Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Trying new tactics

Well, we have been on vacation for almost two months now. So I decided it is time to start getting back into the swing of things. We are starting with math reviews. Both of the kids are very good in math so they tend to blow it off. So mommy came up with a plan last night.

Starting today my kids have to earn their video games/computer time. Zach hasn't realized that I didn't lump tv time into that. So he is deducting for tv time he wants tonight. Well here is what I am doing. I made up worksheets for Zach and took all of his systematic reviews from his math book and put them in a folder. For every problem he gets right the FIRST time around he gets 1 minute of play time. If he does 3 pages a day that will last us 31 days. Well, today he has completed four pages and got all 100 questions right. So he has 100 minutes of playtime.

I know that seems like alot but he has to save time for rainy days and weekends. Like tomorrow we are having company over and he wants to cash in his time for tomorrow night when his friend is here. I thought that was a good deal. He is learning time management with this.

The same thing goes for Shaylin. But since she is doing Algebra honors review she gets 10 minutes per problem. We figured that was fair since she has less problems per page and they take her longer to do. Zach did 100 problems in the time it took Shay to copy and complete 6 problems. So we are compensating them accordingly.

They are currently out riding their bikes. I know most of you are all freezing up north but it is a beautiful day today. Its about 78 outside. Too warm to have the AC off. But perfect for the kids to be playing outside. Although the AC has hardly kicked on today. So its not costing much to have it on. Its set @ 77 and the house is currently 75. If I open the window the humidity makes the floors sticky. The down side to having wood floors in Florida.

I hope you all and a safe and happy New Year's. We will be having dinner with some friends and watching a movie an maybe sneaking in some Halo. We are pretty boring people. LOL. But Steve and I will be celebrating 9 years of marriage on the 1st. Time sure does fly by!


Wednesday, December 24, 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I just want to take a moment and wish all of you a wonderful and blessed Christmas. We celebrate on Christmas eve so, we get open our gift tonight. You should see the kids. They are just strung out with excitement.

Zach can barely contain himself. He is frantically cleaning his room so he has a place to put all of his gifts. Shay is sick again so she is dragging her feet. We baked 28 dozen cookies between Friday & yesterday.

I hope you all are feeling as blessed as we are. What a wonderful season to celebrate with friends and family!!

Merry Christmas!!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

A wonderful evening

Tonight we went to a live Nativity put on by our church. It was so nice. It was held at our youth pastor's home. There was a bonfire, goodies, and lots of fellowship.

The kids had a great time. Zach ran around with some of his friends and Shay bounced from one cluster to the next visiting. What a great way to spend an evening.

It was the perfect weather. Just a bit chilly but a clear night. It was probably around 74 out. Did I mention I had a great time? LOL I love my church. We brought some friends with us and they liked it too. They are kinda searching for a church home. I would love to see them join our church. We have a great youth program that their son loves to visit.

What a great way to start off the Christmas week. May you all be blessed this week.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Linville Falls, NC 11/08


Linville Falls, NC


The kids holding ice from the falls.

Another shot of hte falls from the Gorge outlook.


Zach being the typical boy and breaking the ice puddles. ;-)


Steve & Shay taking pics of the falls from a high outlook.

We had so much fun in North Carolina over Thanksgiving.
This day was cold but fun!! We got to see snow flurries.
The snow was melting as it landed on us and the ground.
The hike was fun. By the time I got to the top I was sweating and taking
off my jacket. We had like three layers on. It was 32 degrees out and the
wind was really blowing.

As you can see the kids had a blast too. Zach had a toy in his pocket
and every time he jumped down from a rock or stepped hard
to would start playing music. It was funny.


Friday, November 21, 2008

Forest City, NC

We are finally on vacation!! My in-laws own a home here in NC. Its in a nice little town called, Forest City. My in-laws live across the street from us in Florida. But we came to NC to have Thanksgiving with them. hehehehe

It is beautiful here. The weather is mild winter weather. It is currently 34 degrees outside. The sun is shining and the wind is blowing. We left at 1 am this moring and got her about 11am.

I will take some pictures tomorrow and get them posted as I can. I am so excited to be here. The kids have already been swimming the pile of leaves in the corner of the yard. Jeannine and I enjoyed a few trips around the block. Now I am ready to crash. Long night of driving.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Green Medows Petting Zoo

On October 16th we went to Green Meadows. I am just getting around to posting the pictures. This was our first homeschooling field trip. We had a GREAT time.


Shay and Zach with the chickens.
The one they are holding is coined the "Easter egg" chicken.

It lays pink & blue eggs.


Zach milking a cow.

Zach sharing a chick with a "chick". LOL
Shay holding a chicken.

Shaylin with a duck.

Zach struggling with his duck.

Zach kissing his duckling.


Shay has the mother's touch.
Her duckling is sleeping.

This is a Zorse.
If you look closely you can see the strips.

A hey ride to end a fun day.

The kids got to go to a pumpkin patch after this but I didn't take pictures of that. Iwas tired by the end of all of this. We had a great time though.



Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Just a quick note

I know I haven't updated in a few weeks. We have been crazy busy. We have gone to Green Meadows petting zoo, Florida Forever for a photo shoot, and other places on between. I have new pictures I want to post.

I will hopefully get that all up tomorrow. We are enjoying the cooler weather so we haven't been in the house too much these past few days. So check back soon and I promise I will have updated about the fun stuff we have been doing.

Have a wonderful week. We are getting ready for the Fall Festival at church tonight. Unmasking God's Heroes. What a great way to celebrate fall.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Already Finished

Can you believe that it is only October and Zach is already finished with his MUS Gamma book? Shay is finishing her Algebra 1 book Monday. She will continue in the honors book but by November she will be done also.

We started slowing down to Math 3 days a week over a month ago. But they still flew through the books. They are flying through the science books too. We decided to take November and December off and they will still be done with all of their stuff at the end of February!!

I did buy the next set of MUS books for them. Zach will start Delta in January and Shay will start Geometry than also. Until than they will do practice drill and Shay is in a math league. Its called Math Counts and they meet every Tuesday. So she will still have work to do during that time.

We are starting to work on making some warm clothes for our trip to North Carolina. We are going to spend Thanksgiving there. My in-laws own a home up there and they are leaving for vacation the first week of November. And we will be joining them the weekend before the holidays. I am so excited!! I haven't been up in the fall weather in sooo long. I am going to have sooo much fun!!! So are the kids. Steve wants to see if we can find a place to go snow tubing. I hope we can.

Okay, I know this started off as one thing and lead someplace else altogether.... That is how my brain is working lately.......

Back to the school thing. We are making warm pj's for the kids. That was part of their birthday gifts. They each got a tool box full of sewing tools and fabric to make some clothes. They just didn't know for what. So in our free time we will have more sewing time. And even though our mentor is leaving, I just noticed they are offering sewing classes at our church starting next week. That will work out perfectly.

See, if I don't schedule the time for classes, the sewing wont get done and neither will all the gifts I am working on.

I will also have baking classes during the off time but it will centered around Christmas baking. Zach & Shay are excited about this part too. More Zach than Shay. She helps me often with dinners now. But she really enjoys baking. As long as its not bread. Which she has mastered and is tired of making. Speaking of...I just told her to make the bread dough so it can rise. I got a dejected "K" for a response. But she will have fun when I tell her tomorrow we can make sweet roles out of some of the dough.

Well, I better run just in case she needs an extra set of hands. And I hear my book calling me. Have a wonderful weekend.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Rain, Rain Go Away.....

Well, it has been raining here for two days now. Normally that is no big deal. But the sunshine is gone also. So the house is dark and gloomy. I have a high strung kiddo that has the sniffles and is bouncing off the walls.

I am feeling depressed. I had a hard time getting out of bed. I heard the rain again this morning and it flipped the "why bother?" switch. And I fell back asleep. It was like I was drugged and couldn't wake up. Now that I am awake, I have a headache. Not sure if its from the weather or staying in bed too long.

Just call me Eeyore today. Grey and gloomy and I can't find my tail........



Thursday, October 2, 2008

Freezer

Well, it looks like we need a new deep freezer. Shay went to get chicken out for dinner tonight and it was thawing. We had to throw out some food but have saved most of it. We will have to cook it all tonight and I wont have to cook this weekend. Lots of leftovers........

Gardening


In August we started growing plants from seeds. We have had fun watching them grow. A couple weeks ago Steve built us this stand so we could hang our plants topsy turvy style. As you can see in the above picture it is going pretty well. We have 2 types of tomatoes hanging and 2 types of cucumbers. We still have more tomatoes to hang. I have to scrub out the buckets first.

I know, you are all probably thinking we are crazy for starting our garden now. But in Florida you plant you garden in the fall and winter months or else it will get destroyed during hurricane season. Not to mention its too hot here to grow tomatoes during the summer. The shrivel and die.
This is our yellow squash plant. It is growing in a regular container. It seems to be fairing well, so I didn't want to move it and chance killing it. Its flowering already so I will take that is a good sign.

This is a container with more cucumbers in it. We didn't have enough buckets at first so we just left these ones in here. They are flowering now too so we will leave them alone now.



These are all the other tomato plants we have growing. I need to get them into containers tomorrow or in the ground with streaks to grow up so we don't lose them. The white container in the side view is a butterfly garden. Once they bloom they are suppose to attract butterflies. We planted them from seeds too.


This is our last set of plants. In the eggs are pepper plants that we planted straight out of the peppers. In the big container is a passion fruit vine that we started from seeds. We are hoping they take off. I love passion fruit juice. If it works, next year this time we should have tons of passion fruit. We also have a star fruit tree but I didn't take a picture of that one.


Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Baby No More

Zach being silly

Darth & Matthew


Cool guitar lamp.


Tug of war.
Girls beat the boys....

The rip stick


Well, Saturday Zach turned 8. He is my baby no more. Not that he has been for a while. But where did the time go?

My kids love the way we do birthdays around here. They have a party with all their friends during the day and than for dinner we have the adults over. Grandma Jean couldn't make it this year. She was sick. But we had a nice turn out for the kids party and the adult party.

We had chicken, beef, and chocolate fondue for dinner with all the adults. Zach invited our chiropractor, Mike and he came with his girlfriend, Adreana. Paul, Helen & Randy where here, Roger & Tali and Poppy Andre. It was a nice turn out.

Steve, Shay and Zach got tickets to Sea World with Paul and Randy for Sunday. So I guess you could say that Zach had an awesome birthday. He even got to show off his stitches. Which came out on Monday.

Believe it or not his favorite gift was the sewing kit I gave him. It is a blue and white tool box with lefty scissors, seam ripper, magnetic pin catcher, blue pins, measuring tape, rolling cutter, needle threader, fabric for several projects and matching thread. Shaylin got the same thing except all her stuff was pink and her box was yellow and white. I couldn't fine a pink one.

I fell trying out his new rip stick an dgot a stren look from Dr. Mike when he found out. I laughed and told him it was job security for him!!!!

How was your weekend???

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Apron Give Away

Check out the following link to enter to win a very cute holiday apron.

http://pennyraine.com/blog/2008/09/another-holiday-apron-give-away-contest/#comment-1638

Sunday, September 21, 2008

A Trip to the ER


The results of a "hard" days work....


Zach showing how tough he is...


Today was a nerve wracking day for sure!! I went to a friends house to have my hair cut. I brought the kids because they have a pool. All was fine until it was time to wash my hair .

My friend was just starting the sink water and the screaming started. We made it outside to high pitched squeals and Shay yelling "OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH!! ZACH IS BLEEDING!! MOM!!! ZACH IS BLEEDING!!" Well, my heart just stopped. They where coming out of the pool and Zach was COVERED in blood.

I am sorry to say, I jumped on Shaylin for her continued screams. I know she was scared but I needed calm to figure out what happened and what to do next. I ran in the house grabbed paper towels, than listened as Shay told me what happened.

Well, the youngest girl found some billiard balls and decided to throw them in the pool. Well Zach's head got the brunt of the purple # 4 ball. My friend helped me rinse Zach off and brought him to the local fire house to be looked at. By the time we made the 2 minute trip his head had stopped bleeding. They gave me some ice and told me to bring him to the ER. They could take me but it would be a $600.00 bill. (By the way, my sister was at my friends house too. So the kids where not left unattended.)

We got back to my friends house, I collected Shay and zoomed home for Daddy, tissues, and a pair of shoes for Zach. We left his in the rush. In all of this, Zach kept saying, "I wish this was a bad dream and that I would wake up and it would be over." Than when we got to the firehouse he asked, "Mom. can I get a toy after all of this is over. I think I have been a good boy." That made us laugh. It broke the tension.

Well we checked into the ER at 5:05pm. They gave us some fresh ice and and new towel for Zach's head. It was pretty busy in there. It was over an hour before we where called. When we finally got called back, we heard that they had 30 triage beds and they where all full. There was this lady having massive chest pains on a bed in the hall. It was really freaking the kids out. She was crying out and rocking back and forth. It was scary.

They sent us back to Minor care. We watched the sport highlights on the news. The one highlight for all of this is when Zach found out that the Dolphins won today. (Daddy told him on the ride over and he finally cracked a smile. From then on he did better. He just needed a little boost. Shay was really good with him too. She held the ice on his head for the ride over and talked to keep him awake.)

Well, we finally got called back at Minor care. I went back with Zach. Steve and Shay stayed in the waiting room. A nurse came in and cleaned the wound. Than a really nice DR came in to talk to Zach. He dripped litocane in the wound a few times to numb it up a bit. Than when Zach was a little numb he broke out with the needle. Zach was trembling in fear. But he did everything the DR told him to do and didn't cry or move. He got 5 stitches. I think he kept expecting it to hurt more than it did. Once it was over he was good. He kept asking when we could go to Walmart to get that toy. It was 7:30pm.

Well, after we came home and ate dinner, I ran to Walmart. I needed Tylenol for Zach all I had was Motrin. So he got his toy. We ran into one of his friends mom and his friend had cut his leg open with a utility knife shortly before Zach got hurt. We met them in the band-ade isle.

Zach gets the stitched out on Monday the 29th. We are going in for his well check up that day, so they will have a little extra work to do that day.....

All in all it was a good day. For what happened, there is minimal damage. The worst is the stress we all went through. And Zach's pain of course. But he said it was worth it to get the toy........

Oh, I did apologize to Shay for yelling at her when it all happened. I explained that I understood that she was scared but that her screaming was freaking out her brother more and I needed her to tell me what happened. She apologized to me for freaking so bad. Not that I can blame her cause I was freaking out too. She just didn't know it.

So how was your day????


Monday, September 15, 2008

Shay's 13th Birthday Party

Opening Gifts

Friends watching the fun

Pedicure Time!!


More foot soaking.

Boys checking out the gifts.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

A Teenager!!!

Today my first baby becomes a teenager. Shay is turning 13 today!! We had a party with her friends yesterday. They played games and then I filled up tubs with warm water and foot soaking crystals for pedicures. They had a blast!! Shay got a few surprise gifts. The biggest being a "Vero" Bradley purse that her grandma made for her. It is so pretty!! The girls just loved it. They all said it was better than the real thing because it was made with love. I agree!!

I will post pictures of the party later. Its a little after midnight and the camera is in my room. I don't want to wake up Steve. He took some medicine before bed. He got stung by a wasp and has tons of little bites all over him. I am not sure what chewed him up but there is a trail up his legs and back. He must have picked something up on his towel when he was in the hot tub last night.

Shay has decided to make dinner tonight for her "real" birthday. Grandma & Poppy didn't come over for the party today. Grandma was very sick. Poppy's birthday was Friday. We are waiting until Grandma feels better and can enjoy the celebration to have dinner with him. But she did say she would try to come tonight for dinner. Shay is making lasagna & garlic bread. (Her favorite.) I'll be on hand to help her out. But she wants to make it all herself. She is growing into a fine young lady.

Well, I need to try and get some sleep. I am fighting a sinus cold and have a hard time sleeping lately. Between the sinus pressure and the back pain I don't sleep much these days... Hopefully my FMS will calm down and my back pain will ease for a spell.

Have a good night all. I will post pictures after church.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Doing better this week

Shay working on Math-U See

Zach working on Math-U-See


Well, this week has been the best week we have had since we started homeschooling. I think I have Steve to thank for that. Last week Zach refused to do his work when I asked him to & it ended up in arguments everyday. So Daddy stepped in and now I ask three times, give a time limit and if it is still not done the work become homework and that is over seen by Daddy.

Well Friday was a Daddy day. Zach was mad because Shay was spending the night at a friends house for her friends birthday. So to punish me, Zach refused to do his work for me. So, I took it away and Daddy took over after work. It wasn't pretty. Zach sat at the table until 8:00pm doing his work. He got a short break for dinner and that was it. He told Daddy it was funner having class with Mommy......

So, this week has been much better. Shaylin is still flying through her work. I rarely have problems getting her to do her work. I have problems keeping her busy after she is done. (No tv or computer from 10am - 6pm) Zach is getting his work done faster than he normally does. We will go to different thrift stores of they are done early. I think he likes bumming. He hopes he will get a new toy to bring home. Usually not the case but it doesn't stop him from asking.... ;-)


Monday, September 8, 2008

Down To One

One last playful swat.

Angle our cat of 12 years.

Buddies.

Angel stretching out waiting for a string to play with.

Shaylin saying goodbye.


Yesterday was a hard day. We turned in Shaylin's cat that she has had for 12 years. This was a hard choice to make and we all felt it. But she had taken up peeing on the bathroom & kitchen rugs. And the bench seat in the kid's bathroom. We gave her a litter box of her own and would keep her in Shay's room when we would leave the house. But as soon as she was let out, she would head to the bathroom and the rug.

So, after church on Sunday Steve came home and picked up Angel. He got Shaylin from late service at the church and they headed to the humane society. We figured it would be easier to do it right away instead of letting Shay get reattached.

While at the society, they walked through the adoption room. Steve said we was tempted to bring home a new cat but didn't. They did realized that Roxie was not there. She has been taken already. I just got a call on Angel. They are verifying her medical records. She will probably be adopted soon by a senior. She just needed a home where she was the only cat. I know she will do better where she is going.

So we now only have Carley. I feel sorry for her. She has lost both of her house mates in a weeks time. She is asking for more attention and is looking for Angel. That is the one reason Steve considered bring home a cat. But we will stay a single cat family for awhile.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Pictures of the Kids during sewing class


Shay is watching Zach use the serger for the first time.


Shay is cutting out pockets for her apron. After all that hard work,
she decided she didn't want them after all.


Grandma Jean is teaching Zach the difference between pressing and ironing.


Shay finally got her turn with the serger.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Preparing for a Hurricane

Well, if you have seen the weather forecasts lately you know it has been busy in the Atlantic. For us it is a waiting game. Do we board up or not? Well, at dinner we were discussing if we should evacuate or not. I am nervous just thinking about a big hurricane hitting us again. The sister hurricanes of 2004 at still a vivid memory for me.

Zach asked if we would go stay at Poppy Andre's work again. That is where we road out Francis. Steve & I in unison said "no!" It was nice to be able to stay there when we did but it sure was scary!! Just watching those huge bay doors breath in and out was freaky!! Than as the eye of the hurricane came ashore, we got the bad side and a tornado stuck the building we were in. It ripped a section of the roof off. The poor people in that office got soaked. We were huddled in a small interior office inside of a warehouse. Thank goodness the kids were sleeping. The four adults wished we were. We were with my in laws. As the eye hit the radio station went out. So we had 10 minutes of radio silence. Talk about nerve wracking. It was our only link to the outside. I was so happy when the winds started dying down.

Zach celebrated his 4th birthday in the aftermath of that storm. Shaylin celebrated her fourth birthday during Hurricane Floyd in 1999. Now we may be sitting out Hurricane Ike for her 13th and Josephine for Zach's 8th birthday. The fun we have living in Florida!!

Well, Steve is out securing our new fencing to the porch rails outside and making sure it will withstand the coming storm. I will be taking inventory of our canned goods and possibly running to the store for more. I have to check to see what we have in the deep freezer that will hold us over. We are also filling up our gas tanks. Steve will get propane for the grill tomorrow. I got really good at cooking on the grill with my stoneware after the 2004 hurricanes. We were some of the last ones to get power back. We had trees that needed to trimmed back and lines that had to be restrung. It will be an adventure in homeschooling with no power. The poor kids. They wont be missing class like the rest of the county. hehehehe. At least they will have something to fill the time. When its flooded outside and to hot & humid to play outside you need indoor activities. I think we will get further ahead in our schooling.

OK, that is it for my ramblings about the coming storms. I just needed to express my fears and concerns somewhere. Not to mention the killer headaches that are coming from the lower barometric pressure we are having right now. UGH!!! I hope everyone stays safe. We will keep you updated on what our plans are as the time grows closer to make our final plans.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Our Sewing Projects

This is my apron I made.

Shay made this one.

Zach made this one.

We sure had fun making these. Zach has had his done for weeks. He has made a pillow for Angel to sleep on, case with zipper and all and is now working on a tote bag. Shay started working on Christmas ornaments today. And I started my gifts for my family. Sorry no hints...Other than my back is sore from cutting for 2 hours!! ;-)

I will post more pictures of the kids sewing later.

Sad Day Here



Today Steve brought the youngest of our three cats to the Humane Society. It was a hard choice to make. The oldest one has not been happy since we got her and started peeing all over the house. So we gave Shay the option to keep her in her room to see if the behavior changed. It seemed to have done the trick.

Yesterday I found the bathroom run was stained. It seems that Angel peed again. We thought it was Roxie. So we decided it was time. I have been fighting this for 3 months enough was enough. Zach cried and so did Shay.

Well wouldn't you know, we found out it was Angel who peed not Roxie. After a family meeting and family vote, we decided to turn Roxie in. Just to see if Angel would do better. Roxie never truly fit in with the other cats. Where Carley and Angel got along great. Carley is the coolest cat around.

Well, Steve is at the Humane Society turning in Roxie right now. Its sad. And Zach was a great trooper in all of this. I think we will be down to one cat soon. I am hopeful I am wrong and that Angel changes her ways. If not we will turn her in too. The mess is just too much to deal with. Roxie had her own issues. She would poop next the litter box instead of inside of it. I think Zach was tired of cleaning up after her. He gave her a hug, took a picture with her and went with daddy to turn her in. He didn't want to see his sissy cry anymore because her cat was leaving. He said it would be harder to give up Angel than it would to give up Roxie.

Goodbye Roxie. We love you and will miss you very much!!!!

Monday, August 25, 2008

Our Homeschooling Journey

Well, we have been at it for a month now. I would be lying if I said it was going smoothly. Shaylin has taken to it like a pro. She loves being at home and completes her work in record time. She is already more than half way through her Algebra 1 book. We decided to redo Algebra this year. She really struggled with it last year. I truly believe its because the teachers did not have enough time to spend with the kids to explain the areas that they didn't understand. We will be ordering Geometry before Christmas. Math-U-See rocks!!

Zach is another story altogether. He is fighting me tooth and nail to get his work done. Although, he is over half way done with his math also. At the pace we are going the kids will be done with school in late February or Early March.

We have planted many veggies as part of our science class. The kids are having a ball playing in the dirt several times a week. Now if they just enjoyed weeding.... The seedlings are really taking off. The humid weather we are having this wee, following Fay has ready helped a bunch of them to finally germinate. We are going to have a ton of tomatoes and cukes!!

So, I have decided not to start our History lessons just yet. I think I will start them when we begin classes again after our Holiday break. Although the holiday break will be spent on home ec. and crafting. The kids are really getting into sewing. They absolutely love it. So we are going to be sewing our Christmas presents this year. I would post what we are planning to work on but my family may read this and their gifts would be spoiled!!

So, we are still settling into our groove for homeschooling. I know that once Zach is more comfortable with the new system, it will get easier. But he is my strong willed child and loves to push mommies buttons. So right now he is over at Grandma's working. He listens to her better on the days we aren't seeing eye to eye. Too much of the Mleko blood runs through that child's veins!!! hahaha. No offense family but you all know the Mleko's are a stubborn bunch! Although, the Demers' have that trait down to a science too. Right Poppy Andre? ;-)

Well, I am cooking a ham dinner for Tali's 25th birthday tonight. Its her golden birthday. So I'm off to baste the ham and get started on the green bean casserole. (Yuk!) But its her dinner not mine. hehehe. The things we do for our friends. I love her. I just wont share her veggies!

Have a blessed week all!!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Our First Sewing Lesson

Today Grandma Jean (my mother-in-law) started teaching the kids how to sew. She got me started a few years ago, so I sat in and helped out when needed. Shaylin, Zach and Marylin learned all the ins and outs of a sewing machine and how to run it.

They had a blast learning to stitch a straight seem and then onto zig zagging. Zach actually did better than the girls!! He followed grandma into the other room and told her how much fun he had. And how much he enjoys sewing already. He has very good hand/eye coordination. I am sure it comes from all the video games he plays.

After they finished the few lines of stitching, they got to pick out fabric for their first project. We will all make aprons. I am making one to wear this Friday while we cook for our BBQ. But the kids will cut their pattern and fabric next time.

We are making aprons to wear during our cooking lessons that will start in August. Jeannine and I will be teaching the kids different things in the kitchen. By the end of the first eight weeks Shay & Zach will be able to plan out a menu and cook a meal of their choice for us all to enjoy. Every 8 weeks they will have a new menu to put together and cook for us. We are very excited.

So I guess you can see how some of our homeschooling will tie into each other. The best part of it all is that we get to spend time getting to know each other better as we teach the classes. Its a good thing Grandma only lives across the street!!

Thanks for the sewing lessons, Grandma Jean!

Saturday, June 28, 2008

World Changers 2008

I recently got back from my first ever mission trip. I went with our youth group to Augusta, GA. It was an awesome experience. The days where long and hot and the nights where short and freezing!! The AC was remotely controlled so the rooms got very cold at night.

There were about 280 of us that worked on 18 homes in Augusta. It was a great way to give back a little that the Lord has given to me. The crew I was on re-roofed a house for Mr. Green. He is an elderly gentleman that could not afford to have it done any other way. He was very happy to have us there.



I learned how to lay down three tab shingles. And that yes, I am still afraid of heights!! I am glad that I was able to stay on the ground the second day and start scarping paint off the windows. I got light headed just thinking about being on that roof again. It only took our team 2 days to tear off the the roof and put a new one back on.



One day three of us went walking to give out our extra lunches. It wasn't a very nice neighborhood to be walking in and I am glad we had Kevin with us. But we ended up at a home with 8 kids. The ages ranged from 1 years old to 15. We were able to take them to a magic show. It was based on Christ and the the wondrous things He did for us. 3 of the older girls we brought with us accepted Christ after the show. WOW!! It was a great day!!!!



That is why we where there. To help make the homes a bit more livable and to the bring Christ into those homes. I wish we would have had more time with those kids. T.J. the youngest boy @ 3 didn't want to go back home. He wanted to stay with us. I think about him all the time. I wonder if he remembers us. I sure hope so.



You never know where you will end up when you answer the call the Lord puts upon your heart. I ended up in Augusta, GA. It was a rough week of work but at he same time, fun and uplifting. The Holy Spirit was with us and working through us that week.



Every night at worship you could feel the Holy Spirit vibrating through the room. So many young hearts where touched and changed forever. I know I was. I met some of my most physical limits and pushed them and expanded them through the strength of the Lord. He was my source of energy. The reason I kept at it when I felt I was at my limit. And I was rewarded by seeing those young girls give their lives to Christ.



Isn't funny how one small act of kindness can change someone else's life forever? Our God is good all the time and all the time He is good. I guess that is why we are told to walk the path that Christ walked. For if we share what He has given us, His word, and His life than we will brighten someone else's life.



If you ever have the chance to go, try it just once. You will be glad you did. I am.