This is the kind of rain that is fun to play in so, when Brogan and Christian asked if they could play in the rain I said "Absolutely!". They both just looked at me with a puzzled look and asked "Really!?". It was an hour long break from schoolwork and well worth it!

Christian was so cold his lips were blue!

Brogan loved the mud and everything else about being out there!

Muffin Tin Monday- Apples

The theme for Muffin Tin Monday this week was apples.

This fit right along with Christian's letter this week so it worked out great.

We had apple slices with apple butter for dipping, apple sauce, apple juice, a sandwiche cut in the shape of an apple and animal cookies just because they started with our letter A.

We are having a great time with Muffin Tin Mondays and the kids have been looking forward to each one. I would encourage you to check it out. Even if you can't participate every week it is a good treat to do every once in a while. Click on the link on my right sidebar to find out more!

Thankful Thursday "C"

While the kids loved participating in the Super Summer Swap I have enjoyed reading the blogs of the participants moms. They are creative, fun, love their children and have some words of wisdom that seem to come up just when I need to hear them. I have enjoyed reading Christie's over at It's A Wild Life (http://scottchriscoricassicali.blogspot.com/) as well as seeing the beautiful scenery that Alaska provides. Christie had a wonderful post on Tuesday about being thankful and working your way throught the alphabet one letter at a time. I thought this was such a profound way to really think about what we are thankful for, from the depths of our heart. I decided without hesitation that I was going to participate in this each week until I have worked my way from A to Z. I have also decided to have the kids use this for a journal entry each Thursday for school. Hopefully it will get them thinking and get them being thankful, which seems so hard sometimes these days with all the gadgets and things out there. The goal...Work your way through the alphabet using the letter of the week as what you are thankful for. If you begin with "A" you will list three things with that letter that you are thankful for and explain why. Simple enough, right?! With that said, I am starting with the letter "C". I thought if I tied it to the letter that Christian is working on each week he could participate as well and it would be just one more way to tie in his letter. While I won't list the kids lists, I will blog about mine each week. So, here goes... This week I am thankful for the letter "C": Codey- Because as much trouble as he can be he also has a heart for all things good and pure. He sees and hears what others don't and always has a smile, even when he frowns. Because he almost wasn't here and God has the grace to let us be the proud parents of this ever growing young man. Because I know that he will do great things for the Lord. Christian- Because his gentle nature and pure spirit are always eager to do what is right and acknowledge when he isn't. Because at the young age of three he has taught me that the eagerness and willingness to pray and lift up our Savior and Lord should be the first thing we want to do and not the last. And because he still believes that life is always fun. And, he is showing me that it should be! Christ- Because without him I would truely be more of mess than I am right now. Because over 2000 years ago he saw fit to be persecuted for me knowing what a wretch I would be. Yet he still loved me then and he still loves me now. Because without him my family would not be what it is today. What are you thankful for? It doesn't matter if you start with A, C, or Z. Just decide that you are going to start being thankful! Take the challenge and see where it leads. I am!!

Homemade Biscuits

Jeremy was home yesterday for Labor Day holiday and he started the day off running with cleaning and baking. He and the boys started a brunch of biscuits, sausage and eggs. These weren't your average biscuits, they were homemade. Codey and Joshua made the batter and everyone pitched in cutting the biscuits in to fun shapes. (Thanks, Vone for the cookie cutters!)

Here is the finished product, before and after baking.

Way to go guys! And, thanks Daddy! They tasted G-R-E-A-T!!!

Muffin Tin Monday- "C" Day

This week Muffin Tin Monday was a day with no theme so I chose to do a "C" theme for our tins since I am finishing up the letter C with Christian this week.

Our C foods included:

Corn Dogs w/ ketchup

Corn

Carrots w/ ranch dressing

Cheese

Candy Corns for dessert

and some Cantelope on the side

Week 1

We have just been doing school 1/2 days the past 2 weeks as we have had so much other stuff that has come up or has been going on. For this reason I am considering the past 2 weeks as our first week. We have done just some little things like math placement tests for Codey, reading and journaling, started our World Geography unit and gotten into the routine of a devotional and prayer times involving the little ones. They have also had time to just play and be kids which is what schooling should be about! First we made our reading journals to keep up with our outside reading that we are doing. This will help keep track of the books they have read and will give Brogan practice in writing in sentences as well as learning how to write about the main character, setting, and plot of a story. Here is what Codey has chosen to read as his outside reading. Brogan is reading the American Girl series right now and has started with "Meet Julie". Their outside reading goals are 60 books for Codey and 100 books for Brogan. These are books outside of what is required for thier schoolwork so we will be doing lots of reading! Brogan already knows what she wants as a reward so we will have to wait and see what Codey comes up with if (okay, when) he meets his goal! Here is Brogan working on her new math curriculum. I switched her to Singapore math this year and she hasn't given me a hard time like she did last year when it was time to do math lessons. Hopefully this will be a good transition and she will come to enjoy math more. I will try to post weekly about our schooling adventures. We are looking forward to a fun year!

Good-Bye Stanley

We had to say good-bye to our Flat Stanleys today as this was the deadline for them to be mailed to the next family on the list. We included a travel journal with them so that the exchange families could write all the places they go. Then, when we receive our Stanleys back we will hopefully have a travel journal, maybe with pictures, of his world travels. We gave a discription of each Stanley in the journal so the exchange family would know his likes and dislikes.

Each week we will get an email with pictures of our Stanleys and what they have been doing. In exchange, we will be doing the same with the Stanleys that we receive. I think this will be a lot of fun for the kids and we will be able to tie it into our geography lessons as we track our Stanley's journey across the nation and the world. That's right, they are going international! This is going to be so much fun!

Ribbit...Yum,Yum

I found this guy on our kitchen counter when I woke up this morning... I guess he liked the biscuits I made last night. At first I didn't know who put him up there positioned so well (he is plastic in case you were wondering). When Joshua was as surprised as I was with him I figured out it must have been Codey with his good sense of humor. It did give me laugh to start may da with! :) I asked Codey if he did it and he just gave me one of those pricless Codey grins. No matter what he can always make you smile! When I came in the kitchen to make lunch I found that he had eaten just a little more. I guess he needed a snack. And, again, another laugh and smile! :)

Thanks, Codey!

Muffin Tin Monday Swap

Since the kids got to do a swap this summer I thought it would be fun for me to participate in one as well. I was paired up with Vone from Canada for the Muffin Tin Monday Swap and was absolutely surprised by what came in the mail. Since she is a world traveler, Vone thought of everything for us and the entire package will compliment our geography journey this year. We not only receieved muffin tins and items to use for our MTMs but a letter and pictures from her travels and her home, a spoon of Canada, postcards, some things from her girls, cookie cutters, toothpick flags from countries all over the world, chopsticks, a kimono charm that goes on a cellphone, and well, check out the picture of all the great stuff for yourself.

Thanks Vone!!!

We are going to really enjoy Muffin Tin Mondays, and our once a month Around the World meals!!